End of An Empire - Historical Strategy Board Game for Adults | Perfect for Game Nights, Family Gatherings & History Enthusiasts

An interesting concept album, End of an Empire is definitely more than meets the eye. The only real fault here is that the tracks are not in the proper order, and this changes the listening experience completely.Originally, End of an Empire was released in 4 chapters: Time, Love, Dreams, Death, and then the final Factions and tracks were released as a part of the complete product.Using the Factions as a guide, the proper listening order is as follows:Part 1: TimeFaction 01 - End of an Empire - Faction 02 - Lost in Time - Faction 03Part 2: LoveFaction 04 - Down to Earth - Faction 05 - Heart On - Faction 06Part 3: DreamsFaction 07 - Good L_ck (Yo_'re F_cked) - Faction 08 - Just Like You - Faction 09Part 4: DeathFaction 10 - New Elysium - Faction 11 - Precious One - Faction 12Part 5: RevolutionFaction 13 - Breakout - Faction 14 - Jericho (Circle of Dust Remix) - Faction 15Factions 02, 03, 05, 06, 08, 09, 11, 12, 14, and 15 serve as "Echoes" or "End Credits" for the songs immediately preceding them.Factions 01, 04, 07, 10, and 13 function as "Precursors" to the contents of each segment.////Everything below this point is Speculation////The album is essentially a SciFi Epic, depicting the fall of the Aterian Empire.Each chapter jumps around different points before, during, and after the fall.Part 1: Time, introduces us to the planet, Ateria, and the story that will be told, with the second track depicting the memories of a broken war machine that keeps silent vigil over the ruins of the former capital: Jericho.All was not well in the Aterian Empire during the years that led to its fall, and a combination of terrorist incidents, and court intrigues ultimately led to its collapse.Part 2: Love, depicts the downing of Ateria station, also known as "Elysium", once a hub/home for the ruling classes, and visiting wealthy. It is theorized that the incident was perpetrated by a member of the later named "ProBots" faction, which arose to prominence during the later revolution. Whether the downing of the station was instead an extreme attempt to thwart the plans of a hidden group of cybernetic entities from beyond Ateria remains unknown. Also present is the beginnings of the relationship between an unnamed cyborg assigned to the salvage of Ateria Station's remains, and the daughter of one of the ruling class, who was attempting to recover some family heirlooms from the crash site.We also follow a pair of survey androids or which investigate the ruins of Jericho on their way to the Deltar City Limits.Part 3: Dreams, jumps to a point further along in the cyborg's life, where he is about to tie the know with his now-girlfriend, the aforementioned member of the ruling class. At the same time, an external intelligence reveals itself to the cyberized working classes, possibly the entities that had attempted to gain a foothold on the now destroyed Ateria Station, signalling trouble on the horizon... Finally, we see the decent of our cyborg's father-in-law into a depression, as he sees the gathering clouds, and although he, a proponent on an unaugmented humanity, disapproved of his daughter's choice, he sees more of himself in his son-in-law than he's willing to admit.Meanwhile, the visiting entity's influence over the cyberized members of the population grows, as it points to an augmented existence as a path to salvation...Part 4: Death, sees the rise of a second group, the near fanatical pure human/anti android faction, and its leader: "Silence" Later, they would be called "RoboPhobes", and their message of a place for only pure humans, named "New Elysium" We return our focus to our cyborg, and the birth of his child. Soon, he will be cruelly taken from her, as he is accused of treason by a member of the RoboPhobes, and sent to the XR-87 Prison on Helion. Though incarcerated, he swears to break out, and return to his family.Meanwhile, both factions race towards their inevitable collision...Part 5: Revolution. In the 7 years since the cyborg's incarceration, the "RoboPhobe" faction has enacted a near silent takeover of Ateria, converting it into a totalitarian regime, focused on pure human individuals, and cruelly oppressing anyone with cybernetics, and the android workforce. We encounter the cyborg's father-in-law, as he prepares for his son-in-law's return, and the coming war. As he prepares to leave, state security forces reach his door. The final battle for Ateria focused around the then capital city of Jericho, and our cyborg volunteered to lead the forces sent to destroy it. His motivations are tempered by the fact that his wife and daughter are being held in a "shelter" within the city, and the forces opposing him are led by the human who put him away...Did he succeed? Did he find his family? Or, were they killed in the assault, and is he the lonely sentry guarding Jericho's ruins?