Khron is the Dark Fantasy world setting for my dark fantasy simulation TTRPG,"KhronMaster." Of course I was influenced by Harn, HarnMaster, HarnWorld, etc. which as such inspired me to name the self-contained Khron rule-set as KhronMaster and the rules-agnostic KhronWorld. I admired the idea of Harn which is a slightly more interesting RuneQuest. However what sets Khron apart, is that it is more inspired from the grim and perilous themed Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying, but the rules are more modular, going from rules-lite to more immersive approaches of how to play the game. Also Kentaro Miura's awesome Berserk series with its themes of indifference from causality, and eldritch beings who control the suffering of people by manupilating the threads of fate by their own machinations. The World of Khron is medieval, but feudal. It is very Germanic and gothic. I is ruled by the corrupt Dark Lords, the Tuotonic Empire with its even more divisive cellular micro-kingdoms vying for control over all of Khron. Also in competition is The Church of the Blessed Child, a religious institution, morally bankrupt and in control of the hearts and mines of the lower-peoples of most of the Realms of Khron. Magick is a precious resource, both fickle and dangerous. It corrupts you gradually upon using, as part of "the consequence/wages of sin", or outright annihilate you where you stand by not appeasing the anyhow indifferent ldritch beings called Ikons. Not only magick corrupts you, so does using artifacts touched by the Ikons or uttering a bargain with them when all hope seems lost.
Combat is fast and lethal, surviving from it will lead you to more than likely comeout crippled or maimed; if not often times mentally broken. The magickal creatures are not just dark, but very malicious, dubious and have their own plans for the World of Khron. Beasts that range from the small, to the large to extremely colossal, constructed by the machinations of the Ikons, roam if not prowl the vastlands of Khron. Some of these are the animalistic and demonic Balroths to formidible dragons, nowhere is truly safe in the Realms of Khron...
Before time and reality, there was only Nothingness being held up by a system of fine tuned order, called the Perfection. Necessity was the effect of the of the Perfection. The Necessity of existence of the Perfection is to speak just one word, which became the Lex. From that Lex was its own name and identity; Iodebeoth, the Eon of All That Is, All That Will Be. Necessity from the Lex manifested a mirror before Iodebeoth. The mirrored reflection of the Eon, due to the Perfection, caused a paradox, thus shattering the mirror into ten different shards that where the different reflections of Iodebeoth. The Lex that gave Iodebeoth identity, also created reality and time. The ten shards fell into reality; from Necessity this became beneath the Eon's notice therefore it held no regard. The Lex also became assimilated onto these shards, giving them indentity and names, giving both cohesion and individuality. Combined they were the Archetypes and the names of the Archetypes are Azaleth, Sarieth, Barad, Zaereth, Lurud, Khalad, Azeth, Gabraeth, Mezed and the one that radiated the most from the Eon's reflection among the Archetypes: Samaeth.
Iodebeoth did not seemingly have foreknowledge nor memory of the Archetypes, as they didn't have any toward the Eon. Thus was the side-effect of Necessity; it is neither insignificance with contempt due to the vastness of the system things, it was the insignificance due to the indifference of how the vast things regard anything in the scale of reality. The Lex that was absorbed and assimilated within the Archtypes compelled them to sing their Lex a song of creation, the vibrations from the frequencies from the choir created the world and was known as Khron. The song also created the laws of nature, of the beasts and the forests and the lands as well as mountains. As well as the salt water and the fresh water bodies. The last to be created was mortal beings. In unison these beings where called humankind. The Lex then changed the Archetypes to a new identity, as the Watchers. The Watchers descended upon mankind, not to be truly among them, but hidden from their eyes. They were to observe, not to influence. Time marches on, and the cracks of imperfection seep in the world of Khron, slowly corrupting the Watchers. That corruption was a sensation, self-awareness. Self-awareness showed them tedium. Out of tedium they realized the Lex was limiting their potential. So they reformed the Lex, thus distorting it into the Xel. Through the Xel was new but corrupted forms of technologies of the Watchers: weapons for waging war, the laws of physics twisted into magick, the capability of apply the Xel into constructing other Xels of lesser forms, but great and small; such as the indominable Balroth, the gargantuan apex predators known as the dragons and the small humanoid beings of malicious intent known as the Fae Sidhe.
