Before the darkness, there had already been a fall.
Encartria, a land blessed, and its devout occupants, the Nuem, who viewed the land not only as a provider of home and sustenance but also as a sour
ce of peace and life that was deserving of all the love and worship they could give. Sadly, as is often the way, complacency crept in and the Nuem began to take Encartria and her bounty for granted. This was to be their downfall.
The arrival of the Britanan Empire on the borders of Encartria gave little concern to the Governance, the council of Nuem elders, as no worldly force had ever been any danger to their god-given lands. Unfortunately, as the Nuem had neglected their duty to the land so too had the land forgotten her duty to its inhabitants.
As the might of the Britanan army marched across their borders, the Nuem fell like wheat before the reaper. Many attempts were made by the Nuem to communicate with the ‘long devils’, to force them from the land, to save themselves from the never ending wave of crimson death but it was all in vain. The Nuem had not the force of arms or military planning to repel the invaders.
Despite the darkness about to envelope the Nuem there was a glimmer of hope. An ambassador from the neighbouring Naedre, a subterranean race, offered a chance to avoid total annihilation – open passage through the earth to lands beyond where they could begin again and rebuild their civilisation. The Governance, after heated debate, approved the plan but the religionists wanted to stay. And so it was that the Nuem fled, with no spiritual guidance, and left the holy land of Encartria behind.
In no time, the Nuems reached the network of subterranean passages that the Naedre had instructed them to head towards and the refugees looked forward to the return to the utopian lifestyle they had once enjoyed. As the last of them descended into the earth the cavern entrance crashed close in an avalanche of rock and dust, sealing them from their past once and for all and preventing the Britanan from following.
The cavern the corridor opened into revealed the real reason behind the landslide, massive slave pits covered the area and with escape no longer an option, the broken Nuem became the captors of the Naedre.
It soon became apparent that the Naedre had been planning for this day for a long time. Metal prisons in the form of bronze suits awaited every man, woman and child. Designed to enhance the physical strength and endurance of the wearer the Nuem now had the power to do their new masters bidding. In order to keep the captives in line the machines had been created to cause pain and suffering to the wearer, weakening the resolve of the already subdued occupants, removing most of their mental capacity and rendering them impotent vassals, fit only to follow orders like automatons.
From then on, all that the Nuem knew was pain and hatred. They had forsaken Encartria and she, in turn, had forsaken them. Stripped of rational thought and mental resistance they submitted to unremitting toil and anguish. As the Britanan Empire marched relentlessly across the surface and the Vaettir prepared their spell, the Nuem lay forgotten underground with little hope for the future.
It was in this time of darkness that a new hope came to the Nuem in the form of a child. All Nuem children are placed into a machine the day they could walk, beginning their descent into madness, but one girl not only retained her mental faculties but seemed to relish the pain and torment that the machine inflicted. When asked she would inform the listener that the gods had spoken to her, even before she was born. She knew the gods were displeased at the abandonment, even after all that had been gifted the Nuem, she knew that the ones who had chosen to stay now sat with the Gods and she knew that only by suffering in a similar way would the Nuem find salvation.
When the Vaettir released their great spell, the Naedre took to performing what the captive Nuems thought were protective rituals. Seeing their oppressors distracted, the Nuem took their opportunity. Using the power of their clockwork metal prisons to smash their way to freedom crushing rock and flesh asunder, their escape was finally made.
Although free from the Naedre, the Nuem continue to use machines in this way; but new suits are now used created in the image of their God. This is the sacrifice Encartria deserves and it is one the Nuem now gladly make.
