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It is now 1949 and the Great War has never ended. Over the last 35 years, neither the Union nor the Reich has succeeded in tipping the precarious balance of power far enough to claim victory. But darker allies are being awoken and ancient rules of warfare, long forgotten, are about to be brought onto the battlefield. In the heart of Central Europe, secular crypts, hiding the Obscura Cardinal Cornerstones, have just been discovered.
Immerse yourself in the mystical u-chronic world of Tannhäuser. Take command of the brave men and women of the Army of the Union, or plumb the forbidden secrets of the darker mysteries in the name of the Reich. Live the story of TANNHÄUSER.
The end is near, and this is just the beginning…
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The Reich
It was the night of Walpurgis, April 30th 1877, that the archpriests of the Triberium Carium found the lost sepulcher. Its occupant was interred four centuries ago in accordance with ancestral rituals. When Heinrich Reffle von Richtenberg, 30th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, emerged, it was to once again rise to power and dominate the world. This colossus, enormous and superhumanly strong, was the most powerful and feared knight-commander of the Teutonic Knights of the 15th century.
But his empire had changed. Divided by the rivalries and internal wars between imperial families, weakened by a decadent court corroded by intrigue and vice, the feverish empire was dying in pieces under the expansionist ambitions of its neighbors. The industrial revolution was well under way, but divided on the military and political level with no clear leader, the empire's collapse was imminent.
Within days, driven by fear and fascination, the entire empire had united behind this new Kaiser risen from his tomb. An occult frenzy seized the Reich. The land itself, bathed in demonic forces, changed its shape. Hitherto hidden in the shadows, the Brotherhood of Black Alchemists reappeared and brought with them new sciences. Cabals, secret societies, and fraternal lodges underwent a revival and revealed the esoteric artifacts disseminated amongst them over the centuries. The imperial families began to dream of past glory and encouraged the previously prohibited experiments of arcane researchers. One of the most influential among these new societies, the Circle of Agartha and its Grand Master Hass Horbringer, now Reichdoktor of the Obscura Korps, rose to prominence. A favorite of the emperor, this powerful sorcerer was charged by the Kaiser to research the Axis Mundi and the Obscura Cardinal Points.
The Kaiser, truly a living god and uncontested master of a Warrior Empire now on the march, swore at the dawn of the 20th century to control the world… or to destroy it.
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When the president heard the news, he was working in the coach laboratory specially constructed by the Locomotive Works Company for his personal use. An unknown impact in Roswell, New Mexico, not matching any known form of aircraft or projectile? The president was amazed and frightened. When, near 16:00h, the Office of Strategic Services concluded that the impact was not the result of a long-range attack from either the Reich or the Matriarchy, Presidential Order No. 11911 was issued and the research initiative at Area 51 was begun. The president placed his most brilliant assistants and colleagues at the head of the O.S.I. with the goal of transforming the Roswell crash into the future instrument of victory and long wished for world peace.
Thomas Alva Edison has been for 30 years the charismatic president of the Federated States of the Union. True Father of the Nation, this genius scientist and inventor was propelled onto the world stage at the dawn of the 20th century. His research and discoveries in the field of electricity have made him an emblematic figure and his General Electric Company has revolutionized the progress of civilization.
When his greatest student offered the technology for Directed-Energy Weapons to the Matriarchy, Edison was betrayed and with him the entire nation. Blindly supported by both public opinion and the media, he has since worked with Congress to restore the Union to its past influence and halt the destructive advances of its enemies. But faced with an occult Reich ruled by a demonic Emperor and a Matriarchy joining once more with forgotten gods, the Union must struggle to maintain its borders and hold the line in the Old World.
Now aged 102 years and in precarious health, President Edison has been restricted for several years to a mobile chair of his own invention. The micropulses of this exotic equipment, comprised of Quartan Polyphase Electrons, now keep him alive. His determination remains unchanged, but he knows that he must act quickly. Illirium, the material resulting from the research undertaken in Area 51, will likely be the instrument of a bright and rapid victory for the Union.
As he likes to point out: no surrender is possible, no accommodation is acceptable, and no compromise is conceivable!
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_________________ Pay to kill, die to lose, hunted, hunter which are you
Diablo come again to make trophies out of men
Lose your skin, lose your skull, one by one the sack is full
In the heat dehydrate, know which breath will be your last
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