Where did they come from?

Why are we here?

Questions lost in silence… questions a million times spoken yet left unanswered. My great-grandmother used to tell me stories of a time when humanity roamed the earth as a free race – a time when our kind outsmarted every natural predator it came across and stood as the dominant species – a time when the sky was the limit, and yet we still managed to go so much further. Of course, this was all before the plague hit.

No one knows where the ghouls came from or why they appeared. Some say that they were the creation of a wrathful spirit who became envious of mankind’s success. Others believe that we were so focused on worshipping the gods above that we failed to see the threat that loomed right beneath our feet. I’ve also heard theories about a murderous alien fungus, but personally I think that just proves that humans aren’t supposed to live in a cage.

This ‘cage’ that we live in today is known as Gederah, and it’s origin is just as mysterious as the ghouls themselves. The story goes that just over 400 years ago the ghouls had nearly succeeded in destroying everything, wiping out entire species and driving many others to the brink of extinction. However, just when it seemed the end had arrived for us, what little remained of the human population suddenly awoke within a massive enclosed territory. Not a single person knew where they were or remembered how they had gotten there, but all that mattered was that this unexplainable turn of events had provided them with a shield against the ghouls. However, not everyone was satisfied with this new way of life.

After only two weeks of this newfound safety, a group of exceptionally strong people gathered together in an attempt to fight back against the unknown. They would eventually come to be known as the first ever Vanguard soldiers, and were led by a man called Ambrose Gederah. Gederah was the only person to return from that expedition, and though his mission had failed, he was welcomed back as a hero. Mankind’s new walled territory was named in his honor, and he was crowned leader for his bravery and experience – the first Patriarch. Since then, the Vanguard has evolved into a legitimate branch of military intent on taking back our land and fighting against the ghouls, learning anything they can about our enemy and forming alliances with outsiders with the intention of building a better tomorrow. Unfortunately, due their lack of success, their efforts have turned into a somewhat controversial subject. Even so, those in the Vanguard are the only people willing to fight for humanity’s future. We are the ones who continue toward Ambrose Gederah’s vision of reclaiming the world that was once ours and ending the ghouls’ four-hundred-year long reign of terror. We are the only ones willing to put our lives on the line for even the slightest understanding of what we’re up against.

I’ve spent countless nights asking questions and trying to make sense of it all but something has always been missing – like a broken piece of a puzzle that never quite fit, it remains in a seemingly eternal state of incompletion, but I have never given up hope. We live in a world full of mystery and unexplained phenomena. The answer we’ve sought for so long is out there somewhere beyond the horizon just waiting to be discovered… and once we find it, it will lead us back home.