The Torn Kingdom

Description

The Urchae were once the masters of the Living Jungles. They built grand temple-cities in the mountain ridges that overlook the jungle and from here they ruled. They were quite advanced for their time and they were proud of their kingdom. But now it is torn apart. Shattered. Broken.

A tectonic shift caused a series of earthquakes that disfigured the mountain ranges and ruined their cities. Many were buried under the rubble during the catastrophe. Many died afterwards as they were now prey without a home, without food supplies. Without infrastructure, and with many of their kind dead, they lost everything overnight. Many fled the jungles to roam further north, others stayed within their ruined cities, to mourn or to rebuild. To regain their former glory.
Those who stayed eventually sought each other out, they are the Torn Kingdom. They are not one, they are many disparate tribes with different ideas. But all with the same goal: to rebuild their once great nation.

Factions

Among them are three groups in particular that have taken the reins, and most of the survivors of the Torn Kingdom belong to one of these three groups.

The Vigilant

Most of the Urchae still continue to place their faith in the Gods they worshiped before, such as Skarann. But they do so now with a different kind of fervor. They pray, they wait, patiently. They wait for a sign or a divine gift, something to show them the path back to their former glory. In the mean-time, they make it their mission to unearth all their ruined temple-cities and restore the shrines within. Perhaps the Gods have taken notice of them, for they seem to be doing relatively well compared to the other survivors.

The Forsaken

Some choose to see the disaster that befell their kind as proof that the Gods have abandoned them, or that they never cared for them in the first place. They have decided that they will no longer worship those who do not grant them direct help. They have chosen to worship other creatures, in particular an Archdemon that they call the Iron Wind. They deface the shrines in their old temple cities and repurpose them for his worship. These groups are almost like cults in their fervor and they will take any path to power that they can find, no matter the cost.

The Reborn

The newest group among the three, but one that has been steadily gaining in influence is the Reborn. This group was born from an encounter between Urchae scavengers and a Gnome emissary of the Future Kin. He explained to them the benefits of transhumanoidism and that it was the path to the future. And they saw a way to regain their glory, by improving themselves and becoming the apex predator of the world. They raid their old temple-cities, scavenging what relics and old tech they can find that they can no longer use and trade it with the Gnomes for new technology and magical knowledge that allows them to change their bodies and improve themselves. So that one day, the entire world can be their hunting ground.