msem-instigator

In a world without violence, weapons were a curiosity. Now, they are a necessity.

“It's a bunch of scrap welded together and glued on with hope... but I don't know where we'd be without it.”
—Jennika, amateur artificer

“Get me that one guy who kept doodling those damn ‘mechsuit' things during meetings. We need something new.”
—Riika, Risti fabricator

“Sky-god. Thunder-god. Lord-god. He rises first. He claims first.”
—Vakavanha, Who Sees Anew

“Some can't even breathe the pure air of their own world. I'd laugh if I weren't so angry.”
—Reyhsia's journal

“These things'll eat through anything but glass. Put something sweet in, close the lid real quick, and you've got yourself a budget grenade.”
—Leka, Apocalyptic Entrepreneur

“Even now, when nature has inexorably surrounded us, we build from the machinery we have. Perhaps that, too, is nature.”
—Olki, philosopher

“For centuries, they had no desires but ours. What drives them now? Habit? Mercy? Winding schemes of revenge?”
—Saru, poet

“They erect their champions. They no longer merely prepare. They charge. But what do they hope to take?”
—Saru, poet

“Oh, trust me, that's just the wind howling. Now, are you buying or what?”
—Leka, Apocalyptic Entrepreneur

Before the Reclamation, the old lakes were drained to make room for tourist housing. Now, only moss awaits travellers there.

“Endure this new challenge, as we have all the rest. Lovi must break its bones to heal them; soon, the sun will set once more.”
—Vakavanha, Who Sees Anew

Vacation homes near the wilderness were among the first buildings to be abandoned by the wealthy and harvested by the rest.

Ivenge had seen fit to make the new world forget its former rulers—but as the salvager stared into the skull's eyes, the bones around him stirred, and memories of ancestral rites unfolded in his mind.

“At night, the dead revel in the halls of the living. Join them with caution; though their tables are plentiful and their gifts generous, they will see you come back for more.”
—Vakavanha, Who Sees Anew

“Sure, the soil's no good for farmin', but ain't no one gonna try to take this kinda place from me. It'll do ‘til I get me some weapons.”
—Severi, survivalist

Recollection seeps into the earth like water here.

First on their path was the outpost within the abandoned stadium. The survivors were nowhere in sight, but something else was — something alive, something hungry...

“Don't you dare give up before you've even tried. Ivory towers fall just like the rest.”
—Tahti, the Lodestar