Welcome, traveler, to Jenji Pass.
I know. The view is not very welcoming. I don't blame you for trying to suppress that shiver. These black peaks can give even grizzled veterans the jitters. Out here, the sun does not merely shine. It bakes and burns this land with a vengeance. At nights, the bones chatter with biting cold. There are no trees to relieve the eye, nor any peaceful streams or rivulets. Just bleak rock and sand and black ridges rising into the infernal sky.
The Jenji Pass is the sole passage through the Black Ranges - our northern wall. The Black Ranges are our natural defence against the twisted kirits who live on the other side.
For centuries, us humans and the kirits lived blissfully unaware of each others' existence. They were content to remain in their deserts, squabbling among themselves, and we were content to remain in our lush plains, squabbling among ourselves. But then, our squabbles ceased temporarily. We found ourselves united under the great Empire after years of war and political maneuvers. We discovered
saa, the power of the soul. We used it to become powerful warriors and we forged this vast empire that stretches from the Black Ranges in the north to the Sea of Storms in the south.
In our greed and complacency, we poured through the Jenji Pass in large numbers, hoping to lay claim to the vast rugged plains north of the Black Ranges. There, we met our match. We unwittingly united the kirits against us, and they came at us like waves of fire and death. The kirits had discovered a dark power of their own, the one they call
mesaa. They forged weapons of death with
mesaa, disfigured their bodies to tap into hidden strengths, and routed us. They chased us all the way back to the Pass.
There, thankfully, we held our ground. For ten years, we ravaged the land with
saa and
mesaa, before the kirits decided to return to their homes. It was not a retreat. It was an unspoken armistice. A temporary lull.
Since then, this Pass has become the center of the Empire's attention. A garrison was built and towers were constructed in the twin peaks. Bone Castle was erected as the command center of this border garrison. Today, we call it the Deathwatch Guard.
The Deathwatch is a garrison, a training ground, a killing unit and the symbol of human resilience. Not a month passes by without a kirit incursion. But not a single kirit has ever crossed the Pass, thanks to the Deathwatch. They are men and women who are not merely great fighters, but also strong souls. They are trained to stand with steely resolve against any hordes that may pour through the Pass. They are trained to tap into their
saa and use it in combat. They are our first and final line of defence against the kirits.
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Whether you choose to be a part of the Deathwatch or whether you choose to be a kirit and fight the human invaders, history and glory beckons you.
Head over to the
OOC for character applications: