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᯽ B L A C K . L I L Y ᯽
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Flames borne of The Catastrophe only served to stoke the fires in the eyes of the beasts that crawled through the ripped veil. Hundreds of thousands of otherworldly creatures descended upon the lands of Colessence bringing devastation and evisceration in their wake. Men, women, and children indiscriminately torn apart, villages and towns razed to the ground, and whole kingdoms obliterated in the face of supernatural savages set upon humanity’s world by some unseen force. Peasants cried out this was the anger of the gods. Kings and queens decreed that their walls remain sealed in vain efforts to preserve their own subjects. Travelers went missing and main roads bore equivalent danger as dark forests and off-beaten paths. The unseen force and its rage tore through Colessence and brought the entire continent to its knees. And, inadvertently, gave rise to the Guilds.
As the world grew darker, the Guilds grew more bold in their acquisitions and strategic positioning. Merchant guilds dethroned royals in deals that gave them full control of once shining examples of monarchy. Trading hubs were established in major cities and networks extended their tendrils into smaller villages in hopes of raking in coin. Disenfranchised individuals displaced by the disasters that occurred over one hundred years prior stood together, forming their own Guilds that specialized in highly specific trades and purposes. Those who couldn’t form a Guild gave into their baser instincts and rose up as bandits and marauders looking to secure their own futures by their own dirty hands. Colessence fell into disarray and as the broken land continued to fracture, the Guilds saw their profit margins rise. The poor and the lonely could do no better than to beg for mercy from the Guilds for simple means of living and living safely.
Our story begins with one such Guild, Black Lily. A monster hunting organization to begin with, Black Lily acquired their purpose and reputation when they realized human beings were still the real monsters in a splintered world of eldritch horrors. Their goals were spelled out quite simply; they would stain the land with the blood of those who stained the land with the blood of others. Evil was evil. Lesser, middling, greater, it made no difference to them. As their mantra went, if one was to choose between one evil and another, then both evils would be eradicated. There was no quarter for anyone deemed an enemy in these times. Times that only grew more difficult with the passing of the days. Their mantra grew infamous amongst the peasantry and commonfolk of various regions. They were not seen as heroes. There were no such thing as heroes anymore. Black Lily was simply a necessity heralded into existence by sheer necessity itself. And they made no qualms about their allegiances or lack thereof. To wear the pin of Black Lily meant to accept that evil was evil. Be it a child. Be it a woman. Be it a beast. And with that reputation, Black Lily kept itself occupied with contracts that came in at a regular clip.
These contracts grew the organization from its humble roots in the city of Aventus to the east to one of the largest functioning Guilds in all of Colessence with branches in multiple cities, all the while retaining its home in Aventus and rebuilding the mother headquarters into something much more grandiose. The other Guilds watched this meteoric rise with envious eyes. Many a time, Black Lily was set upon by its fellow warrior guilds, bandits, marauders, and all manner of ill kinds of folk. Through it all, its mantra stood strong and its foundation even stronger. They came to employ members who were known as some of the toughest and most skilled mercenaries one could find and the coin they demanded for their services matched these ambitions. In towns with a Black Lily branch, the supernatural threat was kept at bay and safety was just a slight bit more promised. But not all contracts are created equal.
When one such contract begs for aid in the church-run town of Veslan, a pair of Black Lily veterans are sent to meet one another for the first time and tasked with solving Veslan’s current issues. What begins as a routine job however soon spirals into something much more sinister and the blades of Black Lily once again find themselves in a thicket of evil intent and evil machinations… But what exactly is evil? And who has the right to declare it so, much less dispense it as one sees fit? As these questions and more are brought to the limelight so too are the dangers of the world of Colessence. From humans to monsters to true terrors, Black Lily stands at the center of it all with weapons drawn—but not for free.
As the world grew darker, the Guilds grew more bold in their acquisitions and strategic positioning. Merchant guilds dethroned royals in deals that gave them full control of once shining examples of monarchy. Trading hubs were established in major cities and networks extended their tendrils into smaller villages in hopes of raking in coin. Disenfranchised individuals displaced by the disasters that occurred over one hundred years prior stood together, forming their own Guilds that specialized in highly specific trades and purposes. Those who couldn’t form a Guild gave into their baser instincts and rose up as bandits and marauders looking to secure their own futures by their own dirty hands. Colessence fell into disarray and as the broken land continued to fracture, the Guilds saw their profit margins rise. The poor and the lonely could do no better than to beg for mercy from the Guilds for simple means of living and living safely.
Our story begins with one such Guild, Black Lily. A monster hunting organization to begin with, Black Lily acquired their purpose and reputation when they realized human beings were still the real monsters in a splintered world of eldritch horrors. Their goals were spelled out quite simply; they would stain the land with the blood of those who stained the land with the blood of others. Evil was evil. Lesser, middling, greater, it made no difference to them. As their mantra went, if one was to choose between one evil and another, then both evils would be eradicated. There was no quarter for anyone deemed an enemy in these times. Times that only grew more difficult with the passing of the days. Their mantra grew infamous amongst the peasantry and commonfolk of various regions. They were not seen as heroes. There were no such thing as heroes anymore. Black Lily was simply a necessity heralded into existence by sheer necessity itself. And they made no qualms about their allegiances or lack thereof. To wear the pin of Black Lily meant to accept that evil was evil. Be it a child. Be it a woman. Be it a beast. And with that reputation, Black Lily kept itself occupied with contracts that came in at a regular clip.
These contracts grew the organization from its humble roots in the city of Aventus to the east to one of the largest functioning Guilds in all of Colessence with branches in multiple cities, all the while retaining its home in Aventus and rebuilding the mother headquarters into something much more grandiose. The other Guilds watched this meteoric rise with envious eyes. Many a time, Black Lily was set upon by its fellow warrior guilds, bandits, marauders, and all manner of ill kinds of folk. Through it all, its mantra stood strong and its foundation even stronger. They came to employ members who were known as some of the toughest and most skilled mercenaries one could find and the coin they demanded for their services matched these ambitions. In towns with a Black Lily branch, the supernatural threat was kept at bay and safety was just a slight bit more promised. But not all contracts are created equal.
When one such contract begs for aid in the church-run town of Veslan, a pair of Black Lily veterans are sent to meet one another for the first time and tasked with solving Veslan’s current issues. What begins as a routine job however soon spirals into something much more sinister and the blades of Black Lily once again find themselves in a thicket of evil intent and evil machinations… But what exactly is evil? And who has the right to declare it so, much less dispense it as one sees fit? As these questions and more are brought to the limelight so too are the dangers of the world of Colessence. From humans to monsters to true terrors, Black Lily stands at the center of it all with weapons drawn—but not for free.
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