Content Warning: Crux Umbra explores themes of existential dread, as well as survival and psychological horror. Many articles contain depictions of violence and moral ambiguity.

The End is Behind Us

Introduction

 
"We are the flame beneath the ash and we will mend what has been broken."
— From "The End is Behind Us",   a manifesto attributed to the Children of the Armageddon
 

In the fractured shadow of the Cataclysm, rumors dance through the ruins like restless ghosts.

Whispers speak of the Children of the Armageddon; a shadowy movement said to gather members from every aspect of life, scattered survivors, stubborn mages, even defected Immortals. What is known is that they carry a desperate hope: to restore the broken world by sealing the Veil, the very boundary between life and spirit.

Their manifesto is both a beacon for the lost and a threat to those who cling to the shattered order. Dismissed as legend or wishful thinking, their words spread nonetheless.

Origins of the Manifesto

In the decades after the Cataclysm, the world became a wasteland of howls and hunger. The sun seemed a stranger. Cities turned to bones. Magic, once balanced and sacred, spilled from cracks in reality, twisting men into beasts and gods into shadows. Amid the ruin, a deeper terror became clear: the world as people knew it was an illusion. Beyond the Veil, whole other realms waited; dark, alien, and unknowable. Through its tears, things ancient and nameless watched the Earth with dead eyes, whispering in the fractured dreams of the broken.

Most fled or fell silent before this pandemonium. Chaos became law: the strong devouring the weak. Yet, amidst this, some resisted despair. Stories tell of a gathering: mortals, Immortals, and mages bound by shared purpose.

Type
Statement, Political (Manifesto)
Medium
Vellum / Skin
Authoring Date
A few years after the Cataclysm
Ratification Date
It was never formally ratified
Expiration Date
The mission ends when the Veil is sealed
 
"We are the Children of the Armageddon. We have already walked through the end. It is our duty to carry the world beyond it."

— rumored declaration of the Children of the Armageddon

Seven souls, some say, gathered silently in a maze of forgotten catacombs somewhere in Central Europe. Four mortals sworn to become heroes, two mages desperate to mend magic, and one Immortal older than memory and time. Together, they forged a pact and gave themselves a name: the Children of the Armageddon. Not because they caused the Cataclysm, but because they were born from its shadow. Their creator was collapse. Their gospel: to bind the broken, to seal the Veil, and to heal the world before it shattered beyond repair.

It is said that the first draft of their testament was scrawled on scavenged vellum, inked with a mix of the Immortal’s blood and the mortals’ tears, and bound with magic. But that original document has never been seen; if it ever truly existed.

What has survived are fragments and stories told by desperate survivors and madmen with nothing left to lose. The content of the manifesto has been stitched together over time from these shards, its message carried across the broken world by those who still need to hope. The world has lost many laws, but it has not lost memory. And through the echo of the Children’s testament, a new future stirs.

Purpose of the Manifesto

 

Titled "The End Is Behind Us”, the declaration attributed to the Children of the Armageddon, is not a single document handed down intact from some singular source. Instead it is a story, written and re-written, a tapestry woven from whispers in ruined sanctuaries, scraps of parchment found beneath ash, oral transmissions carried by survivors, and rumors shared among shadowed camps.

What survives is a patchwork of truths stitched together across the broken world, forming a manifesto that has become a beacon for those who seek to reclaim what was lost. This reconstructed document reveals the hard truths embraced by the Children of the Armagedon; a vision born not of hope, but of grim necessity.

The tone is at once ritualistic and pragmatic. It rejects hope born of nostalgia and instead offers a blueprint for reclamation: to seal the Veil torn by the Cataclysm, to stem the tide of horrors unleashed, and to forge a new order where mortals, immortals, and mages coexist without masquerade or dominion.

Across its five fragmented chapters, the manifesto charts the broken world, and the path to reclaim it. It rejects the corrupt old order, calling for the Veil’s closure to halt the spread of horrors. The Children present themselves as the fractured world’s echo, united in a pact to protect against abominations and challenge the remnants of power. Though the document’s precise origins remain lost to rumor, its core message endures as a call to reclaim the broken world.

The Three Cores of the Manifesto

   
Healing
 
The Cataclysm was a wound ripped open between worlds. The manifesto demands its closure by any means necessary: through forgotten rituals, divine remnants, and alliances formed in desperation.
 
Unity
 
Rejecting ancient hierarchies and sects, it calls for unity not by blood or species, but forged in shared purpose and sacrifice. Mortals, mages and Immortals must stand together against the chaos and beyond.
 
Prevention
 
Though they count vampires among their own, the Children refuse to tolerate the creation of new Immortals. At the same time, they call for the total extinction of the horrors born from the Veil’s tears.
 

Influence & Consequences

 
The Enigma of the Children
 

Whether the Children of the Armagedon truly exist remains a matter of debate; no concrete proof has ever surfaced. If they are real, their ways and machinations are carefully hidden, operating in the shadows. Their influence, while felt in scattered acts and shifting alliances, is never overt. They have no known hierarchy, no clear leadership, and no public face. Instead, their presence is sensed more as an idea: a phantom moving just beyond reach, a legend that binds disparate factions through shared purpose.

