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[i]“Chaos isn’t merely one side of the coin. It’s the metal itself. You foolishly think that this is two of a kind. Order and Chaos. But you see, this, is why you have failed. Chaos is everywhere and in everything. Order, disorder, these things are both products of it. You try to organize it, harness its power, tame it to your will, all while completely naive to the fact that you are merely the result of it. This, is why you will never win.” [/i]

[h3]In the ashes of the old world,[/h3] shadows begin to stir… In the days before, the great powers of the world were kept in check by a fragile balance of force and diplomacy. For decades, scholars and philosophers debated what action of man or beast would shatter the “Great Silence” that persisted. It was not the hands of men or the hands of beast that would shatter the Great Silence, but the roar of Othea itself. In the fateful year of 1927, the world was shaken as a super volcano on the home isles of Fenice erupted, covering the northern hemisphere in layers of ash and throwing the world into chaos. For many nations, famine became the norm as the globe covered in a miniature ice age. Global markets collapsed, long standing dynasties shattered, and for many, it seemed as though the end of days had finally come. 

As it happened, however, it was not the end… no matter how much we wished it had been. For with this great cataclysm, came opportunity for many others. Nations who were once backwaters or servants to greater masters now found the perfect moment to reshape the world in their own image. 

Now, as the ice finally thaws on a particularly long winter, gears begin to turn, plans put into motion, and industries hum to life with awakening of a new era. 

On the Oyessia, tensions are reaching a boiling point as three powers via for dominance of the continent. Already, rumors spread that the collection of smaller states have had their days numbered, as secret packs are formed and made. These three powers, oceans apart in ideology and goals yet only a stones throw from each other, will soon be at one another’s throats. 

To the south, on Pandyssia, an uneasy peace threatens to spiral rapidly out of control as the Storm Empire begins to interact with the world more and the mysterious floating city state only known as “The Flotilla” drifts over. All the while, Fenice braces itself as native Pandyssians stare hungrily at the now vulnerable colony. 

Across the Great Othean Ocean, on Tyviern, Fenice struggles desperately to keep of the facade of being a great empire, while its capital is buried beneath lava and ash. Sensing the weakness,  the Volsinii Empire and the Republic of Avalia seek to establish influence over the western portion of the continent, rekindling the long historical rivalry between the two nations. The smaller nations along the Verronto Sea also aim to gain power, with the hopes of throwing out Fenice puppet states and regaining their lost territories. On the eastern portion of Tyviern, Greater Talania has once again started making ripples in the region, stating its ambitions and being to make moves to assure absolute dominance in the region while the Empire of Usoma continues to quietly bide its time. Soven-Ampara and Adria brace for this aggression, and the possibility for all out war is becoming more likely by the day. 

To the south in Karakus, the news of two great old enemies gearing up once again has somewhat overshadowed the curious discovery of a city state ran entirely by automatons. Not much is known at this point, but murmurs of both wonders of science and witchcraft have become more frequent out the great desert that spans the continent. Fantasies aside, it is far more clear that Acrad and Hastur will be once again facing off under the unforgiving Karakus sun. With mystery still shrouding the Radiant Emperor, many could not deny his own ambitions. Further south the isolationist of the Hsir Confederacy stand seemingly unaware of its giant neighbor’s ambitions. The Four Kingdoms of the great Karakus rain-forest continue to squabble over river rights and coastline, while Elyr braces for the worst. 

With the nations of the world seeing this as the time in which all of history itself hinges on, there is one force that sees this as merely the completion of the second step towards a greater goal. Forces older than even the world itself stir in the peripherals of the world’s vision, just out of sight. This eruption, this resharpening, is only the opening act to a grand play.