CountryCide

For over a thousand years the "Caliphate of the Canonicate Exousian" has ruled over the world of Cretu with an iron fist, crushing all who stand against it and even those who may have only been thinking about it. The crushing fist of the Caliphate and the Exousian church are the men of the Holy Templar order. Otherwise known as the "Sovereign Military Order of the Holy Knights Templar". They are both secret police and praetorian guard to the church, ruthlessly broken down, conditioned, and trained into the most fanatical and disciplined super soldiers in the world. With almost limitless authority and a burning hatred for anything but total commitment to their faith, they decide who lives and who dies in this world. You are of course one of these men. You hold the rank of Master, subordinate only to the Grand Master himself. A warrior General, you are never seen without a mask concealing your identity and rarely without the heavy black armor that is the uniform of the Holy Order. For generations, the world has lived under a fearful peace with the church even beginning to relax its grip upon the many regions and provinces it governs over. But recently, stirrings of malcontent and anger ripple throughout the land. From public demonstrations and civil disobedience, to full scale riots and acts of criminal violence, something unseen is pushing the populous towards open rebellion. In the midst of these uncertain times, our Templar protagonist is visited by strange dreams and visions of burning cities, hills of skeletons, oceans of blood and titanic pillars of fire reaching into a hateful sky. Along with the visions, a deep voice echoing from within himself compels him: "Slakartvia", "Slakartvia holds the secret"... "Go alone". Believing the voice to be God himself instructing his most loyal servant, Master Templar heads out to investigate Slakartvia, an old rural province shrouded in mystery and superstition. He does so equipped lightly and alone, save for his trusted warhorse "Shade". What secrets lie beneath the treetops of this land?