The Rift and the exiles
Who the exiles are, why they left the Concord, and what waits on the far side of a Rift that only opens one way, six million years into the past.
The Concord
The exiles come from the Concord, a far-future civilisation spread across Earth and its colony worlds. It is safe, prosperous and very kind, and some people still don't fit in it. A disgraced officer, a widow who can't face another anniversary, a con artist with questions waiting for them, a palaeontologist who wants to see the animals alive. The Concord forgives a great deal, but it can't give any of them what they want.
The Rift
The Rift is a passage into Europe six million years ago. It runs one way. Nobody comes back through it, and the people who step in know that. They bring what they can carry: a profession, a keepsake, a few tools, and sometimes a piece of future salvage such as a rifle, a power cell or a med-kit. Salvage is finite. When it is spent or lost, it is gone for good.
Every recruit has a reason for leaving, and the reason leaves a mark. Grief, disgrace, a past they are running from, curiosity. Each one becomes a trait with an upside and a downside.
The other side
The far end of the Rift is not empty country. The Glass Court holds the ground where it opens, at the Receiving House in the Canyon of the Long River, and takes new arrivals as they come through. Exiles who slip the Court live free in a few hidden places: the camp on the Joined Isles, which is where the campaign begins, and refuges such as Owl Hollow in the Iron Hills, High Shelter in the Snow Saddle and the Ledge in the Lion Mountains.
From the camp the exiles fight for ground, region by region. A held refuge sends new people. Taking the Receiving House turns the Rift's arrivals toward the camp instead of the Court's pens. See places for what each one gives.
Crowns and powers
Some exiles carry a psychic potential they have never been able to use. A Neuro-Crown wakes it. The crowns are Court work, and the exiles have only the few they have taken. Who wears one, and which talent it wakes, is one of the main decisions of the game.