Monasteries are often renowned for their choirs but this chanting was different. Hymns were uplifting but this sounded somehow wrong. Not in any way that was readily apparent. It was in a dead Latin dialect presented to them by the Bishop. The monks in the choir managed to convince themselves that it was just because it was a new hymn; they must be the only one who thought it was strange. Bishop Benedict had given them the music sheets he was always pouring over old manuscripts perhaps this was a hymn that fell out of use. The song continues throughout the morning as Bishop Benedict has them practice over and over again. Many of priests had begun to grow horse but the Bishop did not stop for a break.

Their voices had begun to grow horse but the tone began to resonate throughout the monastery as if they had finally begun to sing correctly. They had triumphed; had found the proper tones to sing. This inspired new heights in the song, they began to sing louder. Bishop Benedict was smiling triumphantly; he never smiled, but he grew more ecstatic as the singing grew louder and began to permeate the air. They sang and sang as if they would bring the roof down on their heads. And they did.

Before any of the monks knew what was happening their chanting had taken on a different note. Their voices didn't sound right any longer. They sounded… unholy. But they could not stop. It was as if their voices were being pulled out of them by some unseen force. A low rumbling seemed to be asserting itself with each word, cutting off when the word ended, making the too infrequent pauses in the chant eerily silent. The rumbling grows louder with each time the chant repeats until it seems as though the holy building itself is howling in pain. The monastery began to shake and the noise began to grow louder and louder building to a crescendo.

Even above the cacophony a new sound emerges: screaming, high pitched screams. Frightened screams, as if a person has seen their last glimpse of Heaven and has been forever denied. As the screaming stops the rumble is no longer just a noise, now it can be felt. A hole into the abyss formed in the center of monastery swallowing monks and falling rubble alike. An earth quake seemingly centered on the monastery shakes the landscape. Many houses within a days riding distance collapsed from the violent shaking. Many died in those first instances. Many more would in the minutes that followed.

Dust and smoke cover the area where the monastery used to stand. Even those who were outside during the beginning of the earthquake were dead; the earth heaved and beat them to death where they lay. Perhaps they were fortunate. The living were now the ones to be pitied. The earth was calm now, it could have lasted for minutes or it could have lasted for hours, not a soul remained alive who could say how long the chaos lasted. But in the smoking rubble of the monastery something stirred.

The smoke began to part, revealing a nightmare. A creature, glowing eyes blazing like a fire, surveyed the landscape. Even stooping it measured over 8 feet tall with claws like knives glinting. Heavily muscled it would have weighed more than an ox. Stretching its arms as if just awaking from a deep sleep it grinned; it saw opportunity. Its eyes were alight with malevolent intelligence and it was not alone…

Demons before seen only in scripture, legend and nightmare had been loosed unto the world through a rip in world. In all shapes and sizes the demons poured out, anxious to be out and hunting. At first they trickled out and gradually that trickle turned into a stream which became a torrent. Kicking and screaming, fighting to be free, the demons escaped onto the earth. For three days the creatures poured out; infecting the earth like a disease. But nature seeks to right itself and the whole that been ripped began to heal itself. However the damage was by that time irreversible.

Like a disease the demons spread out going in all directions at once. Where they met people, people died. The world was not prepared for Hell to be unleashed. Cities were destroyed and civilizations crumbled in the wake of the demon hordes. The demons were not an army, they were force of nature and they were turned against the world. But like all forces of nature they gradually diminished. The demons ran and slaughtered and gradually spread themselves out. The demons did not work together; they were territorial. When they staked out a land as their own they stayed there.

Demons now inhabit nearly every corner of the earth. Some set up lairs for themselves in caves, content to eat any that invade their space. Some roam from town to town feeding as they please. And some: some decided to rule. This was 500 years ago…