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'''Eternal Empire'''

It is ''Pergo'', the nest where protean man landed on his issue from the heavens and there dwelt in the unceasing delight of ''Epani'', the unspoiled, the pure and perfect world. Epani was forsaken, and the grief of its passing is the only vestige which remains.

Pergo, as it is blessed in the tongue of the Arqi, is a world seeded by humanity in the unremembered past, one more node in the vast, cosmic network of that prolific race. Cataclysm and long isolation have since reduced the monuments of this glorious past to ruins and dimmed the memory of their great legacy to a fading ember. After millennia of primitive existence on the margins of savagery, the diverse Terran progeny has returned to civilization. Not all had entirely forgotten the ancient times; titillating hints of past grandeur were uncovered in ritual, religion, and epics. Peoples were nurtured by strange forces from beyond the veil of the universe, converging upon the world for a reason that all mortals must be ignorant of - Pergo is the sole remaining refuge of humanity in the universe.

Here is the age of glorious Arqualan! Though a thousand eons have passed since the Great Ruin destroyed Epani, a new golden age is in the offing. The vast and populous commonwealth of Arqualan spans the greater part of three continents and comprises more than 100 million souls. In all things, the Arqi believe themselves the pinnacle of humanity, supreme in the arts and sciences, renown in their history, and the exemplars of morality and high civilization. Who can dispute them? For the Eternal Empire possesses wealth undreamed and might unmatched, and in this age when the very Gods walk amongst men, they are shepherded by their Illuminarch, Ionomîs, greatest of the deities, the incarnation of the Divine Wisdom of God-Most-High! 

''But Epani was forsaken'' – and the bliss of the elder days is not yet recovered. From the north of the world the inscrutable and powerful nations of the Hangriti, in the thrall of their ruthless and terrible Gods, ravenously eyes the jewel of the southlands. To the west are the humbled yet devious sorcerer states of Lostram and Keom, rich with knowledge of deviltry and hordes of potent archaeotech. In the deeps of the southern oceans dwell the recalcitrant corsair kingdoms and the scarcely penetrated mystery of Anducydo, the fourth continent. Within Arqualan are more perils, perhaps deadlier: corruption, betrayal, and the machinations of dark and insidious powers. 

You are one among the great mass of divers humanity or, perhaps, a more singular being - a child of Gods, a spawn of Devils, bound to Spirits, or illuminated by Prophets. Will you labor to sustain the Eternal Empire or to tear it down for its enemies? Or, will you harness this special favor by building your own majesty among the inglorious nations of the world, commanding powerful armies, leading great religions, and forging a new order in preparation for the great trials which must come?

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The ''Eternal Empire'' setting is a synthesis of Dark Fantasy and Science Fiction. Its centuries spanning background is drawn from a reimagining of our own world's history in a fantastic context, projecting the rise of societies, movement of peoples, development of religions, growth of languages and spread of learning. Each of these, once woven together, constitutes the fabric of the contemporary setting. Because of ''Eternal Empire's'' historical conception, a campaign can be played in a variety of time periods if the group would prefer a world of sailing ships, slashing swords, candle light, and squabbling proto-states to one of iron clads, lever action rifles, nuclear batteries and world girdling empires. Alternatively, a group might be interested in playing as their characters' ancestors or heroes of the past, the results of their actions having far-reaching consequences in the current time period.

While this foundation aids the player and game master by creating an immediate familiarity with the world through its internal consistency and analogies to our own past, other, more fantastic aspects of the setting provide the necessary counterbalance of mystery, horror, and a chance to achieve the impossible. Enigmatic post-human entities in the guise of the mighty and fell Gods of mythology roam the world, often at the head of whole civilizations, directing their followers with supernatural wisdom and unleashing their prodigious powers in the cause of ruin and salvation. Such deities often bestow ''charismas'' on their devoted followers, granting mortals a taste of divinity. Some individuals, usually deranged and power-mad malefactors, attempt to sunder the boundaries of reality of their own power, calling upon other supernatural entities to aid them in their sorcerous gambits. Unusual creatures, some remnants of mankind's distant past, others created through the powers of the Gods, confront humanity at the fringes of civilization. Finally, the progression of science has revealed new wonders and horrors to be used by man and his divine overlords, merging societies deeply rooted in the traditions of antiquity with the advancements of an age of machinery and industry, an age whose capstone encompasses barely understood devices that blur the line between the possible and the impossible. Here, technology is a pastiche of ruggedly functional tools created through years of evolutionary experimentation and wondrous devices sprung from the craft of the ancients, recovered from beneath the mantle of time. 

I think you will enjoy this offering and come to believe as I have that ''Eternal Empire'' is 'Gun & Sorcery' at its finest. --[[User:Illuminarch|Mike]] 20:57, 20 Jul 2005 (PDT)

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'''Coming Soon:'''

[[EternalEmpire:Races|Player Races]]

[[EternalEmpire:Arqualan|Arqi Society & Politics]]

Language & Naming Conventions

Gazetteer

Religious Ritual and Applied Theology

Sorcery and the Supernatural

Technology & Infrastructure

Weaponry