Fifty years ago, the gods Fell. Expelled from Heaven for reasons unknown even to themselves, many perished in the Void between the worlds. The luckiest and most powerful, however, contained their power in physical vessels - manifesting as avatars in the physical world and taking up seats of power in their places of worship.

For the most part, this transition occurred with a minimum of fuss - most gods were already directly involved in the affairs of their worshipers, so their physical presence changed little. The most obvious exception to this was in the nation of Nineveh - an ancient kingdom with only one god, Shamash (also known of as the Eye of the Sun).

Here there arose a fringe religious movement calling itself the Church of the One True God, believing that the Fallen gods were indeed false gods - cast down from Heaven by the true creator. Taking up a banner against the Fallen, they set about toppling Shamash from his position. Astonishingly, they succeeded, seizing control of Nineveh and setting off a series of aggressive expansionist wars.

In the intervening decades, the Church has created a small empire, conquering the surrounding nations rapidly. Nineveh was always a powerful nation, and the unexpectedness of its conversion into an expansionist religious state allowed it to wage its first wars highly successfully. The expansion has slowed, however, running up against mountains, alliances, and the borders of equally powerful nations.

One such nation, on the eastern border of the Ninevan Empire, is the ancient kingdom of Yù - a nation steeped in mysticism and magical power. However, the vast majority of its gods perished in the Fall, leaving only Yu-huang (a god of the sky and the pantheon's all-father, also called the Jade Emperor). Today, Nineveh eyes the border, gathering its strength for a push into the Kingdom of Jade.

Even further to the east lies the Empire of Sand - a large but fractious empire composed of dozens of warring tribes scattered over vast deserts and plains. The physical presence of this empire's God-King has begun to reunite its peoples, but the process is far from complete.

Should Nineveh conquer Yù, the Empire will be ill equipped to defend itself against the relentless crusade of the Church. This fact created a marriage of convenience between Yù and the Empire of Sand, binding them together in a defensive pact against the approaching front of the Holy War.

The border between Yù and Nineveh has remained stable for about two decades as Nineveh waged wars on other fronts, building its power base for the real contest. Now skirmishing is beginning to increase, and the real war is looming on the horizon.

Yu-huang, however, has prepared for this eventuality. When the Ninevan Empire first reached his borders, he and his priests performed extensive divinations, determining how best to protect Yù and its people. In the end, he conceived a child by one of his wives, deliberately granting some of his own divinity to the child.

From this union was born Chi Gu-niang, the Jade Princess. A demigod in her own right, she shares a fraction of her father's godhead - allowing her to stand in for him as a focus for the power of heaven and earth. It is her duty to go on a pilgrimage and correctly perform the rituals needed to bind her father's power back into the land, allowing him to access the strength that he had lost by confining himself to his avatar during the Fall.

Meanwhile, in the Empire of Sand, unification is progressing as quickly as possible as the God-King prepares its empire for the coming war. The desert tribes are being brought back to heel, forging a common cause out of their faith and their general hatred for outsiders. The sorcerous traditions of the many tribes have also begun to intermingle, creating the beginnings of a great University that teaches mastery over the magics of wind, fire, and sand.

Nonetheless, the Empire is not yet ready for war, and the God-King looks to its neighbors in Yù to stem the Ninevan advances a little longer. The time of the Jade Princess' pilgrimage is approaching, and the fates of two nations could rest on its success.

And so, a grand escort is being assembled of the greatest warriors and sorcerers of ancient Yù, supplemented by additional champions sent from the desert tribes and magical colleges of the Empire of Sand. Soon they will set out, holding the power of a god in their hands.