A year ago, the world was 'normal' - just like ours. Then, a 300 mile diameter 'sphere' of nothingness engulfed the United States Midwest. The Intrusion, as it has come to be known, unleashed a Nightmare Wave that warped our world. Places that were rumoured to be haunted suddenly were; the lucky statue of the local Dean started working.
People offered a number of explanations for the Intrusion - Doomsday, The Reckoning, Alien Invasion. The true cause, as best anyone can understand, was the Iconnu - strange, God-Like beings from another reality, but the Iconnu are to us as we are to insects. Why they tried to destroy the world is unknown, and will likely never be understood, but why they tried isn't nearly as important as why they failed.
Some humans, very small in number, were special, unique. There was something in their thoughts, in their spirits, in the way they think about the world; something that, collectively, held reality together. These people are called the Awakened, and without them, the world would be gone already.
The Iconnu, somehow knowing this but unable to act directly, created servants and unleashed them into the world. They pulled the Ghosts of evil, vile deceased humans, strange animalistic beings from an alien realm, and horrible monsters of legend and hurled them into the world.
The wicked ghosts of the dead possessed normal living humans, and became... something else. Something hungry. These tormented fusions of two souls are called Vampires.
The predatory spirits, ignorant of the world of men, also possessed humans. As beings of two realms, they can change their form. They are known as Werewolves, though only a fool would mistake such a beast for a mere wolf.
The nightmare things, knowing humans all too well, needed no human mind to clutter their focus. Instead, they crafted forms from nothingness, and lurk among the mortals. These are Demons.
These servants of the Iconnu feel their master's will, not as an overpowering instruction, but as a subtle nudge - go that way, kill this person - and some choose to ignore the command, or - rarely - even actively oppose it, but most follow without question, slaying the Awakened so the Iconnu can finally consume the world, and everyone in it.
