u/SokenXSoken

Welcome to the "Regress" universe, a concept for my project set in a beautiful but dying anime fantasy world!

After the invasion began, rebels began operating in the occupied territories. These were humans and beastmen who refused to surrender their lands without a fight. Their numerous bases were scattered deep in forests or in dark caves. These bases were advantageous because they were mobile; the rebel headquarters could always be relocated, and scouts provided advance warning when Imperial forces were sighted.

The rebels also set up aid camps, searching for survivors in destroyed settlements and providing aid before moving them to the camp. There's no doubt these camps were a pain in the ass, because if the Imperials found the camp, there would be no way to save the wounded. But back then, they couldn't yet believe the genocide had begun and thought the Imperials would leave or simply leave the civilians alone. They were wrong.

Afterwards, everyone learns that the Arden Empire began a genocide exclusively against the beastmen; they did not touch ordinary people, unless they resisted, of course. The Imperials ordered that all "beasts" be handed over to them so that the settlements would avoid a terrible fate. Some did not betray their tailed friends, but many were forced to.

The Imperials actively sought out rebel bases and camps, using spies and agents to carry out sabotage, remove scouts from their posts, and so on. The beastgirl was rescued and sent to Camp Kasatka, where an Imperial spy was operating...

Illustrations for the "Regress" project by. Soken

The beginning of the genocide | Part 1

Welcome to the "Regress" universe, a concept for my project set in a beautiful but dying anime fantasy world!

1095. The Arden Empire invades Astelmar and begins a policy of genocide against the beastmen. Initially, the invasion was perceived as a conventional war to seize territory and resources; no one knew about the genocide. Hundreds of defenseless villages and settlements inhabited by beastmen lay in the path of the imperial soldiers; it's not hard to imagine their fate.

The beastmen hid in basements, fled into the forests, or tried to fight back against the invaders, but it was futile. Hundreds of kilometers of devastated land remained behind the imperial soldiers. But then again, amidst this chaos, some even survived and began rebuilding their homes and burying the dead, creating vast cemeteries.

It's not hard to guess that the Empire will come again. But the beastmen weren't yet aware of the genocide and didn't even imagine that the invaders would return for them to finish them off. The rebuilt villages were destroyed again, and the remaining people were either killed or captured and taken to the Empire.

Some beastmen survived, including many children who eventually became orphans, who saw red-and-black monsters in iron armor, who witnessed the death of their parents, and who learned firsthand what genocide meant. The child had no choice but to sit among her dead relatives and watch her only home burn...

Illustrations for the "Regress" project.

Welcome to the "Regress" universe, a concept for my project set in a beautiful but dying anime fantasy world!

In 1095, the Age of Disaster began. The Arden Empire launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring countries, marking the beginning of the Beastmen Genocide. The armies hastily assembled by Norwenn and Astelmar were literally crushed. Adema and its county were the first to fall under the Empire's attack.

After the invasion had successfully begun, the Empire declared that the war was waged solely against the beastmen, and that if humans didn't interfere with the Empire, they would be left alone and rewarded for their cooperation. At the time, this seemed absurd; no one would have surrendered their furry comrade to the Imperials; they were ready to fight together, but that was back then.

The Kingdom of Kalbrek, in turn, is puzzled, but is in no hurry to enter into an alliance with other countries, but one way or another, crowds of refugees have begun to arrive in this country.

Otara Camp is a prison camp for beastmen and a mining site. This location is unique because it serves as the setting where the main events of the Zero Arc begin. The protagonist is an Imperial whose father appointed him as the camp’s overseer.

Illustrations for the "Regress" project.

Welcome to the "Regress" universe, a concept for my project set in a beautiful but dying anime fantasy world!

Adema is a countess and lives in the city of Samari, in the Kingdom of Astelmar. She is an interesting figure for only one reason: her domain was located directly on the border with the Arden Empire, and, as one might guess, it was the first to be struck by the might of the imperial machine.

The Imperials did not touch the people and wanted to force the Countess to hand over all the beastmen to them, but this was out of the question, half of her subjects were beastmen, this was physically impossible, so Adema gathered people and beastmen for other purposes, to raise an army and give battle to the Empire.

The battle was unequal and doomed to defeat, the Countess's army was wiped off the face of the earth, but the Countess herself managed to escape, she was already negotiating with other Counts and some of them were actively gathering troops, the Countess's army only briefly helped delay the Imperials.

To create the design of her clothes, I was inspired by medieval fashion, and as for the armor, it is the most ordinary armor with the symbols of the county.[..

Illustrations for Astelmar's army

This is a concept for "Regress", my project set in a beautiful yet dying anime fantasy world.

The Arden Empire was founded by Ardo Velet, after which reforms immediately began in the army, including the creation of a regular army of the Empire. Previously, it was mainly the nobility who fought with their warriors, but now the people will fight.

Why the black and red armor? The Imperial commission that developed the armor's design and color received clear instructions from the Emperor: "Armor must intimidate and protect." After several design iterations, Ardo finally made his choice, and now the army is not only regular, but also terrifying.

