Empire Zero (Act I: Tinder and Tear)

Magic is a near-forgotten memory, its appearance primarily relegated to embellished barroom tales and children's bedtime stories. The world's dragon population has been obliterated, long ago driven into extinction by the heroes of yesteryear. Yet, even without dragons, the world still remains one of danger, hardship, and oppression.Dwarves have taken the highest seat in the social hierarchy, exploiting ogres and gremlins in their prosperous industrial cities as a cheap source of menial labor--a necessity that ensures their world-spanning empire's continued stability. Most elves now live in exile, banished from civilized lands for their abuse of the arcane arts. Even the orcs are scarcely seen, their race doomed to a slow decline after the eradication of their dragon masters. For the wealthy bureaucrats that now rule the Dwarven Empire, the world is nearly the idyllic paradise envisioned ages ago.Recently, however, human settlements have begun to appear inside dwarven territory. Many speculate a dwarven invasion of these settlements would have already begun if not for the threat of rare human women, nicknamed "e;flamedancers,"e; who inherently command the primal force of fire. It is rumored, though, that the dwarven factory-city of Rosary has developed a solution to this obstacle, and soon nothing--not even the flamedancers--will be able save humankind from destruction.