An Overview

It has been two thousand years since the last great war. In the final battle, the Dark Lord, Thorne, had been banished from this realm into the realm of dead by the selfless sacrifice of the high elf Lorius. Despite the outcome of the final battle, the black player, Taint, in the mysterious Game was declared the winner and claimed his prize.

The source of the worlds magic, the Shards of the Broken God, had been mostly destroyed and the races were left without their powerful magics.The presence of the gods has been reduced in the realms, and even the most devote worshippers are unable to discern the cause.

In the dark days following the defeat of Thorne, the remnants of his evil horde had scattered through out the land. They pillaged and slaughtered through out the countryside for years, until the forces of good were able to reorganize enough to resist. It took many generations until they completely reclaimed the land, and drove the dark forces into hiding.

Since those days, the races have worked on rebuilding the massive damage done in the war between Thorne and those who opposed his attempt to achieve godhood. Cities and roads were rebuilt, farmlands were reclaimed from the wild, and the people's lives began to return to normal. The Free City of Wyercliff was rebuilt on top of the ruins left from the war, and became, once again, the premier trading city in the land.

The human realms in the south have flourished. The greatest city in the realm, Alsarona. was spared being hit by the war, and continued to grow. The annual festivals and tournaments draw larger and larger crowds every year. Thousands of vendors come every year, selling their wares to the spectators, contestants, nobles and peasants alike. It is literally a city that never sleeps; some event or another is always being held in the large arena.

Across the seas on the Island of Choon, the lizardmen continue to live in their vast swamps, seldom venturing out, while the minotaurs continue to build larger, more fantastic sea vessels. The races are separated by a long range of mountains, and have little contact between them. Neither race has any idea that a great elemental power sleeps on their island.

The feline nomads remain the central grasslands. Moving in small tribes and keeping the grasslands free of intruders, the felines have little to do with other races. Far from being hostile, the felines just reject the idea of permanent buildings and living in one place for years at a time. Many felines served the forces of good as scouts and runners in the war, but were unable to mounted a good defense. The race is very scattered and has no central leadership to speak of.

The elves remain mostly in their ancient woodlands, the majority living in the great city of Moondeep. Being one of the hardest hit races by the war, the elves withdrew into their homelands to recover from the damage done. Their fierce hatred of their dark cousins, the drow, is the only sure thing that will draw them from their forest bastion, but in great time of need, they have been known to send detachments of their elite archers to aid other races. The elves were the first to recover from the loss of their traditional magic source, and delved deep into other means of magic. Having a natural affinity for magic in the first place, they have achieved much of their former mystical might.

The dwarves were all but exterminated by the great war. Their homeland was destroyed by the drow, and the souls of the hundreds of thousands of slain dwarves still roam the ruins of their subterrian homes. Being so slow to reproduce, dwarves concentrate on re-establishing their abandoned cities and seldom venture above ground. Few other races have ever seen a dwarf, many thinking they are things of ledgend. Those dwarves who survived the war have bred into their decendants a great disdain for the other races. They feel they were abandoned by those they counted on for help during the razing of their city. Every dwarf is a warrior first, and many worship the god of war in hopes of becoming powerful war priests. Never again will the dwarfs fall easily before an enemy. No other race has ever reported knowing the location of the dwarven homeland, and no dwarf will show any other race it's hidden location.