Our world is called Codas, the world of endings, it is the final destination of all incomplete stories. Those who live upon its surface are forgotten, mistakes, errors, failures, broken, lost, or they are the children of such beings. Due to their otherworldly origins, these remnants are fated to remain fractured, never gaining their happy end, only the children born within Codas hold the potential to become complete.
Tainted Dust blankets everything, gray as far as the eye can see, yet humanity has managed to survive within the inhospitable land. They had at first struggled to keep their lives, eventually some formed communities, some wander alone, others join roaming caravans.
Humanity has managed to reach greater heights through the use of paths. These paths are sets of beliefs, emotion. Logic, or otherwise that gives one a variety of strange control methods over dust.
There are three major path's that humanity follows, the first is the path of light, the most well known and hardest to follow. Individuals who follow this path exude hope, bravery, happiness, and promote positivity. They are also capable of purifying small amounts of dust for use in Xenox Hymns, similar in nature to it's cousin, the essence of miracles, magic, though still rather different. This path is also heavily involved with the Church of Ashmir and their teachings.
Yet some people follow a different path, departing from the path of light, and taking to the darker road. These people are commonly called the Tainted, in following their path they become capable of manipulating tainted dust directly, the weak minded are eventually driven mad from use, while the strong minded maintain a unique form of insanity with oddly sane like qualities.
The tainted can sometimes be found gathering together following their shared path, often these groupings are called Covens, conflict between Covens and other humans has occurred before, a few Covens have even gone as far as infiltrating large established settlements, causing massive loss of life through their schemes.
Some of the tainted follow their path alone, some wholly dedicate themselves to the research of the dust, while others merely seek power. However the most dangerous individuals of the Tainted are referred to by the terrifying nature of their feats, they are collectively referred to as Aberrations.
A noteworthy mention includes the Necromancer of Astoth, who through the use of a unique Dust Hymn and a previously destroyed establishment, created an army of undead servants. Currently the necromancer reigns as Emperor of the Warlock Empire, the head of a newly established faction in the war, and a gathering place for various covens and wandering tainted. A widespread knowledge concerning the use of undead for labor, and the creation of a slave trade inside the empire have cause a widespread distrust, and low favorability amongst most non-tainted individuals.
Other such Individuals exist, though, with lesser feats, one such case is the Flesh Miser, who managed to create a unique Dust Hymn that, when invoked, created horrifying monsters formed completely from human body parts.
Some Tainted are known to go great lengths to achieve a form of hymns called Ash Hymns, these hymns are well known to be used by the Ash Lords, and due to such are presumed to be a higher form of the Dust Hymns that are commonly used by the Tainted. Because of this some tainted are suspected to have given their loyalty to the Ash Lords, these individuals are suspected to be at the very least ranked general, or higher.
The third path is the path of emotion, individuals following this path are much rarer in number, they all have a primary (occasionally secondary or tertiary) emotion that gives them power, such as rage, sadness, despair. The power of these people is often far greater than individuals who follow alternative paths. These individuals have usually experienced tragic events that lead to their present location, and they are often extremely driven. It is common for people to avoid anyone they suspect follows this path, this is due to a general half sanity it's followers seem to maintain.
However, above all paths there exists a specific group of individuals referred to simply as Purities, capable of manipulating and purifying large swaths of dust even without having a defined path. They are extremely valued individuals, considered as the shields and weapons of humanity, their existence have helped humanity to maintain their strongholds. Their purification and immense combat potential have also managed to create a stalemate against the dust and its ash born manipulators.
The Ash lords, they are mysterious and powerful beings that seek the resurrection of their so-called gods. They hope to achieve their goal through the negativity of humanity, their century-long wars with humans serve to fuel their rituals.
Ashe'teva's roam the world like a foul fog, ethereal beings akin to fog formed from ash, their allegiance belong to the Lords of Ash. At night the powerless fear these creatures of fog, those who become lost within are condemned to endless death, relegated to the role of watchers, no longer in control of their bodies.
They become the Tortured, their bodies are twisted into monsters, and they're forced into eternal servitude to the Ash Lords. For the tortured, death becomes meaningless, the ash forming their new bodies keeps them from their eternal slumber. Only those who follow a path, or have power over dust, can completely eradicate them and grant them peace.