Ashen Frontier

Five years ago, the gates opened. Humanity calls it the Rupture—the day creatures of nightmare poured through rifts in reality, elementally-charged beasts that killed without mercy or reason. In seventy-two hours, ninety percent of the human race died screaming.

The survivors learned quickly: walls, weapons, and the willingness to kill or be killed. Cities became fortresses. Children grew up knowing the sounds of creatures dying beyond the walls, or worse, the sounds of walls breaking. Humanity clings to existence by the skill of one profession: Monster Hunters.

You train in schools where graduation means life or death. Where the Hunter Assessment determines your worth, your future, your chance to protect what remains. The guilds watch, evaluating, choosing recruits from students who've proven they can survive. Because that's all there is now: survive, fight, protect the walls.

The creatures are still out there. The gates still open. And humanity's last line of defense is anyone brave—or desperate—enough to step beyond the walls and hunt.

The Rupture and After

Five years ago, rifts tore open across the globe. Elementally-aligned creatures poured through—massive, powerful, and utterly hostile to human life. Some breathed fire that melted steel. Others commanded storms that leveled cities. Earth-types buried entire neighborhoods. Ocean-types drowned coastal regions.

The military response failed within days. Conventional weapons proved ineffective against creatures infused with elemental energy. By the time humanity discovered that harvested creature materials could harm them, billions had already died.

The survivors fled to whatever cities could be fortified. Massive walls went up—reinforced with creature materials, patrolled constantly, repaired endlessly. These fortress-cities became humanity's final bastions, each one an island of fragile safety in a world overrun with monsters.

The aftermath reshaped everything:

• Traditional nations collapsed; city-states emerged
• Economies rebuilt around creature materials and defense
• Technology merged with harvested elemental components
• Population bottlenecked to roughly 700 million worldwide
• Every resource devoted to survival and security

Monster Hunters: Humanity's Shield

When conventional militaries failed, a new profession emerged: Monster Hunters. These warriors venture beyond the walls to eliminate threats, harvest materials, and push back the tide of extinction.

Training begins in childhood. Every school now includes combat instruction, elemental theory, and creature behavior. Students learn to wield weapons forged from monster parts, to recognize elemental signatures, to fight and kill without hesitation.

The Hunter Assessment takes place in the final year of high school:

• Multi-stage examination testing combat skill, tactical thinking, and raw survival ability
• Observed by guild representatives scouting for recruits
• Failure means civilian life within the walls
• Success means guild membership and the right to hunt
• Exceptional performers receive offers from elite guilds

Guilds organize and deploy hunters:

• Each major city has multiple competing guilds
• Guilds take contracts from city councils and private clients
• Rankings determine job access and pay grades
• Elite hunters earn fortunes; novices scrape by
• Guild reputation matters—proven teams get the best work

Status varies by skill:

• Top-tier hunters are celebrities, heroes, wealthy beyond measure
• Mid-tier hunters make good money and earn respect
• New hunters face brutal mortality rates but desperately needed
• Failed assessments carry shame—you can't protect anyone

The profession is brutal. Hunters die regularly. But it's also the most respected career in what remains of human civilization. To hunt is to stand between humanity and extinction.

The Fortified Cities

The surviving cities are monuments to desperation and determination:

Physical defenses:

• Walls 30+ meters high, reinforced with creature materials
• Elemental detection systems scanning for approaching threats
• Hunter barracks positioned at every gate
• Emergency shelters throughout the city for breach scenarios
• Kill zones designed for defensive fighting

Social structure:

• City councils govern, focused entirely on survival
• Civilian populations support hunter operations
• Universal conscription for wall defense
• Rationing common, especially for imported goods
• Guild districts near walls; wealthy safer in city centers

Daily life:

• Alarm systems test weekly; everyone knows breach protocols
• Schools double as evacuation centers
• News reports creature activity beyond walls
• Memorial walls list the fallen
• Markets sell creature materials alongside normal goods

Between cities:

• Trade routes heavily guarded by hunter escorts
• Communication via protected relay towers
• Territory beyond walls called "the Wilds"
• Travel is dangerous; most people never leave their birth city
• Each city somewhat isolated, developing distinct cultures

Elements and Creature Threats

The creatures align with six primal elements, each with distinct behaviors and threat profiles:

