Roughly five hundred years ago the world as we knew it ended, so says the UrSkrif (Scriptures of Urda). The Divine Mother passed judgement on us and and found our faith lacking. Our punishment was the Wrack. For most of the Corrupt, the Wrack meant suffering then death. A message to those few Unsullied of the repercussions of not living up to Urda's ideals. For a small minority, the most guilty, the Wrack corrupted their very minds and forms to match the corruption in their soul. These pitiful creatures, the WrackTouched, served not only as a warning to the Unsullied but also an ongoing Test, a continuing challenge to survive, for exposure to these beasts could well bring the touch of the Wrack.
As the Wrack swept through the civilizations of old, casting down those deemed not worthy, the few Ren(the Unsullied) banded together in scattered and isolated bastions of salvation. Some of these strongholds of the faith eventually faltered and were cast down by the Wrack. Those remaining slowly grew and prospered in the light of the holy flame of Urda and today form the backbone of the nations of the New World. UrHolde, Helgdohm, Skógur, Mabet, Torweg and even Verstergard; these city-states represent the centers of civilization and the seeds from which the future will grow. Surrounding these small nations are the vast WrackLands, mysterious and deadly, the graveyard of the past. Few venture into this darkness and then only to travel from one place of safety to another, typically to deliver news or trade goods. Most of this travel is conducted by the relative safety of water, whether by coastal sailing or navigating the larger river-ways. A few, the more daring or foolish, journey by land. These are exemplified the Resenär (the Travelers) that help to link the small satellite settlements that surround the larger cities.
The Scriptures and Holy Flame of Urda (the Word and the Sword) have spread out from the Mother Cathedral in UrHolde, bringing hope and direction to the Ren. The servants of Urda hope to bring about her Forgiveness, ending the Times of Penance and starting a new age. This new age will see the rebirth of civilization across the world and the scouring of the Wrack from the land. To this end the faithful utilize many of the gifts of Urda. Perhaps greatest among these are the UrMen and the UrDyr. The UrMen are humans who have been touched by the divinity of the Divine Mother and thus granted immunity to the Wrack. The UrDyr is the collective name given to a number of different races of animals, all said to be be blessed by Urda. These animals are not only immune to the Wrack (unlike most animals), but are able to sense the corruption of the Wrack that exists in the bodies of the Afflicted and the WrackTouched . In many cases, the UrDyr are also driven to seek out and exterminate these unholy creature, helping to make the world just a bit safer.
Not all have come to fully accept the UrSkrif as some hold on to the ways of the past. From the pseudo-faith of the Temple of the Self in Verstergard and Torweg to the worship of the Great Spirits in parts of Helgdohm and Skógur, other religions and belief systems exist and even flourish to one degree or another. The faithful of Urda are not deterred for they firmly believe that the Word and the Sword will eventually win out and hold sway in the hearts and souls of all humanity.
