A Chronicle of the Wandering Legion
Before the fracturing of the known worlds, before the rains of ash choked the skies, there were the Fleetnesses. Not warriors in the traditional sense, but echoes of purpose, fragments of memory granted form by the Silent Gods. They weren't born; they coalesced from the psychic residue of immense loss, from the desperate prayers of civilizations consumed by their own hubris. The first Fleetnesses were small, localized manifestations—a flicker of protective instinct in a dying city, a driving urge to rebuild amidst the ruins. They operated on instinct, guided by the faintest whispers of the Gods’ desires, often manifesting as shimmering, vaguely humanoid figures composed of sand and starlight.
The key to their existence was belief. The stronger the faith, the more substantial the Fleetness became. A temple dedicated to a forgotten deity could spawn a hundred shimmering warriors; a single, heartbroken survivor could give birth to a fleeting guardian.
The Fleetnesses followed a relentless, cyclical pattern. They rose in times of profound sorrow and instability, drawn to points of concentrated psychic energy. They would offer solace, protection, and occasionally, a terrifying brand of justice. But their existence was inherently unstable. As the source of their power diminished, so too did they. When the faith waned, they dissipated back into the sands, leaving behind only the faintest trace of their presence—often manifesting as a peculiar shimmer in the air, a sudden drop in temperature, or the unsettling feeling of being watched.
Their motivations were rarely clear. They weren't driven by ambition or conquest. Instead, they seemed to be compelled by a desperate need to *complete* something, to right a wrong, to prevent a recurrence. This compulsion often led them into conflict with other factions—human kingdoms, nascent cults, even other Fleetnesses vying for the same shard of forgotten purpose.
The most dangerous aspect of a Fleetness was its capacity for corruption. When exposed to prolonged periods of negativity—fear, hatred, despair—they could warp, twisting their purpose into something monstrous. A guardian meant to protect could become a relentless hunter; a protector could become a brutal enforcer.
The initial coalescences, scattered across the fractured remains of the Old Empire. Small, localized manifestations of protective instinct.
The formation of the Obsidian Guard, a particularly potent Fleetness centered around a shattered temple dedicated to the God of Order. Known for their unwavering discipline and terrifying efficiency.
A catastrophic event – the collapse of the Citadel of Whispers – triggered a massive wave of Fleetness activity, leading to widespread chaos and the emergence of numerous new, unstable manifestations.
The temporary unification of several prominent Fleetnesses, forming a fragile alliance to combat a rising threat – the Corrupted Legion, a Fleetness consumed by nihilistic despair.
The current era – a period of dwindling Fleetness activity, punctuated by sporadic outbreaks of violence and unsettling phenomena. The fate of the remaining echoes remains uncertain.