[Septimius Severus]

Noobs and Vets
Chapter II:
Days of Infamy

The world breathed a collective sigh of relief with the defeat of the AI menace. The victory proved that the clans and tribes of noobs and vets could in fact work and live together without trying to murder one other. For the vets, it was an opportunity to mold young noob minds and impart their knowledge to the next generation, whilst noobs and middling types benefited mightily from the sage advise of those skilled in the arts of war.

The AI menace having been vanquished, several rival groups vied for the rulership of the throne of the world and the ascendency of their gods. Powerful and ambitious, the Deva's Darlings (aka the Devas), unleashed a genocidal campaign upon the world, which they termed "Easy-slay". But the plans of the Devas were thwarted by an alliance of tribes led by ACGHHS, who ultimately absorbed all other groups and ascended to dominance ushering in an era of relative peace and stability.

But their was no real unity and soon the old rivalries began to surface. Specialization increased. Soon guilds sprang up, dedicated to this or that magical path and with a focus on other shared traits and a common identity. Along with these guilds came rumors of the existence of several mystery cults centered around places of great magical power. Some of these, it was said, were closely aligned with the magical paths of these guilds.

Soon after strange things started to happen. A flooded cavern was discovered near the ruins of the old kingdom of Fomoria. This cavern led to the discovery of a small network of underground lakes, caverns, and tunnels crisscrossing the entire world rumored to be inhabited by strange and bizarre creatures. Storms and tempests arose at various times in the heavens and lightning struck with peculiar precision, razing whole villages, towns, and cities to the ground.

A bitterly cold wind began to blow, originating from the mountain peaks and from sinister dark clouds that would form from time to time. The trees and grasses began to rustle, sometimes caused by these winds, sometimes seemingly of their own accord. Some of the old timers likened these events to the Days of Infamy associated with the old reign of terror which they insisted was long past. But they were wrong, for these things were not a thing of the past at all, in fact, the Days of the Infamy had only just begun!

Map Legend

• Solid red circle = Primary AI start
o Hollow red circle = Secondary AI start
• • • • White, blue, green, and yellow solid circles = Human team starts
x Purple x = Special magic location
x Blue x = Underground lake cavern sea province