02. The Backstory

The land of Rin was founded many centuries ago, being the result of a great migration across the mountains from the northern land now known only as Rin-That-Was. Until recently, Rin was led by the benevolent alicorn King Endon III for many decades. During Endon's reign, Rin persevered, fending off many threats including a war against the people of Sarnath in the south and a raid from an ancient dragon known as an Archdrake, which they captured. Many great heroes and knights came from these times including Cashmere the Lambent, the Twin Blades Parabol and Undertow, Time Trap the Dragonsbane, Lockdown the Defender,  the automaton Coronus the Terminator, Saint Panacea and her ward Newjack, and the Royal Sorcerer Dreamcoat. And thus the land prospered for years on end. But these days could not last.
In the year 10 626, a terrible curse of unknown origin began to spread across the land of Rin, damning those afflicted to never die permanently, but come back again and again. The afflicted would be deprived of a soul and slowly lose themselves, ending up a mere husk of a being called a blank, aimlessly shambling about the world until they fell to bits. The priests of the holy city of Aloria blamed Endon for this plague. They cursed his name and sent their war priests to attack the heart of the land, Ortague, where the old king resided. The castle's defences were low: Cashmere the Brilliant had left to find a cure for the curse in the far reaches of Rin. Dreamcoat, Saint Panacea and Newjack had vanished of late, leaving on their own private expeditions to places unknown. And one of the Twin Blades, Parabol, had left the land to warn the rest of the world of Rin's plight. And so, the One Day War began, the war priests of Aloria against the forces of Ortague.
The result was inevitable. Knights Undertow, Lockdown and Time Trap vanished in the battle, presumably killed, Coronus was captured and remade, and King Endon fled his beloved keep during the siege. Whether he sought a cure like his knights did or whether he simply retreated to avoid the war priests is unknown, but in the end the result was clear. There were no heroes left in the mighty palace of Ortague. The war priests took control of the place, and resided there briefly. One day, the people of Rin found that the priests had simply vanished without a trace, as if they had never been.
Sixteen years on, the land of Rin is home to nothing but blanks, monsters, curious travelers hoping to make their fortune and the Shells of Light from Sarnath. In the land's downfall, this group have established themselves in Rin. Following the word of their one god Nophis, they see the curse as an evil thing. They capture the cursed and lock them away in certain facilities, attempting to stop the curse and always working to break it completely...