20XX Incursion Day. Excerpt from the New History of the World.

The day the Incursion began was the day that Earth was scarred forever. It was a normal day for the people of the earth, even in the height of economic instability and petty squabbles of politicians there was a sense of normalcy and balance. All that changed when a series of ethereal holes manifested across the globe, spewing out beings straight out of Lovecraftian nightmares. Daemons, they would be called; beings of anti-creation. Formed out of reaction to creation itself at the formation of the universe. At first formless blobs of nothing but soon given shape to those who look upon them, often taking forms of horrific monsters that sought to consume all. Millions died in the resulting chaos, and it seemed as if the end of the world was upon mankind. That is, until the Guardian spirits made themselves known. Beings of myths and legends, gods of old and deified men alike, appeared to combat the daemonic menace. For the faith of those who still believed brought the world’s salvation.

Now a new status quo is formed, one of constant strife and danger as both man and mythical beings alike adapt to the new way of things. The Vatican rallied the Abrahamic believers and, under the Four Archangels and the Nine Choirs, they formed the strongest bastion against the Daemons. With the help of the forging gods of Norse and Greco-Roman myths, they produce weapons able to banish daemons, the inherited faith of the weapon smiths blessing their creations with the power to repel such beings. The Vatican, however, reverted to its days as a political kingpin. The Angels, now dependent on humanity to be the main troops against the daemonic hordes, set up a service to allow the immediate delivery of anti-daemonic ammo and weaponry. The newly formed Gabeco, the first and finest of the Angel delivery services, now holds a monopoly that’d put previous giants of the industry to shame. The Vatican, leveraging such assets to its advantage, coerced the continent into following its will, though the pagan beings of old were in part able to preserve the world they were brought to heel and made to serve the Vatican and heaven’s wishes. The old European Union dissolved and formed under the new college of bishops.

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The world slowly reformed under this new leadership. The Americas fared better than the old world, its myriad of gods and spirits still active and the faith of the first settlers giving the area a relatively safe bastion against incursions. Only in the valley of death did the incursion manifest but in such magnitude, it created several fissures and such the United States was shorn in twain. Many states formed into loose confederations as pockets of daemons made inter-continent travel impractical, with the preservation of the coastal cities in the east and trade deals did the country and its people survive as large swaths of its breadbasket were rendered inaccessible to its neighboring states. The spirit of rugged individualism was stronger than ever as the populace was forced into being on the front lines at their own doorstep at times. All were armed and all were taught to rely on themselves, though still being charitable. The gunsmith John Moses Browning’s creation, thanks to the man’s faith and cultural significance, had inherited holy energy, rendering the continent able to barter and stand apart from the Vatican. While lacking the modern comforts the Vatican offered. America’s weapons were all generally reliable and packed a devastating punch. In the light of the slow recovery; talk of taking the fight to the daemons started soon after the Hunter’s Guild formed. Chapters sprouted across the Vatican’s territory. The primary headquarters being in the American West and Prussia of old. Under this guild, with the blessing of the Angels, the Hunters introduce a system of measuring the strength of Daemons, and a corresponding bounty reflecting said power. Officially anyone could cash in on the bounty, but registration to the guild would enable a smoother flow and support from Gabeco via on-the-spot delivery of anything a hunter could want, provided they paid the fee. In this new world, money was second only to faith.