Daemornia: Battlegrounds Online is a game of skirmishes between rival armies. It takes place using a series of cards depicting creatures, scenarios, equipment, skills, events and more. It is played between two or more players using a deck of 40 cards each and requires a degree of tactical thinking in selecting the right force. Through careful deployment and equipping your warriors the objective is to defeat your opponent through winning battles, raids and destroying scenarios.

 

 

The following is taken from the Daemornia Role-Playing Game Core Book

 

The World of Daemornia

 

The world as it was known is long gone. The daemons left little in their wake and the humans with their weapons almost destroyed all that remained. Despite this, many cities abandoned or destroyed during the Daemornia have since been reclaimed, though not necessarily by the humans and their allies.
The greatest loss of the war against the daemons was in the field of science and medicine. Often the knowledge remains, but the will and means are gone. Hospitals are typically basic and those in smaller towns are usually rife in disease. Magic and Psionics have taken some roles from conventional medicine, with power and skill beyond the reach of doctors.

Many cities have little, if any electricity and those that do face regular blackouts and power spikes. Custom-built generators provide heating and light for chosen areas, but usually only for those that can pay. Fossil fuels are non-existent and most do with an open wood burning fire and wax candles. Even within such cities there are areas beyond repair and completely inhospitable to all but the most determined and hardy. Wandering bands of Night Stalkers will take to such conditions where their skill of survival is unmatched by many races, as too do the daemons of Erebos, where they can act out their tasks without interference.

While there many places under reconstruction there are a few places that remain untouched by the Daemornia. Tech towns are the last surviving communities from before the daemon incursion and are in a preserved state, with schools, libraries, religious houses and recreational buildings. With an almost entire human population they continue to live by laws passed down from their ancestors. Many are known to have connections to the UEA and they have their own militia who will defend their home with all the tools at their disposal. Unfortunately, the vast majority of humans do not have the luxury of this lifestyle and have to live in far worse conditions

Shantytowns are the den of scum, criminals and the lowlifes that prey on the weak. They typically have a small population of between ten and twenty thousand, of which almost all have something to sell. They tend to form in the burnt out shells of the old cities and towns that fell during the incursion. Living conditions are generally poor with many self-claimed territories and internal borders. Despite their obvious dangers, they are an invaluable source of information and hired hands. Almost anything can be bought here, from illegal drugs, exotic weapons, off-world artefacts and even slaves. They are an unpleasant place to be in and are becoming far too common in this world, but there are places even worse than the Shantytowns – these are simply known as the Fallen

 

Economy

 

The old world economy collapsed shortly after the Daemornia. The largest cities today trade in number of commodities, such as livestock, food, building materials and antique technology. Denzon, the currency developed between the humans and the Offworlders, is in worldwide use, although some remote towns or independent countries may still use their own coinage. Wealth is important for survival in the world, but it is not always determined by the amount of currency a man holds. In some smaller towns and especially remote villages, the best way to obtain goods is by trade alone.

The highways of yesteryears were bustling with traffic, with humans travelling to and from cities every day, transporting goods, going to their place of work and even for leisure. However, those days are gone. The roads that once stretched for miles are still laded with those vehicles, though often only their burnt out carcasses remain. The smooth asphalt that glistened in the morning sun is now cracked and holed, with many miles nothing more than rubble. The incursion that befell this world turned much to ash as the war with the daemons raged on.

 

In some parts of the new world vast networks of roads join many cities and towns. However, such travel is slow, as working motorised vehicles are almost unheard of, as too is the fuel they need. Animal drawn cart and steeds, such as Horses, Kangars and Korgs, are the typical mode of transportation for most.
Travelling these roads can be long and arduous, with many miles of often unforgiving land between each location. The ancient highways and byways are often home to many dangerous and sometimes depraved creatures, with some unseen by human eyes. It is advisable to take care of such derelict roads, for many cities have been long forgotten and lay waiting to be discovered. As too, may their new occupants.

Despite the growth of many cities the greatest killer and bringer of sorrow, is through poverty alone. Many do not have the skills to earn a living and some can barely read or write. The poor and homeless take to surviving in those places than others turn away from, and in the cold, dark and wet, they scrape a meagre existence. For many, their life is short, sometimes preyed upon by unseen horrors. Often, those that do survive take to a life of crime, stealing and taking that which they desire, or simply need.

 

The Fallen City of New York
'Hell on Earth'

 

Forsaken is a general term given to those cities and towns that have fallen to, or been captured by the forces of Erebos and his followers. Ruled by the daemons who demand loyalty to Erebos and his ideals, Forsaken cities can be a harsh place to live, with strict rules and little, if any, tolerance of non-believers. The smaller towns do not survive long, for the lesser daemons tend to consume or destroy everything in their path. However, the larger towns and almost all cities will be governed by the greater daemons.

Above all, there is one Fallen City that few humans dare venture into, the place known as ‘Hell on Earth’ - the City of New York. The former human city was targeted by the daemons during the Daemornia for both its importance to the global economy and the dense population of over eight million. It was the largest city of the United States and was the headquarters of the United Earth Alliance.

