Rift survivors – fluff

What happens if a peaceful, if slightly backwards, civilization is plunged into chaos by a sudden invasion from the Abyss?  This what happened to the Rift Survivors

Two dozen years ago, the swamps of Sherot were home to a handful of tribes. For ages, the tribes had lived in co-existence. The Big Belly ogre tribe lived on one of the largest islands in the swamps, the primitive humans of the Crow, Snake and Raven tribes inhabited the smaller ones and a handful of goblin nomadic goblin tribes sailed the creeks and streams of the swamp acting as scavengers, raiders and merchants. 

Sherot lies in the south of the Estacarr peninsula in the far east of imperial dwarven mountains. It was fairly peaceful and aside from the occasional small scale raid or skirmish between the races. The tribes left each other mostly alone and even traded from time to time. The dangerous terrain between the islands prevented most merchants from the outside from coming there, as did the monstrous snake-, hound- and batlike wildlife.  For those who lived there, the swamps were a dangerious but peaceful home.  

All changed at the upheaval of the Abyss a few dozen years ago. While the destruction of the Brotherhood, the subsequent gathering of the races of Good and the drowning of the Abyss took all the attention, numerous rift portals opened throughout Pannithor. 

One of these portals opened in Sherot. The invasion was –as abyssal invasions go- not that massive and it was less than successful. The larger mass of abyssals got bogged down in streams and swamps, a less-than-ideal situation for a race born of fire. Numerous drowned and the rest was defeated before the outside world even knew this invasion happened.

For the tribes of the Sherot swamp, the invasion was disastrous. Since, that fatefull day, everything changed. The landscape was suddenly transformed by the Abyssal energies as purple-black rocks littered bight green puddles of water. The wildelife was transformed by abyssal energy, likewise the inhabitants changed completely.

The ogres from the Big Belly tribe were hit hardest, as the rift appeared right in front of their main camp. Little is known from the skirmishes between the abyssal vanguard and the ogres under the shadow of the rift, but the results were both horrifying and unexpected.

Instead of either side winning, the magical energies somehow fused the creatures int something new and terrifying. Instead of ogres, gargoyles and molochs, something of a new race emerged. An upper body of an ogre combined with the lower body of a dragon-like creature, the creature had wings but was too heavy to fly. Not ogre, nor abyssal, the new race styled themselves “Berserkers”.

With unparalelled speed, the Berserkers conquered the former ogre islands They combined the ogres’ knowledge of the terrain with Abyssal ferocity.

The other races fared no different. The goblins were agile enough to escape the larger abyssal monsters, but they were eventually swarmed and cornered by hordes of lower abyssals. Like the ogres, the goblins somehow fused with the abyssals into a new implike goblinesque hybrid.

Not much to look at, their adaptibility makes them perfectly suited to their new homes.

Likewise, the wildlife mutated. The giant swamp bats started regenerating their wounds, the large snakelike predators suddenly became much more intelligent and the houndlike carnivores suddenly turned into apex predators. The whole of Sherot suddenly became a cauldron of deadly wildlife and murderous inhabitants.

Unified by their hatred for abyssals and outsiders alike, the tribes can unify when threatened. They hate the outside world almost as much as the denizens of the abyss for leaving them alone to fight the invasions.

Though abyssal rift has closed, the lands of Sherot re too dangerous now to live peacefully. The denizens are looking outwards for new lands to conquer in order to rebuild their tribal society.

Recent changes

Since a few months, a Berserker shaman by the name of U-zaz rose to prominence. Combining Abyssal magic, gold and honeyed words, U-Zaz gathered a number of tribes under his banner.

While most of the berserkers and imps would go out of their way to fight the Abyssals as revenge for the destruction of their homelands, U-zaz has more grandiose plans. Under the guise of a (curious, though) mercenary corps, the army is looking for new lands to conquer

On the battlefield

The Rift Survivor army is represented by the Abyssal rules. The touch from the Abyss has changed them into something otherwordly. Their alliance remains evil, as they do not align with the goals of the forces of good.

-The humans are represented by lower abyssals or abyssal guard, depending how elite they are
-the ogres are represented by berserkers
-the goblins are represented by imps

Then there’s a number of wildlife that is represented by units from the abyssal list:

-Giant bats represent gargoyles
-Swamp hounds represent hellhounds
-Giant snakes represent Nagarri
-The swamp hydra represents the abyssal fiend.

Finally,

U-Zaz is represented by the Zaz’u’szu stats.