THE GREAT SPIRAL had raged since time began. A great line of whipping winds and devastating tornadoes had cordoned off a section of the world that no one had ever crossed before, forbidding all from seeing what might lay beyond this impossible barrier.
RUSHMOORE & VALGAMMA were the two names that would change the world forever. The brilliant inventor Doctor Leander Allbright Rushmoore was the brains of the operation, and the intrepid explorer Esteban Ramon Delacruz Valgamma was the fearless brawn. Together, they vowed to quell the Great Spiral and unravel the mysteries of what might come after. After years of trial and error, Doctor Rushmoore had devised a startling invention that he was certain could best the Spiral once and for all.
They called the machines UNWINDERS, small mechanical wonders that absorbed the rampant energy of the Spiral and harnessed it. After lining up these ingenious inventions all along the Great Spiral at great personal risk, one flick of a switch saw them hum to life, and after a great and cataclysmic cacophony that nearly killed the brave duo, the Great Spiral raged no more.
The two explorers saw a lush and verdant, virgin land before them, with grass greener and skies bluer than they had ever experienced before. Everything in this new land was Edenic and lush, and indeed, Rushmoore & Valgamma had believed they had uncovered paradise itself. They assembled an expedition to explore and chart this new land, and soon boldly strode forth.
What the expedition discovered was truly miraculous. The fruits that blossomed in this new land were fresher and tastier and more vivid than any they had sampled before. The meat from the game was hardier and far more delicious than any experienced prior. Gold veins were thrice as lucrative and glittered twice as bright. The sights were more majestic, the sun was brighter and warmer, and the new frontier seemed to promise a banquet for the senses.
The inverse was also true, with storms and natural disasters being that much more violent and vivid, with the shadows birthing horrific monstrosities plucked straight out of the abyss. Dream rotted away to nightmare as the secret of this shocking new land was finally unearthed with the coming of the night. To the shock of the bewildered expedition, horrific beasts and bloodthirsty horrors were just as native to this realm as wonder and beauty. As the doomed expedition ventured deeper into the frontier, more and more of them fell to the abominable terrors of the darkness, but Rushmoore and Valgamma were more determined than ever to explore this new land in its entirety and uncover every last one of its secrets, no matter how hideous they might be.
Drive soon turned to obsession, and the expeditionary force fractured under rampant infighting and desperate pleas to turn back. Soon, only Rushmoore & Valgamma remained, the rest of their steely band either dead by mishap or absent by desertion.
Rushmoore & Valgamma changed as they spent more and more time in this new and mysterious frontier paradise, with their curiosity quickly turning to a ravenous obsession. Ambition gave way to greed and megalomania, and each one soon grew distrustful of the other. Who would get the glory for this breathtaking discovery? Why share such accolades when they could be yours alone?
One fateful evening as Doctor Rushmoore wrote diligently in his journal by candlelight, his longtime friend and partner fell upon him with a dagger in the darkness. Through either fate or sheer luck, the struggle ended with Doctor Rushmoore standing over his dying friend. Standing there in shock and now the last of a doomed expedition, the Dwarf genius felt the weight of events heavy in his stone heart.
The realization had come to him that the very land of this new paradise was infused with some mystical ability to bring out the inherent beauty (and horror) of the world and its inhabitants, and prolonged exposure could indeed warp and twist someone into their most bitter version.
The Doc buried his friend Valgamma that morning and ventured off into the wilds, forsaking the fame and fortune that he so richly deserved and had paid such a high price for. Nobody knows what Doc Rushmoore’s fate has become, but his presence is still felt to this very day...
In the last entry of his reclaimed journal, Doc Rushmoore named the new, lush world he and his partner had discovered VALGAMMA'S RUIN. The name has stuck.
As you might expect, newcomers from all over poured in to slice a piece of the pie for themselves, with cultures long tucked away now forced to intermingle and work together to tame a truly wild, strange land. Some flee poverty in the hopes of a fresh start, while others are stone-hearted killers who are wanted in every corner of civilization. You’ll find all sorts of curious newcomers in The Ruin, each with their own motivations and sorrows that drive them to start fresh in a wild, dangerous new land. What’s your story?
Unprecedented times lay out before us, where the five great nations of the world find themselves needing to work together for mutual benefit...or simple survival. Sure, it isn’t all moonshine and rainbows, but there’s plenty of adventure to have, gold to be mined, allies to make, and opportunities to lasso for those with the spirit (and ammo) to spare.
The year is 1877, and the world flocks to ruin.
