Prelude

## Mourning the Night

Sometimes, a gravely sick patient feels better for a day right before his end. Pain fades away, his mind gets clearer, and those who care for him and had stayed by his hospital bed for weeks, finally sigh with relief. They believe that it was a miracle, and their hearts shine with hope. This temporary rise is the greatest sign; it says that death is near and True Peace comes at last.

For Evergreen, once a warm and fertile planet, such rise came as the end of The Great Night, for it had been choking the planet with darkness for almost a millennium. Like a dim disease, it exhausted the last world untouched by the Final War, and it robbed all of the planet's inhabitants of their will to live, giving them despair, hunger, and cold instead.

But unlike any other disease, the Night was a necessary evil. It was a side effect caused by a massive force field generator called the Grandshield, which was used to protect and completely isolate the planet from outer space, that which was controlled by forces that were hostile towards Evergreen's inhabitants - at least, that's what the authorities said. Things lasted this way for centuries, but then... Whoever had planned to destroy the Grandshield, was successful.

The Grandshield's Fall was only a small gust of wind, compared to the terrible storm that would come. Harvesters of the black-bearded Soulbreakers had begun their horrible reaping - from small abductions to massive raids. They were enslaving anyone who was physically capable of taking part in a naïve and unpromising project of rebuilding the planets that ceased to be habitable after the Final War.

However, in recent weeks, despite numerous successful raids, harvesters appeared to become noticeably less in their numbers. This inspired the citizens of Evergreen to once again believe in the fighting efficiency of their armies, and the possibility of victory. But those who participated in combat learned the hard way that the slavers were, without any doubt, superior than the Evergreen forces. Deep in their hearts they knew how absurd it was to praise the army - but preferred not to think about it; believing a comfy lie was always easier than believing the cold truth.

> *"We heard madmen yelling: 'The Soulbreakers had been scared away. Something headed towards our planet. Something that doesn't know about mercy.'"*
> *Ivenek Rins, a Serpent.*
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## The Conversion

> *"What changed me? I've seen the true face of our Motherland. It is Purgatory: out last chance to wash away our sins."*
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General Enkh was forced to give a primal shape to the occurring changes - riskily ancient but still living in the cultural foundation of civilization. And he rose with the new rise of religiosity - the self-proclaimed monarch, God-King Enoch I. His ferocious speeches kindled hearts, shaping the dream of a glorious era, of the Old Pure World, where people would be proud and life would have a meaning. People who had nothing to live for, began living in a twisted version of past, warped by censorship and distorted by propaganda.

The changes affected the social order - the law of blood inheritance and despotism were introduced; only families that were loyal to Enkh received nobility titles. Art had also changed. It turned into the medieval times of Earth, making it easier for society to accept their new reality.

Religiosity had become universal and revived, and the "edited" Christianity had proclaimed hatred and intolerance to infidels as the norm. Secretly at first, openly at last, the Holy Inquisition began to act. The crowd was screaming in ecstasy when practicals put black bags on the heads of those who rejected the Comatic God. Victims of their own disbelief, they were cruelly tortured.

Inquisitors were friendly and compassionate, and the flame of their words was always tender. Joining with the ice of practicals' sharp blades, it broke the will of unbelievers. Confessions poured out from their lips, and with a smile they stood up - as believers and loyal servants of the God-King, who was the vicar of God on this cursed planet.

Those whose will was strong, could have been tortured for months before their mind broke. The essence of love is patience, and inquisitors had plenty of it. But when it came to the Thanati, there could be no mercy. The main enemies of Christ and the Comatic God, they were servants of Tzhernobog, Lord of the Promised Multiverse, who was equated to Lucifer by the Gray Church. The primary goal of Thanati was to implement Doomsday, which is stated to be the end of humanity. They consider the destruction of the moldy old world as the only way for a transition of souls into a new, more complex and perfect place to happen. Thanati used the entire spectrum of evil to reinforce their positions - from blackmailing and acts of terrorism to, if you believe the rumors, black magic. The Inquisition claimed that the cult was almost eliminated and its leaders had been executed. Perhaps, they had exaggerated slightly.

Upon re-inspection, the same result was found. The rotting souls kept growing in their numbers, despite the tougher circumstances. Every third person was revealed to be a Thanati in sample #23. If you catch a heretic next time, I recommend taking his whole family to the House of Questions, without any exceptions. This will surely make interrogations much more effective. God help us, if we won't proceed in decisive actions immediately.

## Exodus

> *"Time has come to sow our poison among the stars."*
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The Soulbreakers' onslaught weakened, but no one knows for how long. A gigantic colonial vessel, called "Leviathan," is being built. It is supposed to leave the human-populated and therefore dangerous sector behind.

At the moment, this space ark is orbiting Evergreen, guarded by a swarm of fighters. It takes aboard only those refugees who could afford such a salvation, such as wealthy nobles, clergy and merchants. There are hundreds of them boarding every day, despite the fact that the journey will last for a few centuries.

It's not a generational ship. Thanks to the Red Elixir, that was recently put into production, the colonists will be able to live to see the end of this journey. The Elixir is a panacea from aging, and its main ingredient is a substance called Cryptorchid. The source of which is kept secret from the masses, but it's rumored to be located in the north of Evergreen.

Rumors become more and more gloomy each passing day. Some tell of a great threat that's coming from the outer space - the same one that forced the Soulbreakers to flee. Some are stating that the highborn are planning to wipe out every key object and big city on the planet, to leave behind nothing but radioactive dust. Some are talking about nightmarish monsters, descended from the pages of moldy folklore - yet nonetheless real. Those stories, that would have caused a skeptical response in calmer times, instill panic even in the most rational minds nowadays.

The old order of things had frozen on its edge - or even collapsed, where the servants now washed with the blood of their former masters. Armed to the teeth and inspired by their first victories, they devoted themselves to robbery and massacre. They say, that a troop of several thousand armed men is moving towards the capital, with new volunteers joining on the way.

Many lords had already left the Evergreen by buying a place on the "Leviathan." Others decided to stay to strengthen their influence in the world by claiming the abandoned domains. A deadly struggle is developing for those fiefs - some confine to forgery of claims, while others lower themselves to threats and open violence.

The Crown rarely intervenes in their vassal's conflicts, granting them almost total freedom and impunity.

The Royal family has long settled on "Leviathan," barely trying to control the prevailing madness on the surface from orbit. Not only they, but all the refugees try to avoid thinking about their homeland. They're focusing on hopes for the quiet and well-fed future that awaits them ahead.

> *Today they took away the old man, the former pilot, you know. He was silent for weeks and nobody saw him talking with anybody at all. But yesterday he climbed onto the stage of the Theatre of Regrets, just after they delayed an execution, and he began his speech. He claimed that he served on the "AGIS," the recon ship that launched six months ago. He told to the crowd that there are other intelligent races - various, advanced and, most importantly, united and peaceful races. But that we are not invited to that union. We have insufficient intellectual and ethical potential, and it's declared that we're a dangerous life-form. From now until forever, we are isolated, he said. The "AGIS" crew members are the last to be spared. Any other ship that will leave the human-inhabited sector, will be eliminated. That's all he said, then they took him. I believe him. I'm not going to fly away.*
> *- Dey Kallak, count Irenek Kallak's heir.*
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