Part V
Part Five
By 1315, the continent known as Vitaveus, home of the Venerated Republic, had been divided. Maps of the continent pre-dating the Torment displayed, quite proudly, a single unified nation of numerous territories and states that had stretched across one mighty landmass. By early 1315, however, cartographers had begun to paint a new picture of the Republic, a land divided not by war or political agendas, but by famine and death. Upon this map had been three boundaries, each with its own story to tell.
Upon the eastern side of the continent lay what was known as the eastern baronies. This collection of states and territories represented the culmination of the Republic’s culture, and the roots in which the kingdom grew from. Most of the eldest cities in the Republic had been located on the eastern side of the continent, branching outwards from the coastal capitol of Tor, the beating heart of the Republic.
The eastern baronies had been relatively safe by 1315. Before the Torment, the cities of the eastern territories were strong and powerful in their own rights, and were able to contain the Torment during the early months of 1313. Coupled with support from the Church and Legion based in Tor, the eastern baronies were spared much of the horror witnessed in other parts of the Republic. By 1315, life had been tolerable in these areas of the kingdom.
Somewhere between the western and eastern baronies laid thin designation of land that had stretched many thousands of miles, reaching from the northern mountains to the southern coasts of the continent. This area came to be known as the midlands, and it was here that the first efforts in retaking the lost lands of the Republic took place. The midlands were a chaotic place, serving as a borderland between the civilized section of the kingdom, and the western territories that had been hit the hardest by the Torment. After the establishment of the Consortium in 1314, most all military units in the Republic that were not tasked with peacekeeping in the eastern territories had been commissioned to the midlands, in an effort to secure a foothold. This foothold would serve as a base of operations for the grand task of exploring the blacklands of the western territories.
Little was known concerning the western territories in 1315. Sparse handfuls of western refugees had occasionally made their way into midlands, harboring tales of horror and madness; where the Torment hadn’t claimed lives, lawlessness and civil unrest had. What little presence the Church and Legion had in the western territories had been futile, as most battalions had been cut off from orders and supplies for months. The western territories were now a no-man’s land, a portion of the civilized world that had succumbed to anarchy.
When asked of the Resolve, the only answer many of these displaced citizens could give had been that they had gone west, farther and farther into the horizon, leaving a trail of misery behind.
Intent on both re-securing the lost territories of the Republic and to track down the insidious cult, the Church and Legion worked diligently to fortify their positions in the midlands, and to embark on a crusade that would last for nearly two decades. By 1317, the first expeditions were made into the blacklands of the western territories by battalions of both Templar and Legionnaires. These expeditions would continue for many years, yielding little gains and offering even more losses. Yet there had been some headway; each year, a scant few towns and territories were retaken. Slowly but surely, the boundaries of the midlands had stretched farther west, deeper into the ruined lands of the western territories. It had even been believed that one day Republic forces may reach the western coasts of the continent.
In the year of 1333, however, that belief had been crushed by a peculiar report from a collection of Republic colonies far to the east of Vitaveus, in what was known simply as the End of the World…