,===============-. |\\ \ \ | \\ \ OBSCURA \ | |\\ \ HISTORIA \ \| \\ \ \ \ |\\ \ \ \| \;==============´ \ ||-------------| \||-------------|\ `===============´
While some folks fought to settle the Wild West, others were plotting to dominate it.
In 1802, rumors of a man known only as the High Priest go around major settlements and dominate smaller ones. A mysterious figure that brought strange prophecies and performed odd miracles. He travelled through the Frontier educating the masses on matters of the Mind, it's potential and it's limits -- the Horizon of Minds. The very edge of human comprehention. At first he was met with disdain, but his prophecies came to be and his teachings proved true.
By the year 1809, his cult had a name, the Church of Horizon. With a fervent following, temples and chapels in favor of strange beings were raised across the whole Frontier. Their goal, to transform our world in a suitable home for their Abyssal overlords. Make our reality as theirs. In the mind of many a cultist there was a twisted belief that their work would benefit humanity. That the Abyss was the answer. The Great Plan of the High Priest would ultimately be an attempt to reach beyond the Horizon of Minds and pull the Old Ones into our existance, ancient cosmic beings of immense power and unknowable intentions.
The Church of Horizon had been relentless in the pursuit of their goal throughout the years, performing unspeakable rituals and sacrificing countless lives to appease their dark gods. It seemed that their efforts would finally paid off in the winter of 1813 as The Great Plan's conclusion seemed to be at hand. The Church of Horizon was finally ready for their magnum opus. A vile ritual of blood and depravity that would act as a catalyst for what came to be known as The Bleed.
If not for St. Abner's heroism, our existance would be forfeit. The Bleed was the catastrophic unfolding of the High Priest's biggest failure. His ritual was interrupted before our reality was completely consumed by the unfathomable existence beyond the Horizon of Minds. And so, instead of merging into one, both realms now overlap. Bleeding into eachother.
-- leaving death and destruction in its wake. The survivors were left struggling to survive in a world gone mad.