THE STORY SO FAR

THE SPIRE

The Spire was a marvel of architecture and engineering, a powerful psionic antenna and amplifier. For years it cast its influence over the settlement of El Dorado, both literally and politically. Occasional broadcasts of strange dialog and music would foretell bizarre events. Powerful groups and individuals vied to control The Spire, but those few who successfully harnessed its power could never do so for long. After Aurelia’s War ended the Spire called to the Hellions, inviting them to meet its so-called “spirits” - the imprints of those killed in its construction.

AURELIA’S WAR

Of all who have threatened the existence of El Dorado, none have come so close to conquering it as Imperator Aurelia, Final Knight visionary and overlord.

Aurelia left Vegasia and the court of the Black Pharaoh entirely alone, swearing to claim El Dorado, the stepping stone to Holy Wood. By the time she arrived at the town gates she had turned four generals from their faiths to that of the Final Knights, her Four Horsemen: Famine, War, Pestilence, and Death. She called upon all those the Hellions had ever wronged in the course of their history, and from their ranks formed her army, The Awakened Legion.

The war lasted a year as each Horseman tried their hand at taking the town. Finally, the full and combined force of the Awakened Legion crashed upon El Dorado - and was defeated. Aurelia herself was mutilated by a rite of faith. Amputated, blind, and mute, she was left alive to wander the wastes, but never again spread her corrupting influence.

THE BIG ONE

What Aurelia could not achieve, the destruction of El Dorado, was soon accomplished by nature as massive earthquakes rocked the region. For days the earth rumbled, reshaping the landscape and swallowing all the Hellions had built. At the peak of the quakes a thunderous clap cracked open the sky, light flashed on the horizon, and fiery chunks rained down from the sky. The Spire had exploded.

SPIRE CRYSTAL RUSH

Three years passed after The Big One. Survivors eked out a living in the wastes with no true place to call home. The galvanizing force that sparked the refounding of El Dorado was the discovery of Spire Crystal Fragments. The many pieces of the Spire that had rained down upon the land were now turning up in the most unexpected places - washing up on the shores, buried in geodes, embedded in the flesh of creatures. The precise nature of their power was unknown, but their potential was obvious. The Financial Institutions acted quickly to sponsor the refounding of El Dorado. While it brought with it conflict, the Crystal Rush ultimately revitalized the settlement of El Dorado.

THE HIGH TIDE

The Hellions are well accustomed to the Drive Thru, a seasonal mass of zombies being pushed out of the Cloverfield by Herder Raiders. Normally they make their stand as the final evacuation begins, and take to the mountains until it is safe to return. They were surprised to find instead that the water levels were rising rapidly, driving ashore scores of Delfini, the crustacean-like denizens of the deeps. This High Tide drove the Hellions into the Devil’s Oaks, much like the Drive Thru of years past. Unlike the zombies, however, the waters did not recede in just a few months. The Hellions once again were left without a home.

THE WANDERING

Devil’s Oaks > AX Seaport > Mojave Wastes > The Empire > Devil’s Oaks again