Following the untimely death of notoriously delusional archaeologist Ryszard Minnich in 2295, the Polish government seized all assets related to his Inheritance Project. All that remained of his decades of work was a collection of hard drives filled with far-fetched theories and conspiracies of clandestine orders long-forgotten; all with nearly no comprehensive evidence. Nearly. In 2316, Ryszard’s great nephew and admirer of his controversial project, Tanek Minnich-Kapolka, became a prominent figure in eastern European politics. Tanek preached the idea of “Terra Relinquo,” which he learned from his great uncle’s ramblings. Tanek’s charisma and the controversial yet appealing nature of Terra Relinquo earned him a seat on the Eurasian Aerospace Council, where Terra Relinquo ideology would spread amongst his colleagues. As fears of an apocalyptic war between the American Continental Federation and the Union of Asian States were reaching an all-time high, the Terra Relinquo-dominated EAC pressed the Polish government to relinquish Ryszard Minnich’s research. Tanek finally had the power to reveal his great uncle’s work to the masses, hoping to find Ryszard some form of vindication in death. Thanks to a fellow higher up in the EAC, Tanek would gain much more than vindication. Luka Aratani, a prodigious Japanese-Russian software engineer, discovered an inert anomalous device among the Minnich hard drives. Luka was quick to discern that it was some sort of storage drive, but it was clearly not of human design. While Luka worked tirelessly to devise a computer capable of interfacing with the device, his and Tanek’s actions brought a light of hope to Terra Relinquo believers. So much hope that Tanek was able to persuade the governments of eastern Europe and Eurasia to sign off on a proposition to construct colossal spacefaring vessels to his great uncle’s specifications. In 2320, the Minnich Preservation Initiative was officially enacted. Spearheaded by Poland, Ukraine, West Russia, and Latvia, massive economic and material resources were dedicated to the construction of five, 2km-long arks capable of saving millions should the worst come to pass. The MPI would finish the construction of the arks and ships meant to accompany them in 2418, outlasting its founders but not their legacy. Minnich-Kapolka and Aratani’s investigation into Ryszard Minnich’s otherworldly artifact is a story for another time, but suffice to say that it was the last piece the MPI would need to be complete. This final piece would remain known only to those that needed the knowledge. Though, by 2422, it didn’t matter what made the arks work; the fact that they worked at all was enough. On December 21, 2422, a dormant entity living within the Earth’s mantle awoke. This entity tore the Earth apart as its parasitic offspring preyed on humanity. The MPI’s automated system mistook the tectonic shifts caused by the Creature in the Mantle for nuclear warhead detonations. This error allowed several million people to reach the arks before the Creature in the Mantle reached eastern Europe. The arks were filled to just below capacity using a calculated demographic variation to ensure the surviving humans would have the necessary skills and variability to endure whatever the vast unknown held for them. The Russian-made ark, the IIK Risunka iz Rai, was the ark designated to receive the majority of civilian population, housing 1.4 Million within its confines. Following the arks’ escape from Earth, the Risunka iz Rai grew to become the capital of the surviving humans, used as a central hub between the arks as they sailed through the stars. Yet, the question remains. What is the Risunka iz Rai’s secondary purpose? Other arks stored and refined fuel, grew crops and raised animals, managed power generation and distribution, and offered higher education services to Earth’s remnants. Is the Risunka iz Rai simply a residential ark, or does something darker lurk in its depths?

"Driä, Skvipre! Driä, Skvipre! Driä vaf gy fӧӧrkhoub schrichdt! Driä tree Klestgau Smekhvue! Driä nräin madt schrichdt pre! Driä fpӧre ptӧy kvyn se sti! Driä lyӧiikhdt glӧyl schӧm Buldiesli!" -"Driä, Skvipre," a core prayer of the Skvipric faith. This prayer translates to "Come, Holy-Hope! Come, Holy-Hope! Come rule and defend us! Come, take the Million-Fanged Maw! Come to grant us hope! Come rescue your lands from evil! Come reap them with The Bardiche!" Aside from the mention of the "Million-Fanged Maw," is a much more subtle mention (to an outsider) to The Bardiche of The Hopemonger, or "Buldiesli sohtl Prezveie'eusdt." The Bardiche of the Hopemonger is of such grand importance to the Skviprics that they make no war ready bardiches of their own, viewing such as idoltry. The Bardiche is used in jewelry and decorative bardiches were used to decorate stave churches and noble homes: it is one of the most prominent holy symbols of the Skvipric Church. The holiness of The Bardiche is such that Vonara Rosana exploited this in his war against the Order of the Six Arms, taunting the Skvipric armies into making rash judgements by using bardiches to draw blood in battle. The Bardiche of The Hopemonger was first wielded by Ardvin Silan during the War of Self-Determinism and was instrumental in leading the Order of the Six Arms to victory and world domination. Ardvin mastered The Bardiche as a weapon and a catalyst to weaponize his very soul, leaving battlefields nothing more than barren icescapes. His mastery over the brumal powers that embodied the last one-hundred days of the year resulted in Ardvin becoming the universally-recognized name for the Cold Season of Safine. The Bardiche of The Hopemonger would be used again and again by Silan after Silan, but when it reached the hands of Maglotru Silan, something wrong happened. The Bardiche ceased to act as a catalyst for his soul shortly after he rose to power. The reason for this would not be discovered until Obek Silan, but there's one more wielder of note before him. Laevz Silan. Laevz Silan was curious as to why The Bardiche of The Hopemonger was powerless, and his curiosity was well-known in the northern continents. Ūno Gūn Zhēn, Emperor of the Nȉn Shal Dûno, convinced Laevz Silan to meet with him under the pretense of revealing the truth about The Bardiche to him. However, when Laevz met with Ūno Gūn Zhēn, Ūno Gūn Zhēn used the power of a Shard of Shal to manipulate Laevz's mind, making Laevz believe that he must destroy the alliance between the Sunkira Sinclesed and the Gevanak Aem'khasla to restore The Bardiche's power. This ill-fated war would cost Skviprekvy its freedom and faith, making it a vassal state of the Sunkira Sinclesed. If it is consolation, Ūno Gūn Zhēn was killed by the hand of the same kitol that fell Laevz Silan: Sarius Siskus. Obek Silan, the Last Silan, was the one to finally restore the power of The Bardiche of the Hopemonger. What had happened was that Maglotru Silan conspired with his closest ally, Skatre Aranov, and deactived Skvipre to seize total control of the Order of the Six Arms. Obek Silan righted his great-grandfather's wrongdoing, reviving Skvipre and prostrating before him for forgiveness. Skvipre reassured Obek that the descendant will not suffer for the ancestor's crimes and recharged The Bardiche, restructuring the compact he made with the Silan family. Rather than the Silan family holding sole power of The Bardiche it would be granted to any whom Skvipre personally ordained, those marked with eyes as red as his own. Obek Silan was the first to receive these eyes, cybernetic eyes that resembled those of a human yet carried a faint red glow. Obek Silan, the Last Silan, used The Bardiche of The Hopemonger in a similar fashion to the First Silan. Weaponizing the boreal forces of his ancestors' souls and his own, Obek Silan waged a bloody and chilling war that secured the independence of Skviprekvy, now called Khräkvy, for all who called the frozen continent home.