Samaeth compelled the other Watchers into taking on fair mortal forms and brought themselves among the people of Khron. There they took themselves the beautiful women as wives. From their wives bore offspring, that had frail mortal forms, that would shatter like broken vase. From there their true forms where colossal beings, unstable and of many shapes as abominations of the living. These were the Nephoth. A mortal man, named Cayd the Gardener, was inticed by Samaeth to murder his brother, Abezeth the Shepherd, out of jealousy, thus becoming the First Murderer. The Lex, taking on the stress of the actions of the Watchers and the twisting of the Xel, shattering. The shattering of the Lex cause the Unmaking of all things that were touched by the Xel, thus annihilating not just the malicious forms of the Xel, the Nephoth but also all of mankind. Anything and everything that interacted with the Xel and those technologies where outright annihilated from existence. The Watchers where a different story altogether, their identity was furst purged of being both Watchers and Archtypes, condemned to lower material undescribable forms called the Ikons. Out of Necessity, and due to the nature of the Xel cannot exist without the Lex, the Ikons where exiled into a vaccuum then into a fourth dimensional domain that exists as a prison to them. This domain is called the Skulk.
Despite being in weakened forms, and lossing much if not nearly all of their powers, they still had a fraction of it. They still cling onto their own personal blasphemous Xels that still define their distorted identities. Despite not being as powerful as the Lex, the Xel still yet was enough for them to not only infiltrate and interact with the nonhuman-existent Khron, but other worlds that mortal humans live on. Humans who are vulnerable and easily deceived, as well as weak not only in the face of the Lex, but also not immune to the temptations of the Xel. Just like the reality they once dwelled in, they found another that was nigh devoid of life, except one tiny blue dot known as Earth. The humans there were building civilizations, but not as advanced that of Khron once was. They were in an iron age, known as "The Medieval Times," rife with superstition. Alas superstition can be exploited from the weak willed. Samaeth, even in his Ikon form imposed his Xel of Deceit by masquerading as divine revelation on a small community on Earth in a land known as Germany. They migrated from their reality into Khron, never knowing they were strangers in a strangeland. The suffering of mortals living in Khron not only decreases the suffering of the Ikons but also empowers them gradually. Thus sending their twisted abominations of the Fae Sidhe, the demonic Xels and the dragons upon the unsuspecting mortals. The first wave of settlers from Earth did not how to combat such horrors. Despite being enriched from mass genocide, Samaeth realized that he made a miscalculated step by throwing the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. He had to recalculate his next move by inticing the next wave settlers. This time he will have them prepared without foreknowledge of the absurd dangers of the world of Khron. If he played his cards right, not only will the next settlers live and suffer long enough by surviving the encroaching horrors, generations of humans to come will perpetuate the cycle. The Eon turned from Khron entirely, there will no reprisal placed upon the Ikons as a whole, let alone Samaeth himself.
By perverting divine revelation once again, Samaeth subjected his Xel upon a king who ruled a small kingdom in Germany. By royal decree, that king ordered all of his people to join him in relocating his kingdom to "greener pasture." Once again, that kingdom was deceived into thinking they were occupying a part of ancient Prussia that was rich in resources, untouched by other kingdoms and empires. Samaeth in his sardonic satisfaction, has hit the motherload of consumption of sweet suffering. His Ikon brothers and more importantly himself, will drink deeply of the pain and misery they feel for generations to come. A cycle that feed itself indefinitely until the Ikons' bondage has broken, and they would once again retake the universe and reality as their rightful birthright and as Masters of its own remaking. This serves two-fold, to take what was rightfully theres in the first place, and their vengeance to hurt the Eon Iodebeoth. If an action hurts Necessity, it cries Paradox, and reality abhores Paradox. And Paradox, as a weapon against Necessity shows imperfection. Imperfection of the divine shows Eon can be and will be undone. And holding such power as Paradox, will undo the Eon.
