![[Ousland Campaign Banner.png]] # A Bitter Spring For 99 years, the world was choked by the shadows and rime of the [[Black Winter]]. But then came the Bright Lady. Blessed with the blinding light of [[Alor]], she destroyed the Black Wombs and ended the [[Black Winter]] once and for all. Yet even with the apocalypse ceased, the world was not returned to peace. Kingdoms and nations awoke withered and weakened from the tumult; the once mighty [[Hand of Alor]] struggled to maintain its power; war, famine, and plague consumed the land; and the countless monstrous remnants of the [[Coalescence]] continued to harry the surviving common folk as they did in ages past. Though nearly three centuries have passed since the [[Black Winter]]'s end, the Bitter Spring has only just begun. # Welcome to the Ousländ Your story begins in the Ousländ. What is now a realm marred by war and chaos was once the heartland of [[Dunrith]] and her people: the strange and dour [[Dunrith|barrowmen]]. Once called the Bannwch by its [[Dunrith|Dunnish]] inhabitants, it is a rugged province of windswept barrowlands, savage forests, jagged mountain ranges, and rocky coastlines, all unendingly beset by frigid rains and fierce storms. At its heart lies the mysterious Godseye: an ancient caldera teeming with tempestuous power and within which rages the eternal Godstorm. It is from the Godseye and its Godstorm that emerge the dreaded Gallowgales -- supernatural storms that envelop the Ousländ in impossibly violent winds that bellow with the pained shrieks of the dead and can rip the very souls from unfortunate folk who are caught in their wake. 5 years ago, the once middling nation of [[Elgarde]] began an invasion of the Ousländ. Having blessedly avoided the brunt of the [[Black Winter]]'s toils, the [[Elgarde|Elgardians]] used the superior economic and military power of their dispassionate bureaucracy to subjugate the isles of [[Middyr]] and some of the [[Oenician Republics]]. Fueled by these conquests, [[Elgarde]] embarked upon the so-called "Pacification of the Bannwch," which proved to be a vicious war of cruel conquest during which thousands of [[Dunrith|Dunnish]] were butchered, dozens of villages were put to the torch, and the whole region was brought under the thumb of cold-hearted [[Elgarde|Elgardian]] rule. But despite their military strength, [[Elgarde|Elgardian]] domination is beginning to falter. From the north marches Lorst Harrodyn, the so-called Leech Lord, a powerful but mysterious [[Andar|Andaran]] Earl of the Wyrmarch who is rumored to flay his enemies alive and seeks to conquer the Ousländ for his growing fiefdom. In the south, the zealous Flagellants have claimed villages and holdfasts in the name of Saint [[Wulfsige]] the Penitent, subjecting countless [[Dunrith|barrowmen]] to their violent and uncompromising theocracy. All the while, [[Dunrith|Dunnish]] rebels called the Bannorn launch guerilla attacks against the invaders, whether they be [[Elgarde|Elgardian]] or otherwise, in a desperate attempt to retake control of their ancestral homeland. While the Ousländ is torn apart by these rivalries, something stirs in the shadows and threatens to upend what little order remains. You are a prisoner, sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in service of the [[Elgarde|Elgardian]] [[Elgarde|Kanselrijk]]. Perhaps you are guilty of your crimes; perhaps you were framed or unjustly convicted. Regardless, the quarrels of Barrow Kings and Leech Lords mean little to you. Now, all that matters is digging holes. --- ![[Prisoner Document 2.png]] # Continue Reading > [!column|flex 2 no-t] > >[!recite|title-center bg-red] [[Character Creation|Create your character]]