Grimdark West: The Setting

Hello, everyone. We will discuss the setting of Grimdark West and give you a peek behind the curtain at what is happening in the behind-the-scenes narrative. We will also share something with some old friends.

First, the Setting: Grimdark West is a world not unlike our own and could even be considered an alternate history to our own. It is set in an area similar to the United States in the late 1890s to early 1900s, albeit with some serious changes. During the early 1870s, a group called the Society for Advancement through Science in Europe was tampering with something they called the Breach. They had discovered ancient writings of a power source that was said to have given man the means to build the ancient wonders.

They had been researching and studying what they, and eventually the world, would call the Nether for nearly thirty years. They had been playing with powers and forces they shouldn’t have, and despite their research warnings, everything would eventually go wrong. The group’s lead scientists managed to open the Breach to the Nether. At that moment, almost all of the research team became engulfed in a purplish fire that stripped flesh from bone in a searing second. Those who survived witnessed a figure striding from the Breach, a creature of living shadow with four pinpoints of blazing purple light in place of eyes. Then the dead rose and the sky cracked as a wave of energy poured out of the Breach and encircled the globe.

In places of nighttime, the sky lit up with the purplish light, and most could hear an unnerving harmonic resonance that they couldn’t find the source of. The light dimmed in areas where the sun was high in the sky, almost like an eclipse happened. The purplish wave spread in this sudden darkness, and the harmonic resonance remained. The Breach was open, and the entities from the Nether were free to roam a world unprepared.

One of the surviving researchers claimed that six similar figures followed the figure that emerged and that they could see something in the Breach, like a living wall of madness. These reports are uncertain as the man was eventually committed to the local asylum.

What is known is that ever since that night, the creatures of legend and myth have walked this world. The dead no longer remain still, and people have been able to harness long-lost forms of arcane energies. Individuals of Faith have been able to manifest miracles, and those who are more intuned with nature find themselves able to not only speak with the forests and land but also hear it respond.

All of this led to the War of Night, a three-year conflict that saw nations, kingdoms, and most of the world’s geopolitical systems tumble. No one knows for sure how it ended, as just when everything seemed lost, a flash of light was seen, and the forces of the Nether were greatly diminished. It was as if a wish had been granted…

Now, ten years after the War of Night, steam-powered locomotives sit side by side with engines powered by solidified Nether energy called Source Stone. As we rebuild, the world looks a lot like the late 1880s to 1900s, albeit more spaced out and in a world that looks different than our current maps. Large cities are surrounded by great walls to keep the creatures of the night out. Most live in settlements, and the dead still don’t stay dead.

Explorers carry blades and revolvers as they saddle up to explore a reshaped world. A world where you can spend the night in a saloon, drink whiskey, and play poker. A world where you can have shootouts with living and undead bandits. A world where wandering hordes of the unhallowed (zombies for the layman) besiege smaller settlements. Wendigos and werewolves fight those who wield manifested powers of faith. In contrast, vampires and mummies face arcane-wielding spellbinders and shamans, where a gunslinger can earn a wage by tracking fey spirits and living scarecrows.

Welcome to Grimdark West, a world of magic, gunpowder, horror, and adventure!

Second, A Promise and a Secret: Hi Ralph here, so Grimdark West started as a live-action role-playing game. When the LARP closed down, I told everyone then that I would find a way to finish the story and show all the players we had what happened next. When we launch the Kickstarter in July, there will be a module for the game called “A Little Town of Brea.” The Module will contain plots from the LARP and the plot for the final season. The Module will act as an entry point for new players and as a prequel to the setting. The Module will allow the former players of the LARP a means to finish that story and be an entry point for new players to see what led to and how the War of Night ended.

Now for the Secret. For those who were at the LARP, you know what power a Wish can have. I look forward to hearing from all of you what you choose at the end of “A Little Town of Brea” and how you handle the threat of Veilshoon, the entity trapped in the Ruby from the Tober Estate! We launch the Kickstarter in July, and I invite you all, whether new or returning, to our little town of Brea!