PROLOGUE

2000 years ago a nuclear war ripped open the fabric of the universe itself and covered the sky with something that looked not unlike the northern lights. The survivors called it the Dream.

The remnants of humanity recovering from the aftermath of a brutal world war were harshly introduced to what the Dream brought, a system that resembled a video game, allowing the survivors of the holocaust to be given Attributes and gain strengths that could only be described as superhuman. Though nothing compared to the few survivors of the war who found they could interact with it on a metaphysical level, who could gain Gifts and learn Tricks with those Gifts and do amazing things. Most only got one Gift, broken into one of the Four Domains of the Heart, Mind, Body or Soul. These were called the Gifted. The elite of the race.

A small select group got much much more. The ones that had Gifts in at least two Domains were named Sorceres and became the Alpha Predators of humanity.

These Monsters formed the Academy of Sorceres and ruled over what was left of humanity and they themselves ruled by one man, the strongest of them, only referred to as the Archon. But soon they found the more they interacted with the Dream that it was not without its own life and dangers. It was not a phenomenon but another dimension filled with beings, a whole other world, a place that long ago in the past once touched Earth.

It was filled with nightmare beasts of a thousand legends and macabre myths, creatures once referred to as demons in a thousand languages.

The more one interacted with the Dream the more chance it would cause an incursion. An incursion would release these malevolent beings for a brief period of time. They would corperealize during this window and go on rampages of slaughter killing anything living near the place of the incursion.

Then something even worse happened. The Demons found a truth they once knew in the beginning of Earth’s history but had forgotten, that they could find more permanency if they could seduce a host who was willing to bond with them. And they had little trouble doing so. There were many humans who were envious of people who could manipulate the Dream, the Norms as they were called who while getting stats and ranks, had no Gifts, no Tricks and whose power level was capped far below the precious few.

That described most and so the Demons found a plethora of meat puppets. And the invasion began.

The Academy of Sorceres knew they had to do something so they formed the Lanterns. Norms and Gifted that were trained to stamp out and purge the human/demon hybrids. They were formed into 5 man Battle Squads led by an Inquisitor. And it worked for almost two thousand years and humanity prospered and built wondrous tech mixed with magic and became powerful.

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Sorceres ruled and the Lanterns culled, guardians of the light but then all of it went to shit.

The Ruler and Founder of the Academy of Sorceres, the Archon, succumbed to temptation. Even with the prolonged life of a Sorcere, age was finally claiming its due, the end of his life coming closer with every tomorrow. His ego screamed defiance and in the singular most devastating act in the history of humanity he made a choice that would change everything. He enacted an ancient ritual and bonded with one of the most powerful of demon kind, a Prince of the Blood, his immortality bought at the cost of freedom and a prodigious amount of life. The corruption spread.

The war was lost in that choice and all the Sorceres were either seduced or destroyed in refusal. He even sacrificed his own family to his machinations.

The Lanterns fought to stem the tides and the corrupted Sorceres but were overwhelmed.

It's been twenty years since what has been called The Fall and hope is a legend lost in blood and endless corpses.

This is the story of The War Hounds, one of the last surviving Battle Squads of the Lanterns, and D'Karis Fell, The Hound, their leader. The World has fallen, survivors huddle in ruins and Demon/Human hybrids roam what's left n packs. Can one Inquisitor of the Lanterns and the remnants of his Battle Squad do anything to change it?

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HUMANS

Etherium – 10 Stat Points per Tier (Divine – Mythics) (Hybrid Sorceres)(A Legend said not to exist)

Diamond (Max Sorceres) – Wytch 8 stat points per tier

Sapphire 7 stat points per tier (Max Hybrid Gifted)

Ruby(Max Gifted) – Magi 6 stat points per tier

Emerald 5 stat points per tier ( Max Hybrid Soul Runed) (Max War Hounds Soul Runed)

Amethyst (Max Crusaders – Soul Runed) 4 Stat Points per tier

Garnet 3 stat points per tier (Max hybrid norm)

Opal 2 stat points per tier(Max Norm)(Hybrid Animals)

Jade 1 stat point per tier

DEMONS

S High Lords – Tier 8

A. Royals – Tier 7

B. Champions – Tier 6

C, Elite – Tear 5

D. Officers – Tier 4

E. Soldiers– Tier 3

F. Grunts – Tear 2

G. Dregs – Tier 1 (Mongrels)