To some, the Children are leaders working unseen to seal the Veil and restore balance; to others, they are a story created to offer the comfort of a utopia. Their true goals, methods, and extent of power remain obscured, hidden behind layers of myth, rumor, and the ashes of a shattered world.

This document is less a formal law and more a whispered creed carried by many voices across the broken lands. With no central authority or clear hierarchy, adherence to its principles varies widely; some embrace it as gospel, others as cautionary myth, and many forge their own paths inspired by its fragments. Those who claim allegiance to the manifesto’s vision often do so in isolation or small, secretive cells. Their actions range from solemn rites to ruthless purges, but no unified enforcement exists. Instead, consequences are as varied as those who wield them - what one faction calls justice, another might see as heresy or treachery.

Ultimately, the tale of the declaration born from the myth of the Children of the Armageddon is a living mosaic: fractured, mutable, and shaped by those who claim it. Its power lies not in ironclad rules but in the enduring hope and fear it inspires, in a world still trembling on the edge of oblivion.

 
Discover the Manifesto

The End is Behind Us

Prologue
 

The world that once was, broke under its own weight. It was arrogance and conflict that sundered the foundations of all things.

From its ruin, a new chance has emerged: not to restore what was lost, but to reforge a world made whole through community, sacrifice, and shared purpose.

This is the moment to build anew. Not in the name of kings or gods, but for all who walk the earth.

The Shattered Veil
 

The Veil, once a boundary between worlds, was torn by pride and war. The quest of dominion wrenched it open with reckless hands. The breach unleashed horrors unbound: hungering spirits, restless dead, and wars that scarred reality.

It was the arrogance of the old world that rent the Veil and doomed us all. Now it's time to walk what remains with purpose, and remember:

the world has ended to teach us how to begin anew.

We Are the Children
 

We are not a people divided by blood or birth. We are not a kingdom ruled by fear.

We are the voice of the fracture, the hand that will heal the wound. Among us stand mortals, mages, and immortals alike, united not by past divides, but by a shared commitment to the future.

We belong to no single world, but to all worlds that must still be.

The Veil Must Be Mended
 

Our mission is clear: the Veil, torn and bleeding, must be restored. Not by patchwork or denial, but by unity and sacrifice.

For in the Veil’s rupture came plagues and horrors. Most importantly, the unraveling of reality’s fragile fabric. We do not seek dominion, only restoration.

We will heal this breach through whatever means necessary: through ritual, will, and alliance.

The Covenant of Renewal
 

To join the Children is to commit to our cause.

You shall defend all life threatened by the breach.

You shall share knowledge openly and build trust across kinds.

You shall forbid all acts that deepen the wound, including the creation of new immortals or unnatural abominations.

You shall honor the True Names in reverence and with purpose. This is our vow to the world and to each other.

A Call to All Powers
 

To those who still crave power, the message is clear: your time has ended.

  • To the bloodborn tyrants who now claim dominion:

    We name you hollow.

    And we will not kneel.

    If you submit to our vision, you are welcomed to stand by our side.

  • To the broken mage covens:

    Remember the root of your gift.

    You once held the key to the Veil.

    You must now guard it, or we will burn your legacy clean.

  • To the shattered thrones of men:

    You sold your world for flame and coin.

    There will be no more kings.

    You will stand as keepers of the new dawn, or not at all
The Dawn Ahead
 

We are the daughters of seers.

The last sons of truth.

The orphans of collapse.

The children of renewal.

And we are many.

We ask not for blind faith, but for open hands and steadfast hearts.

We stand as one, to mend, to protect, and to reclaim the world waiting beyond the shadow.


 
 

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Tooltips were created with the help of the guide Styling Toolitips and Excerpts written by Annie Stein.


Comments

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Jul 22, 2025 12:40 by Jacqueline Taylor

This is a powerful and hauntingly beautiful piece—your vision of hope forged in ruin is deeply compelling. The manifesto reads like sacred scripture for a broken world, and you've brought it to life with poetic intensity and mythic resonance.

Piggie
Jul 23, 2025 18:17 by Imagica

Thanks ^^ They are a light of hope in all this darkness.. whether they are real or not ;)

I survived Summer Camp! Check out what I wrote in my Summer Camp Hub Article
 
Come visit my world of Kena'an for tales of fantasy and magic! Or, if you want something darker, Crux Umbra awaits.
Jul 24, 2025 11:58 by Asmod

Seconding the power and might in this text

Jul 24, 2025 15:49 by Imagica

Thank you so much ^^

I survived Summer Camp! Check out what I wrote in my Summer Camp Hub Article
 
Come visit my world of Kena'an for tales of fantasy and magic! Or, if you want something darker, Crux Umbra awaits.
Jul 26, 2025 15:49 by Dr Emily Vair-Turnbull

This is amazing. I hope it comes to fruition... and that it truly would be healing. I am very curious about the Children

Emy x
Explore Etrea | Summer Camp 2025
Jul 26, 2025 17:07 by Imagica

I am so happy you liked it! I knew you would approve of them ;) I don't know if they will be successful, but I am sure that they'll try their best!

I survived Summer Camp! Check out what I wrote in my Summer Camp Hub Article
 
Come visit my world of Kena'an for tales of fantasy and magic! Or, if you want something darker, Crux Umbra awaits.