The Legend of the Inferno

In the beginning – before the elements coalesced, before the land had protruded from the seas – the core of our very world was in turmoil. Creatures of magic battled for control of the infant world, causing wars across the realms. Eventually, two factions rose up against each other, splitting the warriors nearly in two; while most of the names have been lost over the ages, it is known that those few who refused to fight were called the Burakumin. In the ensuing civil war, the dominant faction eventually managed to destroy key enchantments placed by the opposition, weakening them enough to enslave them. After several years, now well in command of the new planet, the now omnificent leaders of the new empire took prisoner all of those who failed to fight for either side.

After hundreds of years, magical experimenting and mutagenesis had changed the Burakumin into monstrosities, bound to their masters’ pishogue. Forced to commit generations of their offspring to torture and suffering, the Burakumin had became strong over the course of their struggle. Over time, the oppressors became lax in their ways, while the Burakumin they enslaved grew stronger. As myth would have it, events eventually reached a head; the masters’ apathy grew just as the Burakumin planned a revolt. Blood was soon shed – the enslavers quickly decided the Burakumin were too much of a threat to survive.

Reinforced by the magic flowing through their veins, the overlords created a prison on a different plane of existence. Using the diablerie embedded in the Burakumin, the once great masters forced all of the surviving slaves into a supposed tomb, sacrificing most of their own population in the process.

Now a shattered and fragmented race, these lost souls commissioned the task of continuing the new world to their old foes. Setting themselves as jailers for their continued captives, they have sealed the new plane off from this world. Before they left, they left only the name of the new plane with their ancient enemies. Translated today, it is known simply as “the Inferno.”

Millennia passed, and the first weak enemies of the overlords soon grew and diversified. The people merged together and grew apart; the races of Aardwolf today are the descendants of those demi-gods.

Passed down over the years, the legend of the Inferno and it’s two inhabitants have been diluted over many tellings. Even the belief in the Inferno has waned with time. However, fresh stories have recently emerged – strong adventurers have been missing after claiming to have found an entrance to the Inferno.