Sun - Fire and radiance

• Aggressive, territorial, destructive
• Often found in volcanic or desert regions
• High damage output, weak to Ocean
• Harvested materials used in weapons and power generation

Earth - Stone and endurance

• Massive, slow, nearly indestructible
• Tunnel beneath walls if not detected early
• Siege threats requiring specialized teams
• Materials crucial for fortifications

Moon - Illusion and shadows

• Infiltrators, assassins, psychological threats
• Hardest to detect until too late
• Hunt in darkness or during new moons
• Materials used in stealth gear and sensors

Ocean - Water and adaptability

• Flood tactics, drowning attacks
• Coastal cities face constant threat
• Shapeshifting abilities complicate identification
• Materials enable adaptation tech

Sky - Wind and lightning

• Aerial threats, fast and deadly
• Strike from above, hard to target
• Storm generation endangers infrastructure
• Materials used in mobility gear and power systems

Nature - Life and growth

• Swarm tactics, overwhelming numbers
• Rapidly reproduce, spread like plague
• Poison, venom, parasitic infection
• Materials for medicine and bio-weapons

Aether - The theoretical seventh element

• Rumors only; no confirmed sightings
• Supposedly immune to all other elements
• Hunter guilds offer fortunes for proof

Creatures range from human-sized to building-sized. Most are mindless killing machines. Some show disturbing intelligence. All must be eliminated or driven back.

Rifts and Gates

The Rupture opened countless rifts—permanent tears between worlds where creatures emerge. Rift sites are:

• Constantly monitored by hunter outposts
• Source of periodic "surges" when many creatures emerge
• Targets for high-risk, high-reward expeditions
• Impossible to close (so far)

Gate theory suggests the rifts lead somewhere—another world, dimension, or reality where these creatures originated. Some hunters obsess over finding answers. Most just focus on killing what comes through.

The Bond: Myth or Miracle?

Rumors persist of hunters who've bonded with creatures instead of killing them. These stories describe:

• Spiritual connection between human and monster
• Enhanced abilities for both partners
• Creatures fighting alongside humans
• Evolution and growth through the bond

Official stance: Propaganda, delusion, or lies. Creatures cannot be tamed or trusted.

Reality: A handful of hunters have achieved bonds, though most keep it secret. Bonded hunters face:

• Suspicion and potential execution from authorities
• Fear and hostility from other hunters
• Questions about loyalty to humanity
• Unique tactical advantages few can match

Most hunters dismiss bonds as fairy tales. But in the darkness beyond the walls, some have found that survival requires impossible alliances.

Playing in Ashen Frontier

Characters in this world face constant danger:

• Hunter cadets training for their Assessment, knowing failure means helplessness
• New hunters taking their first contracts, learning the brutal reality
• Veteran hunters carrying scars and memories, mentoring or breaking
• Specialists developing unique fighting styles against specific creature types
• Bonded hunters hiding their partners while navigating guild politics
• Civilians supporting the walls, dealing with loss, clinging to hope

Stories explore survival and sacrifice: What does it cost to be humanity's shield? How do you maintain humanity when surrounded by death? Can bonds exist between species that started as predator and prey? What happens when the walls fail? And five years in, is humanity winning—or just dying slower?

Core Themes

• Survival at Any Cost - Humanity exists on a knife's edge; every day is a victory
• Duty and Sacrifice - Hunters die so others can live; the price is paid in blood
• Training and Mastery - Power comes from discipline, skill, and hard-won experience
• Camaraderie in Darkness - Teams bond through shared trauma and trust
• Questions of Humanity - What remains of human compassion in a world of killing?

Questions to Explore

• Can humanity reclaim the world, or only delay extinction?
• What created the Rupture, and can it be reversed?
• Are the creatures mindless monsters or something more?
• What separates a hunter from a monster?
• Is there hope beyond mere survival?

Reference Documents

For detailed information about this world, see:

• The Rupture and Creatures - What happened, what came through, creature threat classification, and the controversial truth about bonds
• Primal Elements - The six (seven?) elements with tactical applications, matchups, and material properties
• Technology and Weaponry - How humanity adapted post-Rupture, creature materials, and weapon crafting
• Hunter Guilds - Organisation, F→S ranking system, contracts, and guild politics