A bright flash tore through the sky, and with it, everything evaporated. The countless kingdoms, cities, great armies, and magnificent empires that had once ruled the world all vanished in an instant.
When the light faded, silence echoed across the land. The world had seemingly merged into one circular realm, its soils unclaimed, its rivers nameless. Those who remained were mostly peasants scattered across the land, more concerned with growing their next batch of crops than with building kingdoms.
Then, the people from the Old World began to awaken, one after another. Barely four percent of them had been revived into this strange new world. Among them was Cedric, a commander of a thousand soldiers. At his side stood his major, Syleric, his archer captain, Selara, and his infantry captain, Torric.
Torric, a huge and sturdy man, shook his head as his eyes narrowed, scanning their surroundings.
"By the heavens… where are we?" he muttered.
Syleric, a radiant young man with a sharp and calculating gaze, observed the landscape and replied, "I reckon we're in an entirely different land, one not found on any map."
Selara, an elegant woman, turned her gaze toward Cedric. "Are you well, Cedric?" she asked.
Cedric, young yet commanding, nodded. "We were on our way back to the capital before that bright flash blinded us… and then we woke up here. Perhaps this is heaven."
Torric, filled with excitement, galloped across the open plains. Syleric, however, remained skeptical of Cedric's words. As they discussed the strange event, how it happened and where they might be, a mythical voice suddenly echoed around them.
> "Welcome to the new world. To your north lies a circular barrier. Inside it is the next layer; beyond it are four more. In total, there are six layers. You must reach the final layer to conquer the Temple of Origin and be crowned the Grand Emperor, ruler of all."
The group froze, startled by the mysterious voice. Torric tried to outrun it on his horse, but the voice followed, unrelenting. Cedric and Syleric exchanged uneasy glances yet listened intently.
The voice continued:
> "To conquer the gates, you must build a kingdom. There are twenty gates in the first layer, meaning twenty kingdoms may advance to the next. The gates will open after a set time, but only the faction that controls one may pass through. You will uncover the elements of this world as you grow stronger. And remember, those who refuse to participate… will be eliminated."
They were all perplexed by what they heard, after a long back and forth discussion, Syleric suggested they explore the areas first, and so they moved toward the vast plains and soon came upon a small village. The people there were wary of outsiders and greeted them with stone weapons in hand. Cedric offered them a gift, a shiny crystal he had kept in his pocket. The villagers were astonished by its glimmer, and upon accepting the gift, they allowed the group to enter.
Surprisingly, the villagers spoke the international language of the Old World, which made communication much easier. They were both confused and impressed by Cedric's group, their armor, weapons, and horses were unlike anything they had ever seen. The villagers admitted they knew little about the world beyond their lands. They believed it to be infinite ( it is not infinite) and they possessed only basic knowledge of agriculture.
Cedric asked the villagers if they had encountered any threats from the environment or from other groups of people. They denied it, claiming that conflicts were very rare and only happened once in a long while. There had been only three cases of conflict between villages in their lifetime, and all of them began with two drunk villagers quarrelling.
Every month, they traveled to the largest village in the surrounding area to drink. They traded crops for ale, their only guilty pleasure.
This made things more difficult for Cedric. Having a common threat and defending the villagers from it would have made it far easier to integrate into their community and assert authority. Since, Cedric was confident in their armor, weapons, and horses from the Old World. He believed he could neutralize any enemy with their superior equipment.
They set out for the next village. Upon arrival, the same scene unfolded: cautious villagers armed with stone tools. But this time, Cedric and his men spotted a familiar face among them, Rhydan, a former foot soldier who was, in truth, more of a carpenter.
Rhydan stepped forward and asked the villagers to lower their weapons, assuring them that Cedric's group were his friends. The villagers listened. Apparently, Rhydan had been taken to this village in his sleep. At first, they were wary of him and asked many questions, but he eventually earned their trust by crafting improved agricultural and hunting tools.
The villagers told them much the same as the first village had, simple lives, few conflicts. This time, Syleric inquired if they had any authority figures. The villagers explained that the elders of the village handled punishments for breaking rules, simple ones such as not stealing, killing, or assaulting others. Beyond the elders, the most respected individuals were the successful hunters.
Rhydan then realized something troubling. If others from the Old World had received the same instructions as they had, that meant more capable individuals would already be racing to build organized structures of power. They needed to act quickly before it was too late.
So they hurried toward the largest village in the region. Upon reaching it, they found nothing particularly impressive, it was merely larger in size, with more huts and a small tavern.
However, they learned something new: there was a massive ancient structure to the northwest that no one knew the origins of. Hearing this, Torric and Cedric decided to investigate, while Syleric, Selara, and Rhydan were ordered to stay behind, and learn more about the village, and find a way to gain leverage over the locals.
As Torric and Cedric rode across the plains, they passed through a forested area and eventually reached the site of the mysterious structure. As soon as they laid eyes upon it, the mythical voice spoke once more:
> "This is an Iron Sanctuary, an ancient structure that holds two hundred tons of iron beneath it. It will open after a set period of time. It is said that those who hold it shall gain favor from the Iron God."
Cedric thought to himself, "Two hundred tons of iron… enough to arm and equip ten thousand soldiers. This is magnificent."
On their return, they decided to circle back from the other side, moving past the forested area. There, they encountered huge walls stretching laterally across the horizon. Cedric realized that the circular layer of the world was further divided by these massive barriers, and as they followed the wall down, they spotted a gate, only a few kilometers away from the Sanctuary.
The voice reappeared. "This is a regional gate. It allows you to move to the next region. There are ten regions within this layer. It will unlock after a period of time and contains ten thousand gold coins buried right below the gate. Every region has two prominent resources: Veyra (this region) has timber and rocks; Mooren (west of Veyra) has fertile lands and wild animals; and Gavern (east of Veyra) has iron and salt. The other regions follow the same pattern, each region's neighboring lands to the west and east hold different resources."