Shay

The wilderness belongs to monsters. Civilization survives in fortified cities, isolated settlements, and carefully protected trade routes. Beyond these boundaries lie abandoned kingdoms, forgotten roads, ancient ruins, and territories where humanity is no longer the dominant species. Magic and technology have developed primarily around defense, transportation, and survival. Adventurers, explorers, merchants, and monster hunters are essential to civilization, but their work is extraordinarily dangerous.

Long ago, a celebrated hero betrayed an oath that was considered sacred and unbreakable. That betrayal saved thousands of lives. The hero was condemned by the very institutions they had served, but ordinary people began honoring them as a saint. Over generations, the story became a central moral and religious controversy. Some traditions remember the Saint as proof that compassion must outweigh duty. Others condemn the Saint as a dangerous example of someone placing personal judgment above sacred obligations. The precise nature of the broken oath has been obscured by centuries of conflicting accounts.