A newly forged power born in a time of crisis. The Empire of Axis was formed as nations, factions, and faiths united to face the growing threats of The Silence and Portal Crisis. Old rivals are asked to fight side by side, and factions that once competed for power must now unite.

Empress Jocelyn Rivers, refusing to be bound by the curse of Vampyrism, established the legal code known as The Gift. Under her rule Vampyres who rein in their hunger and submit to the law are named Eternals, and granted protection for their service to the Empire. The Inquisition, led by her Reclaimers and the Knighthawks, stands against the dual shadows of the Silence and the Unforgiven vampyres who refuse to bow to her rule.

The Empire is young, politically fragile, and built from peoples who once stood opposed to one another. Yet, it brings authority, structure, and the promise of stability to a world on the brink of chaos, seeking to hold civilization together.

Predating kingdoms and empires, before even the planet of Medi had a name, there were the Druids. Before the Primal Wars that cracked the surface of the world, ancient druids contended with the elemental forces known as The Pillars.

While the Pillars raged across the surface of the planet, the Druids of Medi protected the nascent, fragile lives of their people in the secluded forest glens of the Wyldtrees. As they learned to tame the might of the Pillars, their power rooted deep through earth, tapping into the Pattern itself.

They are keepers of the sacred cycles of nature, unfettered by political factions or lines on a map, they honor and protect Life, Growth, and Death in the world as it should be.

In this they oppose The Cult of Silence, as the deaths they offer are as empty of purpose as the lives they lead. Whereas Kryphos wishes to silence the Pattern, the champions of nature hear it thrumming through the currents of the earth and echoing in their hearts.

The Silence does not conquer with armies. It seeps into the soul, eroding hope, faith, and the bonds that tie us together. Its quiet claws scratch at the edges of The Pattern, always seeking a way in. A stray intrusive thought lingers too long. Doubt takes root where confidence once stood.

It is not a monster to be hunted nor a tyrant to be overthrown, but an insidious mental assault that settles behind the eyes and hums beneath conscious thought. It frays certainty, dulls joy, and thins resolve until resistance feels disproportionate to the effort of living.

Kryphos, the Great Silence, spreads his influence, as those infected with the curse of The Silence seek to spread it to new followers. Each one only wishing that more people understood how they feel.

Yet each of them was once a mother, a friend, or a lover. And can be once again. They are people in pain. Neighbors in need of healing.

No one is too small to matter. No one is too powerful to fall.

The question is no longer whether the darkness is coming. The question is, will you stand against it?