The Face of Collapse

[Jonathan]

The Face of Collapse

All life as we know it is ending. It seems too dramatic a statement to
believe, almost trite. What’s more, daily lives carry on heedless of
the danger, full of concern and hurry: Love is had and hearts are
broken; wars are fought, blood spills; sweat is spent, money earned;
children are born; the old wither and die. But the end times have
come.

Once, the human race was great, creating a wondrous civilization that
spanned a galaxy. Unthinkable, but true, but all things come to an
end, and this sprawling utopia has sunk into ruin, ripe with
infighting, strife, pride and greed. What was once one harmonious
government is now eight squabbling empires vying for supremacy,
yearning for the glory days and ignoring their inevitable, impending
end.

Perhaps they cannot grasp the breadth of it because the end has come
upon us so slowly, almost gently. It has taken millennia to arrive.
There has been no dousing of the suns, no cataclysmic implosion; only
an infection eating at the edges, a darkening of the outer rim — as if
a shadow has passed over the moon. Perhaps it is because the end wears
a human face. It seems so unbelievable, so far-fetched: a race of
aliens whose utmost desire is to be human, to wear our kin, to think
our thoughts. But it is true: They want us — need us.

They have come, and it is the end. They can dwell in our minds and
live the lives they would never — could never — have without us. The
worm comes now, again, hungry for hosts for their trillions of
offspring. The eight empires are all that remain to stem their
feverish tide. Now is the last push.

In humanity, the Vaylen have found what they have fundamentally
lacked: emotion, unpredictability, utility, artistic creativity and
most importantly, true, unbounded sentience. Without us, they are
doomed, confined to an animal state, or something less than human.
Placed inside the human mind, they are complete.

Surrounded and doomed, now is humanity’s final moment to burn
brightly. To stave off the end and live to rebuild, perhaps even
attain greater heights! Is there hope left? It is up to you. What will
you choose? Will you sacrifice your duty, your obligations, your
convictions, your loves, your children, and your very life to fight
this shadow war? Or will you fail to recognize that the end times have
come, and succumb to the worm — tragically remaining true to what you
believe, what you think is important, until it is too late. Will you
wait until what you hold dear—your mentors, your companions, your
lovers, spouses and children — have all become one of them, the worm,
the terror? When they have taken everything you hold dear, they will
take you firmly by the arm and lead you to a chamber where a surgeon
awaits, strange tool in hand, a worm for you writhing in a jar beside
him. Your end will come with the birth of another Vaylen. Your
memories now part of the Vaylen, while you watch, powerless, through
eyes that were once your own.

Choose wisely. Pray you are wise enough to recognize which choice you
have made. This time we live in is the very face of collapse.

Burning Empires
Start Date: Mid-January, 2009
Number of Players: 3-5

I want to run a Burning Empires game. Together we will build a setting
and play a game of intrigue and war. Together we will fight the worm.

If you are interested in playing the campaign, please respond here. We
can start to discuss when we will start playing and what days and
times work. If you want to contact me directly contact me at
bree...@hotmail.com

For more info about the game go to www.burningempires.com.