Many important buildings were either destroyed or captured, including the City University along with almost 60,000 students who were used for experimentation and food. The libraries were of great interest to Erebos, for him to understand this new race, in particular and curiously the Torah scrolls of the New York Public Library. There have been several missions financed by nearby cities in recent years to rescue as many books as possible from the libraries in an effort to benefit the current state of education and to provide information for technological advancement. Such books fetch a high price in the current human market.

The cities airports were besieged with people trying to escape. Keeping these gateways open was of the highest importance to the military and for several weeks they remained safe. Eventually though, the daemons bombarded the runways and waited in ambush for the aircraft as they took off.

As the daemons ran rampant in the city, many of its population fled into the city subway system. With over a thousand kilometres of track and hundreds of stations they hid together, believing that the UEA would prevail and defeat the ‘monsters’. When the daemons poured into the system they killed or captured everyone they encountered. Whole sections of the system were deliberately collapsed to protect against the onslaught and some now believe that communities of ‘Subway’ people still live in those dark places, only venturing into the city for food and supplies.

New York City was comprised of five boroughs; The Bronx was the first to be lost to the daemons as they invaded from the north. The UEA had mobilised what little force they could – fighting had spread throughout the northern states at this time. The Daemons set fire to everything in their path and forced the city defence to fall back into the neighbouring borough.

Manhattan was the business centre of the city with a horizon of skyscrapers and was the most densely populated. Using mighty ‘Engines of Erebos’ the borough was completely devastated as the daemons targeted the skyscrapers to bring them down against their enemy.

Queens, the largest borough, was captured with relative ease as more daemons arrived from the east. Here, the Shea Stadium was used to mass execute unusable prisoners. Brooklyn was the last stand for many of the beleaguered soldiers. The bridges to Staten Island had been destroyed and the airports had been lost. As the Daemons pushed from the north and east and with the sea to their south and the bay to their west, the end was inevitable. Despite this, the population fought valiantly and the fiercest fighting took place on Coney Island where many people had fled.

Staten Island was the last borough to fall. The New York Bay separated the island from the rest of New York City and for a while held back the daemons. However, when the subway system was breached Staten Island, like the rest of the city, eventually fell.

New York City is now little more than an empty carcass, gutted of all its life and resources. There are areas that remain relatively untouched and hold great treasure for the willing mercenary or adventurer, but many daemons still remain, moving between the fallen and burnt landscape to prey on anyone they meet.

 

 

United Earth Alliance
'The New Order of Mankind'

 

The United Earth Alliance (UEA) was a well established global defence and peacekeeping force and was at the forefront of the war against the Daemons during the Daemornia. They suffered terrible defeats for their reliance on their ‘superior’ technology and were thought to be disbanded shortly after the end of the plague.

In the last decade more sightings of their forces have been reported in Great Britain. Despite the loss of the world-wide economy and any governmental formation on Earth they still appear to have extensive resources and its operatives are regularly sent out to ‘obtain’ specific materials.

There is a visible organisational structure in the UEA, with its soldiers dressed in either khaki or jungle fatigues with a suitable combat helmet bearing their logo and identification number. The UEA logo bears a striking resemblance to the Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) symbol of authority and many speculate that the LEOs are a division of the UEA working towards a higher human goal. This is something the LEOs and their government bodies claim as propaganda from anti-human extremists and deny any such involvement. The UEA is typically unfriendly to non-humans and many suggest that they may also be linked to the Human World Order (HWO), a fanatical group devoted to restoring Earth to humankind. There are even rumours that claim that the UEA, HWO and the LEOs are all part of an elaborate world-wide secret organisation. Although without evidence this is no more than pure hearsay.

Rumour also suggests that they have manufactured new weapons against the daemons that utilise plasma and particle projection technology. It is widely believed that they have the means to travel to other worlds, and several ‘alien’ vehicles bearing the UEA logo have been spotted over the years, lending to the theory of off-world technology.

It is obvious that the UEA has access to a higher level of technology than available elsewhere in the world and their ‘agents’ are far more skilled than other humans. It is also well documented that the ‘super-soldier’ was a project under development before the Daemornia and unmutated humans have been encountered in London recently that showed physical attributes beyond that of the mutated populace. Whether these individuals are the part of the UEA is pure speculation and they disappear almost as quickly as they turn up.

Despite their superior weaponry, advanced technology and powerful soldiers the UEA has not taken part in any major conflict for many years – many believe that they either simply do not have the numbers to do so or are building up their forces for a major offensive.

 

The Fortress-City of Drakas

 

Situated where many believe the humans opened their experimental gateway and from where the Daemornia began, lays the fortress-city of Drakas, in a part of the Earth now known as the Darklands. Originally populated as ‘Newfoundland’, its sky is now eternally black, only occasionally being lit by firestorms. The ashen land is covered in lava lakes and most of the inland rivers and lakes are poisoned or have dried-up as a result of the consistently high temperature.
Drakas has a population of nearly two million daemons of Erebos, including many of the greater daemons, though there are also several thousand human slaves. The conditions are harsh, sanitation is virtually non-existent and filth forms a blanket over the entire city. For a prisoner in Drakas life becomes a hellish existence. They are put to tasks so cruel and unbearable that many commit suicide to escape.

