2. Plot, The story behind the board.

[Loremaster]

World Backstory

Our planet is the home to two worlds that coexist on two separate planes of existence. They are the physical world and the magical world. Each of the two worlds hosts 3 of the planet’s main races.

Sancta Terra is the physical world where the light shines from above. It is the home to the humans, animals and the races’ spirits. Eternus Obscurum is the magical realm where the light is said to shine from below. It is the home to what are believed to be magical manifestations that became life. They are corruption and decay (demonkind), natural and spiritual harmony (fae) and the belief and will to live (the Venerable).

Each of the six races are so old that nobody knows for sure how they came to be. All current creation theories are merely just that – theories based on speculation, observation and/or belief. However, one thing that is true and proven is that all six races are so deeply intertwined that over time and through evolution, they’ve become highly dependent on each other.

[Loremaster]

Board Plot
The war of the two realms

The story of Coalescene begins in 1951 when the Obscurum-native race known as 'The Venerable' unleashed apocalpse upon the physical world. Having reached the height of their power over a millennia ago The Venerable secured themselves as deities and other venerated entities in the eyes of the human race who worshipped them. This went on until the 20th century when their power and hold over the humans suddenly reached an alarming low. They'd lost many followers and were losing more very fast. The 'powers that be' had to react to ensure their hold on humanity. Their solution: eliminate all those that had strayed from their faith.

They began the cleansing by unleashing disasters upon man-made structures. This action was meant to humble mankind with the belief that without their technology, they would have nothing. They did this with hurricanes, firestorms, blizzards and earthquakes which brought down the biggest of cities in less than a day each. They then sent their guardians, messengers and agents to personally judge and punish those found wanting.

It took less than a fortnight for the first of the other races to actively interfere and declare war.

Demonkind had always valued humankind for many reasons. To most, they were food. To some, their world was home, a way of life or even just business. Either way, the humans and their world was not something they could afford to lose. So they struck out against The Venerable. Demon lords began to unleash their legions into Sancta Terra, instructing them to destroy all Venerable on sight.

As a result the Venerable lost even more power. Humans that were not completely blinded by faith began to lash out against them. Since they already considered Demons as enemies thanks to their faith and the fact that most demons killed humans or fed on them; Demons interference was not perceived as a good thing. Instead, it was just one more enemy to fight in the war.

The chaos that was unleashed on the world had cost yet another race more than they could afford. The Fae, who were magic and life incarnates relied on the harmony and nature itself to sustain themselves and their way of life. With the state that the three warring factions had left the world in, the Fae had become endangered. So they sought to defend their lands and way of life – by sending their own to quell the fighting of the others. At first they tried diplomacy… When it quickly failed, they sent their warriors in with the same instructions all the other races had; ‘If it isn’t your own kind, kill it on sight.’

Suffice to say, all the races fought dirty. And it wasn’t always with blades and firearms. Genetic and magical weapons were often used against powerful or abundant enemies. With those, came a new casualty that was native to Sancta Terra.

The ‘Twice Spirited’ were ancient race that was part of human, fae and demon life for millennia. During the war, they began to die out at a fast rate. Some died from disease, others as simply casualties of war. Most of the survivors retreated to their own kind during the war. Others that lived with the other races were bound to a demon or fae master by blood or spirit and survived under their master’s protection.

Unlike the Demons, Fae and Venerable, the humans were in no way something the Spirited depended on. Instead, they were the prime enemy due to an epidemic that spread among both races. A disease that surfaced about two decades into the war killed off many spirited and allowed those that were infected with it to pass it onto humans. The disease deformed the humans into twisted anthropoid animals and then killed them when their bodies could not withstand the transformation. Many humans died from this disease, and once they recognized the source, it was yet another target to be killed in the war.

Over time life on earth became a shadow of its once proud and abundant population. All races suffered many casualties and took great hits in the war.

At present time, the war isn’t as hard waging as it was when it started, but there is still a great amount of hostility between all races.

The humans had slowly begun to rebuild their world in a way that gives them greater security from the other races. They mostly flock to extremely large cities for protection from all the Obscure. Generally, they live in blissful ignorance of the Obscure presence in the cities due to the fact that they’re all well hidden and disguised as humans.

Coalescence’s main setting is the biggest human city on the planet - Refugee City, formerly known as St. Petersburg. Everyone in the city looks human but not everyone is what they appear to be. It is a city that is a sanctuary as well as a central black market for all things obscure.

[Loremaster]

reserved for links to further reading