~Once upon a time there was a…mortal. Of flesh and blood just like you and me, child. This mortal was like the others, for the most part. They had a life like you and me, friends and family like you know and they had something they were good at and made their life from. Greatness…that was a far off reality. They would live and die like ants, as most people do. They were nobody, no matter what they did or what blood they carried in their veins. When death would take them, their names would eventually be forgotten.

Yet, we know their name child. That is because they had something over the others around them. Their dreams. Hope, faith and a measure of dreaming is something that can strengthen a man, make them move forward. Make them look up to the sky and… Hope, hope that something will grant them deliverance from the banality of their lives. One day something came onto their path and it caused them such trouble and worry, that they were at a loss on how to resolve it.

Until they had a dream.

A restless one, where they were given whispers and visions by the one they revered. They spoke to them child! A prayer answered! ‘Heed now mortal, servant of mine, child of mine, listen to my words for I am your deliverer.’ They said in a voice so strong it shook the very core. ‘Far and close, known and unknown, there is a village in the heart of Europe. There you will find the key to make your wish come true. There you will find the solution, the cure for the trouble that ails you! You can become greater than you are young one. Come here, I command it by the power you have vested in me! I, your saviour!’ At this point the mortal does not know if they are awake or still dreaming. ‘Be brave and step out. The silver road is open, as it is open to others. Your trial has begun. Come to Carnuntum. Where the Pagan’s Gate lies.'

This is the start of their story. ~

-Setting-

Europe in the year 705 AD. The Franks are at the forefront of recovering some semblance of Rome’s former glory and giving Christians the stable foothold that they desperately need. The Slavic and eastern tribes have poured deeper into the continent and settled with their strange ways and gods, dominating the central and eastern half of Europe with eyes hungry for more.

The Eastern Empire is facing a crisis as their borders shrink and their coffers run dry. Conflicts with the Persians and the rising Islamic Arabs have made them lose much and caused immense instability within the Empire. Instability further aggravated by the once exiled emperor Justian II’s recent reascension to the throne. God have mercy, for the despot has returned. Then there is the eerily quiet north, the Norse calmly prospering. But how long until they decide to pour out?

But there is more beyond the mortal and known. Puppeteers from the shadows are working diligently to fulfill their ambitions. Not all is what is seems and you are about to find out which myths and legends are true.