Drakas has no commodity, nor does it need one. From here, the armies of Erebos on Earth are controlled and organised. Any resources required by the daemons of Drakas are either supplied from the Underworld or are taken from another city on the mainland.

Just beyond Drakas, the Acheron Lake is one of the few inlands lakes that still exist in the Darklands. It is covered in a blanket of mist so thick visibility is reduced to only a few metres. In the centre of the lake is the ‘island-of-no-name’ that bears ancient ruins, crumbling buildings that once formed a massive city that surrounded a single peaked mountain. At the base of the mountain a solitary cave contains the only known Daemornia Gate to the Underworld.

 

 

The Daemornia Gates

 

Passage between conquered worlds is through the Daemornia Gates. These equilateral triangle constructions can measure up to 20 metres in height alone and are bound with untold power as they quietly ‘hum’ with a pulsating beat. When activated using the part daemonic and part runic inscriptions, its centre will ignite into flame that can be passed through by those that dare risk its ferocity.

Many gates lead to the Underworld, as does the Daemornia Gate on Earth, and some even open onto the surface of the planet. However, Daemornia Gates are unstable and those that require a fixed location must be paired to another on the target world. Those that are not paired to another gate tend to be fragile and prone to exploding, creating a miniature black hole for a single second that destroys everything in a six kilometre radius.

Random locations can be opened through a gate, but the chances are the portal will open in space. The lord of darkness has sacrificed many of his daemons in this way to find new conquests. Once a new location is discovered his daemons act quickly to build another gate. Gates without such a link will only remain open for a few hours with little chance of reopening the original gate to the exact same location.

It is through these gates that Erebos maintains control on his worlds, for the daemonic armies can be sent across whole galaxies in just a few seconds. Destroying a paired gate on either side will tear the fabric of space between, preventing any gate from ever re-establishing contact.

 

 

The Rebellion War

 

The daemons have conquered many worlds, but their continuos warring and the rapid expansion of Erebos’ empire was leading to unrest on his home world. Living conditions on many worlds had deteriorated to such a level that famine and disease were commonplace and with every new race the available food supplies dwindled.

The Night Stalkers suffered the most during this time. They are a hardy race and have exceptional survival skills, but were little more than a slave workforce for the daemons. As the empire expanded their world was stripped of its resources and life expectancy dropped with every generation. Over time the Night Stalkers became less important to the needs of the daemons and with each passing month they received fewer supplies and rations. Then in the bleakest winter the Night Stalkers simply refused to work. Hundreds were executed, then thousands, until one day the clans of Slarv united. War was inevitable.

A few years before the Night Stalkers uprising a religious cult began to spread through the Reptilian people. This was a religion thought defeated by the Lord of Darkness and punishable by death. The Reptilians had prayed to their true god in secret for many years, but now the first open display of Khan followers began to appear in the Underworld. Despite regular public hangings his daemon enforcers struggled to maintain the open show of disloyalty. The followers of Khan had spread throughout every city and soon after the Reptilian nation had turned against the daemons.

Neither the revolt of the Reptilians or Night Stalkers were of great concern for the Lord of Darkness. He had eradicated entire races for their attempted revolt, but even he could not foresee the betrayal of his own creations. The Dankari, the only known daemons capable of producing offspring, had grown tired of the poor conditions and cruel tyranny. Few races understand why the Dankari choose this path against their master, some believe they are the only daemons to have compassion and morality, while others believe they sided with another god - only the Dankari know the true reason and none will share this secret. Talks of rebellion had taken place several years before the Night Stalker uprising, but the lack of suitable opportunity or allies has always guaranteed their failure. This was the time they had patiently waited for and in the first few weeks of a new invasion against a species known as Humans, the Rebellion War began

Few worlds were left unscathed by the rebellion as many races joined the Dankari, Reptilians and Night Stalkers. The daemon empire was divided and many families were torn apart in a bloody civil war. The combined uprising and the betrayal of his own daemons had caught the Lord of Darkness and his empire unprepared and within a few months the war had engulfed dozens of worlds and hundreds of races. This was a time of the greatest heroes against the daemons; D’Kara - the leader of the Traitor Daemons, Marcko Volans - the Disciple of Khan, Graan - the Banshee Lord of Felnin, to name a few.

Unfortunately, despite the gallant efforts of the rebellion they suffered terrible defeats. The daemons were far greater in number and had many loyalists, yet the war dragged on for fourteen years. Races that had once considered such allies an enemy fought side-by-side on the open fields and in the skirmishes that took place in every city, every street, every alley and in every building.

Towards the end of the war the death toll was catastrophic, with worlds in flames and whole civilizations in ruins. The Reptilians had captured a Daemornia gate to evacuate refugees and entire races to new homes outside the empire and was also used to free several worlds from the daemons, including Earth, but in the end the daemons of Erebos prevailed and the rebellion was quashed.