Rules and notes;
-PM ME THE CHARACTER
-This is a horror setting, not a fantasy one. You will not be playing super powered bad asses. Possibly a reasonable bad ass character, but you are small fry. Mortal, easy to kill small fry.
-On the subject of fantasy, there is no 'easy' magic such as fireballs and such for players. All magic and such is ritual and complicated, a spell could take hours, even days to prepare.
-Your deity may not be a elder God. The cults are not for PC characters.
-PM ME THE CHARACTER
-This is a horror setting, not a fantasy one. You will not be playing super powered bad asses. Possibly a reasonable bad ass character, but you are small fry. Mortal, easy to kill small fry.
-On the subject of fantasy, there is no 'easy' magic such as fireballs and such for players. All magic and such is ritual and complicated, a spell could take hours, even days to prepare.
-Your deity may not be a elder God. The cults are not for PC characters.
Empire of Sumer; Temple of Enlil. 1940 B.C
During the height of Sumerian power, humanity, still in its starting steps towards understanding the cosmos, a terrible mistake was made. The high priest of Enlil, lord of the ghost lands, tried to resurrect his beloved. And in doing so, he drew to him the attention of several beings to vile and strange for the human mind to comprehend. One of these were a being later known as Jagg'azish. This being had slumbered as he was bored of the simple minds of humanity and their squandering of potential. Now he suddenly found someone who possessed arcane potential. The Grinning Light, a moniker Jagg'Azish was rather fond off, descended into the temple wearing the form of Enlil. He tricked the the distraught high priest and gave him the gift of Necromancy. But as the high priest attempted to raise his wife, he created a beacon of evil in her stead. Cadia, a being supposedly as old as the first human, possessed the newly created Necromancers wife and used her as vessel.
As the Grinning Light laughed, Cadia devoured every living thing within a mile, except for the Necromancer himself. She left him with the blood of his own people on his hands as she, free of shackles, vanished into the fog of history to spread terror. Christians now believe her to be Lilith, the shunned bride of Adam. We of the Crescent moon call her by her true name, Cadia, the devourer of life.
-Excerpt from The Burden, a record of Cadias Past. Crescent Orders library
1864, a day after the Sand Creek massacre
Dust rose from each step he took, swirling away into the dry air of the steppen night. His name was Smiling Cayote, and he was Cheyenne. A lot have changed. The white men had brought guns and diseases to his people and their continued attacks have left a trail of blood after them. But none of this was currently concerning him. They had also brought with them a terrible evil. A evil that was now inside him. He could feel it spread out trough out his body, seizing control of it one synapse at a time. If only he had not listened to the strange voice of that damn lantern. It had saved him, lured him away from the slaughter. But instead something far worse had crept into his soul.
Jagg'Azish. The Grinning Light. He knew its name yet it spoke in a language he didn't understand. As he staggered trough the night, his eyes began to glow and earie smile crept across his lips. And then he began to laugh. He stood admisdt the ruins of his village, among the disfigured corpses, and he laughed. And there, the last of his soul was consumed by the being that possesed him. Cayote didn't care. His people were dead. His family gone, he had nothing. And so he gave in. And once more, The Grinning light was released upon the world with the blood of the innocent staining the ground.
1865, a year after the Sand Creek massacre.
The War is over. South has been beaten by the North. For Colorado this means it has seized being one of the most important locations for either side. But now strange winds sweep across its plains. A restless energy stirs in the air. People can feel it seep into their very bones. Ever since the massacre, rumors of dark things can be heard on the lips of the people. Even as the war raged only a year ago, their was a feeling of something deeper, something more sinister then the violence mankind visit upon itself. And this has drawn the attention of a very specific group of people. Riders in strange garbs and dark skin have taken in at the local hotel. Rough looking types camping out on the plains, taking up odd jobs like guarding cattle for nearly no pay at all. What seems like a cavalry detachment riding under no flag have occupied one of the barracks outside of town. People can tell when trouble is brewing, but this is something new, something else. Something primal and pitch black.
Welcome to Colorado strangers. Be you a stranger from overseas, come to do your orders bidding, or a witch hunter from the lords own church. Even if you're a poor damned bastard, you are here for a reason. Right here. On the plains of Colorado strange winds are blowing, and they bring ill tidings with them. So hold on to that hat stranger, have your hand on your holster and get ready to draw. Death is coming to town."
-----
The enemy;
The Night is full of terrors. And the cosmos is far more vast then any pitifull man of the clergy may think. God? I scoff at your singular notion. I have seen the creations of prehistoric madness, and there is no benevolence to find. So huddle in your churches, you fools. It will not save you, you hear me! HE COMES FOR US ALL!
- Rupert Lambs last words. Hanged for the murder of a preacher. 1810.
Cult of Cadia, The Dead Woman.
Jagg'Azish
Native horrors:
There are many things not related to the two that still pose a threat. Native myth is ripe of examples, such as Wendigos and witches who commited attrocities to aquire greater power. Ghouls, Vampires and other forms of undead seem to have found purchase in the new world.
Those who fight the Unseen
Throughout the ages, humanity has waged a war against the evils that lurk in the shadows. Mostly unseen, these men and women have dedicated their lives against a foe beyond human comprehension. From eastern monks and gurus, to germanic shamanism and Aesir sects, to Vampire Hunters and Exorcists of the Christian faith. From Dream Walkers in Australia to Dreameaters hunting Nightmares in North America, humanity has always been at war. Following are some of the groups active on the North American continent.
Factions
The players:
You are all members of one of the different organizations present. From the Revenant, a group of near legendary monster hunters, to the rough edged penal legion of Jacobs Lament. You are all gathering in Colorado for one reason: dark times is coming. People have disappeared, farmers cattle have been mutilated by strange beasts and evidence of cult activity is cropping up. All in all the sheer amount of evidence of the supernatural is so concentrated on this one area everyone is on the edge. These are terrors you never seen gathered in one place before. It's as if something have drawn in all the evils of the new and old world to one place.
