December 5, 2024
Yesterday we released the Duchies of Venci Unveiled campaign on MyMiniFactory's Frontiers, celebrating the release of our first Age of Fantasy Faction book for the Duchies of Vinci! Today we've got another preview about how Vinci faced its early struggles and found the resources for greatness.
In our previous article, we’ve seen how the Duchies of Vinci managed to unite during the Havoc Wars, which allowed them to obtain more freedom from the Human Empire which ruled over them.
Despite these relative successes, the peninsula remained poor and was unlikely to attain any kind of autonomy. It would take a miracle to grant them the power to break free… or a catastrophe.
The opening of the Rift was a disaster felt across Tyria and beyond. The Havoc Gods, held prisoner within an orb by the Empire, were released in an instant, causing a massive wave of energy to sweep over the world. The earth shook and tore apart, and hordes of Daemons arose from the resulting fissures.
Vinci, close to the disaster’s epicentre, was hit hard. Floods and earthquakes erased decades of land improvement, levelling entire towns. The Rift triggered volcanic eruptions that turned the sky black for a year. Daemons launched massive attacks out of the Rift and newly appeared Voidgates.
The Duchies once more banded together to face this common danger. Through gritted teeth, the Vinci were able to resist the initial onslaught of Havoc forces. But the cost had been high. Roving bands of Daemons wandered through the wildlands, and resources were once again scarce.
The Duchies severed their ties to the wounded Human Empire, officially proclaiming their independence. While a symbolic triumph, this did nothing to assuage their troubles. Duchies soon resumed infighting as they struggled for control of whatever food and supplies were available.
But one day, rumours began to spread, claiming that something unusual had been found in the swamps, unearthed by earthquakes: shards of a glowing blue, arcane material. Those who picked it up could feel their minds expanding as ideas and thoughts ran through them. They had discovered Mindstone.
It was not long before Mindstone’s powers were put to use. Improvements in technology happened at a rapid pace. As the first Shotbows made their appearance, it became clear that this new material was the key to the Duchies’ future. Thus began the Mindstone Wars.
Every Duchy started scrambling to seize as much Mindstone as possible. In the cities, scholars and craftsmen studied and experimented feverishly, their mental power supercharged by Mindstone. Raids and ambushes were staged to seize rival Duchies’ stockpiles, and conflict continued to escalate as each battle saw new weapons and armours put to use.
In Dissimo, already one of the most powerful Duchies, a young woman named Eliarra Beccati devised a revolutionary creation: the first Automa. Other inventors started building Automa as well, and quickly every major Duchy was fielding some.
After decades of war, the Duchies achieved a precarious peace, signing a document known as the Unification Treaty. While grudges and rivalries persist, the men and women of Vinci work together to protect their borders against the many outsiders coveting their precious Mindstone.
Once one of the poorest areas of Tyria, the Duchies of Vinci have become one the wealthiest. New technologies have re-shaped every facet of their society, but they still remain attached to their local customs.
The Frontiers Campaign Features:
The all new Duchies of Vinci Faction Book is ready immediately after joining the campaign! And all the minis are ready to play right now! No waiting for the campaign to finish, the book and all the models can be downloaded immediately upon purchase and all the Heroes and Armies are ready to play in Army Forge, our free list building web app.
If you join first 72 Hours, you can get one of the Early Bird tiers that are priced at a 10% discount, and our Tier-2 or Patreon Subscribers can get a special Early Bird Discount Code for an additional 10% off on top of that! This is the opportunity to get over one hundred Miniature STLs for the army at an incredible price.
Happy Wargaming!
– OPR Team
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