Beyond the Dreadline

Thousands of years ago, demons tore themselves out of the ground and infested the world of Man. After losing billions of lives to the scourge, Humanity constructed two great walls, the outer Blackline, and the inner Dreadline. They lived in idyllic pastoral harmony for centuries, leaving their great steel war machines to rust and decay, for the Blackline proved to be impenetrable. Generations lived in a world without fear, hunger, or sadness. That all changed when the Highborne arrived.   Many debate how they even got through the Blackline, but one thing is clear, the Era of Man was over. Slowly at first, they came to populate the world, and over time, dominate it. Humanity was pushed out of its ancestral lands, herded like animals. They were told that they were simply first among not equals, but betters. 500 years after the advent of these strange creatures, humankind was living in a tiny corner of the world, starving, paranoid, and fearful of when the Highborne might attack and push their borders back again. After several more one-sided wars, Humanity had been driven back all the way to the Dreadline, the thousand-year-old final defense against the demons.   Even after a millennia of decay, the grand guns protecting the Dreadline still functioned. When the overgrowth had been stripped from its bunkers, and its rust scraped away from its turrets, the Dreadline had been returned to its former glory. Learning from its advanced technology and construction, Humanity progressed through the eras at breakneck speed. Within 50 years, they were as technologically advanced as their ascestors who originally constructed the walls.   Over the past few centuries, the Highborne had not paid the realms of Man much attention, but now, with the smog overflowing into their territories and outlines of massive artillery installations appearing on the horizon, they watched humanity with disgust. How could they pollute this pristine and lush land with such indifference? The plan was simple. Exterminate Mankind before they could have total technological superiority over the Highborne.   As the sun set on what was to be the last day of peace for decades, a coordinated Highborne assault began on the human border. That night, fifty thousand Highborne skulls broke against the Dreadline. Owl sorcerers were gunned down by Meresali infantry before they could cast a single spell, while Kivrasan tanks slaughtered hordes of cavalry and riflemen. Within hours, the New Coalition of Mankind was on the offensive. Humanity was going Beyond the Dreadline, and they were going to take it all back.