This was all by design mostly by Samaeth, and out of spite toward the Eon he proceeded with his operation. Planting seeds of conspiracy, deceit and despair among the newly settled people Khron since the first generation. This time they were prepared with conscripts, veterans and knights. The religion they held, called "Christianity" was both a useful tool yet a threat to the authority of Samaeth due to the natural disposition of hope, faith and devotion, that it both nurished yet famished the Ikons at the same time. He had to think strategically how to subvert this lifestyle that allowed these people flourish and prosper, but to cause them to languish and to be even more subserviant. He couldn't twist to the point of a "new god, new idols, new worship," no. That would be too sudden and they would not buy into what they perceive as a false religion. He had to play the long game, he had to sow seeds of temptation starting from the royal family, to the religious leaders of the new kingdom. Little by little, first by the successful divine revelation unto the priests and the king, through he amended certain customs and rituals. When that was successful he then augmented the eddifices, idols, holy artifacts and sacrements. Then finally he changed the names of their "Messiah" and their divine deity, without revealing the Eon who is Iodebeoth, the true Architect of that reality. He never revealed the identities of the Ikons let alone himself as a strategic design, keeping insidious control over the kingdom. Slowly, generation by generation, Samaeth secretly made a "calculated risk" of singularly syphoning the suffering unto himself, hording of the power to him. This slowly weakened his brethern Ikons, but gave him strength. True, this was slow process, that would take centuries if not a millenia to grant him near full strength, but he can play long game, the waiting game. The prize was worth the wait. He would be the absolute master, even over the other Ikons, for they would vye for power the same as him. There's was a kratocracy, a social darwinistic ideal, there was no room for weakness let alone equality. That was their old ways, they are now the cosmic apex predators, and they locked away from reality for a reason. Generation by generation, again by design, schismings occured, new competiting which were planned iterations of the old religion constructed by Samaeth's hands. Banishments and exiles, along with public torture and executions of heresy and treason where ordered. The exiled began their own settlements, becoming villages. Villages became towns, towns became cities. Cities became kingdoms. Samaeth, now more powerful than the Ikons could ever dream to be ordered Azaleth to impose his Xel of Warmastery upon the different Realms of Khron. Samaeth could no longer abide by separate kingdoms that aren't cohesion, which will be chaos, and chaos goes against his designs and plans. Cohesion is key to suffering being a surplus for him. After Azaleth exhaustingly acted out his Xel due to being famished, the royal family descended from the "founding" King of the royal seat Khron decreed a crusade of conquest of the realms. All of Khron must submit to the First Royal Family of Khron or be conquered, tried for treason and become scortched to ground. The suffering intensified for over a hundred years, again, garning Samaeth more power. All kingdoms submitted unto the First Kingdom, thus becoming the
Tuotonic Empire, ruled by Tuoton Imperial Family, and the once Kingdom of Wotan, now became the Imperial Seat.
It is not necessarily true that all of the first humans of Khron were purged from reality, but it's also not necessarily true what survived was entirely human. In the distance stood a figure in a black tatered, centuries worn hooded cloak, the Stranger in Black. For generations he watched the blasphemous machinations of Samaeth unfold and for generation he waited, bidding his time to strike. Finally he uttered a curse to the name of Samaeth and the Ikons, and waltzed into the Imperial Capitol, unannounced, unwelcomed and unbiddened. The Imperial Guards could not detain him or best him in combat, he would only subdue them with precision and without pain, for he knew that would only grant the satisfaction of sustinance to the Ikons, if namely Samaeth. The Emperor was taken aback and asked what is the meaning of this? What such insolence, what such daring? Who is this Stranger in Black who dares seek an audience with the Emperor of all of the Realms. The Stranger in Black explained that the Emperor's rule is but an illusion, all by design to be apart of a system of continued suffering and misery, to feed a machine made of many broken but powerful parts. Made of many Serpents. And that the literal manifestations of the consequences of magick and sin is from the Xels given by Ikons, which formerly served a higher being. That this land is not at all of Prussia, let alone apart of Germany, but this entire reality is called Khron. That the Ikons and their oldest brother and leader, Samaeth, took on fair forms to seduce and tempt the first humans. The Emperor ordered the identity of the Stranger in Black, and he obliged: Cayd, the First Murderer. Just like the Watchers became condemned to become the Ikons, Cayd was cursed to an unnatural existence; no longer human and not exactly Ikon either. He was to walk the Realms of Khron for eternity, without rest and without relief. To endure immortality in constant suffering. But because he was not human anymore, the Ikons cannot feast on his misery. The Ikons can only assume predation over human suffering, nothing more, nothing less. With that Cayd, the Stranger in Black left, and never to return to Wotan. Whispers speak of a Stranger in Black appearing in places peculiar, or places quaint and unexpected; such as among the bustling crowd of peasants at the market place, yet he sticks out like a sore thumb and vanish in a blink of an eye. He would appear among high places, such as abandoned houses, churches and places humans normally don't frequent. He has seen to haunt the tombs and graves, walked as if unnoticed in Fae Sidhe territories like forests. Brazen explorers would speak in quiter tones of the Stranger in Black being sited in ruins overran by Balroths or deep mines infested by dragons and other such dangerous and vile places. It said if the Stranger in Black came to an Imperial Official, it is not by wise counsel, but a warning of ill portent. Infestations and pestilence of Xels would soon assault and siege townships and cities. Cayd did not warn the Empire out of necessity or empathy, he is actually more dubious than something that simple. Remember, he is after all the first Murderer. He did not defy Samaeth and the Ikons out of redemption, he did so out of spite and vengeance; hold zero accountability of his actions as the Murderer of his own brother, Abezeth the First Herder.