The Imperial army was extremely effective, repelling a Beastmen attack on Kahiema (an Imperial fort in the Kingdom of Norwenn) that outnumbered them twice, defeating the Altamiran army twice, and subjugating nearly half of their lands.

The regular army was a dangerous weapon, but it obeyed the laws of war as best it could, the inhabitants were mostly left alone, and after another battle they simply wanted to return home. The real chaos would be started by the Emperor's daughter, who would use the army he had built for the genocide of the beastmen, turning them into a weapon for a terrible crime that would lead to terrible consequences.

The Empress will also carry out changes in the army, including the creation of the Imperial Guard, which will protect the government and monitor order in the capital. "Watchers" also appeared in large cities; these are soldiers who monitor order there. They usually punish crimes with either prison or forced labor, but the longer the war went on, the more brutal the punishments became. In the end, people who disagreed with the empire were simply hanged or killed on the spot...

Illustrations: "Arden Empire Army and the Empress's Personal Guard"

This is a concept for "Regress", my project set in a beautiful yet dying anime fantasy world

Can you imagine that this wall of metal is running towards you with a frantic desire to kill, well, the beastmen felt this horror to the fullest, they saw how the walls of black and red iron wiped out entire villages and settlements from the face of the earth

Few of the beastmen's weapons were effective against them, except magic, the beastmen literally melted their iron, turning their armor into a coffin for the soldiers, they screamed in terrible pain, and then silence

You couldn't see their eyes from under their masks, you couldn't look your killer in the eyes, it was scary, some soldiers also put different things on their heads, mostly feathers, they believed that they brought good luck, but also for show

At the Battle of Derdom, thousands of Imperial soldiers were reduced to molten metal and charred flesh, and at the cost of colossal losses, the Beastmen pushed the Empire back, beginning their campaign to liberate occupied lands and exact revenge for decades of genocide...

This is a concept for "Regress", my project set in a beautiful yet dying anime fantasy world

Imperial beast mages are told from childhood that they were created to eradicate the threat of the evil beastmen, they are superior to them, stronger, smarter and more polite, the evil beastmen are barbarians who live like real animals, pretending to be people

They themselves were kidnapped as infants by the Imperials to be raised as mages; they do not know where their true home was, their father is their teacher, they are devoted to him body and soul, ready to carry out any order of the Empire

Their attitude toward other wild beastmen is completely negative; imperial beastmages kidnap their children and kill the rest; being playful, they can mock and taunt their victims before killing them; the beastmen fear them more than the imperial soldiers. Some doubt the wisdom of their actions, but as a team they are loyal to each other and will not abandon or betray one another; they are like sisters and brothers

The Arden Empire uses the beastmen's siblings and tribesmen against other beastmen, you never know, maybe this imperial beastman mage mocks his own mother and then kills her, but she will never know about it...

It so happened that the beastmen were the best magicians, and the empire couldn't help but take advantage of this. Although it fought against the beastmen, it voluntarily kidnapped their infants and children. From childhood, they were trained in combat magic, discipline, and obedience, and they became killers of their own kind

Usually, their bases were located far from the imperial cities, they were not considered elite, they were just tools for killing, but magic is a dangerous thing, from its frequent use, they themselves literally turned into coals

One squad consisted of 10 beast-mages, commanded by an imperial officer and two assistants, who directed operations. They did not fight alongside the main army, but operated independently...

The Empress's personal guard, battle-hardened, having seen some shit, they are cold-blooded and fearsome, the empire does everything to make the soldiers look intimidating on the outside

Each elite soldier is a master of his weapon, be it a sword, axe, mace, etc., they are provided with the best food, undergo training in the mind and intellect, but this is only a facade, inside these masks are faces covered with scars, pain and horror

They behave arrogantly towards ordinary soldiers and especially peasants, they often avoid responsibility for their crimes, they monitor order in the capital, often greatly exceeding their authority, they are feared to the point of horror and hated to the point of gnashing teeth...

It was precisely the beastmen who were subjected to total genocide of the beastmen by the Arden Empire, this was a direct order from the empress

No one knew the empress's motives; propaganda only said that they contradicted nature and the essence itself and that they had to be destroyed before they multiplied and occupied all available space.

Absorbing each other's hatred and shedding blood, they finished each other off in every possible way, which is why the offspring of sin grew ever larger...

I spent a long time thinking about the concept and design of a regular soldier of the Arden Empire, but one way or another I came to this: I took the armor of the Crusaders and the German "Stahlhelm" helmet, changed it a little and added a mask for brutality, it looks pretty cool.

The sight of these soldiers should inspire fear; even the soldiers themselves are afraid of the sight of this armor. They think and believe they are fighting for good, but at the same time they are carrying out the criminal orders of a dying empire.

This is just a standard design of armor, that is, how it should look, but in reality everything is different, soldiers are often not fully equipped, they can put on found armor or take it from corpses, the main thing is to draw the coat of arms of the empire on it