Robert Ryan

“To the south, swords flashed and blood watered the trodden earth instead of rain. To the north, armies marched, the pounding of their boots the drum of death, their banners clouding the sky with the shadow of evil. In the west, the races of humanity were smitten as metal is beaten between hammer and anvil. There, in their homeland, they possessed only ruined dreams, gnawing hunger and soul-eating poverty. The east alone offered hope, and thither they fled. But hope burned to ash, and was blown back in their faces as a choking wind.”
― Robert Ryan, The Seventh Knight

“They have ruled since then with an iron fist. Tribe is set against tribe. That way they fight each other and don’t unite to overthrow the shamans. Poverty is rife. Superstition abounds. The sciences of building, medicine, farming and many others have regressed. The people are lied to about everything, and they know it, but fear to speak lest the nazram are sent to their homes. Traitors are called heroes, and villains are put forward for veneration. The truth is made to stand on its head, and lies are spoken unashamedly as the truth. Does this sound familiar to you? It should. It all happened in your time too, before Chen Fei rose to power.”
― Robert Ryan, Swords of Shadow