-Daegard-
“People seem to forget history. The things that happened once are bound to be repeated again unless one learns from past mistakes. One thing is sure in this world, mortals will always crave for more power, and therein lies their doom, and the death of us all.”
-Rein Skystaff, Lord of Daegard-
Arhmethalia, the only known continent of our world. In all its years of existence it has known few wars, but they have been bloody. The last major war was hundreds of years ago. It was called The Rasakshi House War and culminated in the Great Arcane Blast. The Rasakshi were experts in the Arcane, much more advanced in their studies than today's spell crafting scholars. Their government was made up of houses dealing with different specialties. Some houses grew jealous of another's success or power. It was inevitable that a battle would break out between them in order to take their secrets and artifacts. The conflict escalated and more houses joined in the fight, some fighting for others, others for themselves, and soon it became the Rasakshi House War. The fighting only lasted a few months, powerful magic was used. Magic much too powerful to be handled by mortal men, but the greed for power is without limit and so magics best left untapped were used. This continued until one night, which was recorded in the historical scrolls penned by our ancestors:
“A black night, silent and tranquil. Suddenly everyone heard a scream, not by a man nor a woman nor a child. It seemed to come from the darkness beyond the mountains, where the Rasakshi Empire was seated. The scream continued, like something unholy happened. A scream that could pierce the soul, and make the strongest quell in fear. Suddenly a flash of light filled the sky from beyond those mountains, but only for a second. The scream stopped. It became more unnerving to hear the silence. No one slept that night. Next day scouts ventured to the western Rasakshi territories. What they saw was unbelievable. Where once the richest land and the highest towers and some say the pinnacle of civilization once stood was gone. In its place there was sand. A large desert with the ruins of once great cities popping from the sand and creatures no one had ever laid eyes upon plagued the land. They tried looking for survivors, but all they found was more sand, and bones.”
Ever since that day, a new moral law was placed for all those practitioners of the arcane. Learn from the foolish Rasakshi who delved too deeply. The Rasakshi lost their empire, but those who survived were highly valued by other kingdoms for their knowledge. Today some of the best wizards in Arhmethalia are direct descendants from the Rasakshi.
At present there are only two great powers left on Arhmethalia, Daegard controlling the western portion, and the Vinnengael Empire controlling the southern coast. Daegard is ruled by a lordship of Wizards and Sorcerers who protect their realm with the might of their magic. The Vinnengael Empire is ruled by the Sorcerer Emperor Teramil Paganon, and holds not only powerful sorcerers but a vast network of spies, thieves and assassins who protect and control their population.
At times there are troubles between the empires, but both know that a war could profit neither. For now they hold a good trade agreement, so they would lose much just by going to war, unless one side gains a great advantage.
Months ago all contact was lost with Bandor, a trade city on the western edge of the Vinnengael Empire. There has been little communication from the Vinnengael about what has happened, and Daegard demanded the whereabouts of their diplomats and traders. All acts of divination by Daegard mages to gather more information were unsuccessful. Just a few weeks ago the Empire expulsed all of Daegard's diplomats and traders and sent them home, stating that the happenings in Bandor were part of a small slave rebellion that had begun expanding to other cities and it didn't wanted the diplomats or traders to be harmed. That alone may have been believable since it was not the first time the Empire had slave rebellions and expulsed outsiders from their affairs while they sort it out, but this time the diplomats were sending disturbing messages to the Daegard Lords about the recent recruitment drive of Imperial soldiers and War sorcerers, much more than would be needed to quell one of their slave rebellions. Daegard responded by going on a recruitment drive to buff up their military on par to the numbers the Empire held, but Daegard is smaller and less populated than the Empire, so they started recruiting from all walks of life. Farmers, thieves, traitors and smugglers would all get their chance to serve the Daegard Legions in order to defend its borders and recover whatever honor these men might have lost, raise their names to be known, or be forgiven their debt to society. Some say this was too extreme, to let anyone be trained under the Daegard shield, but these are the times when it is necessary to forget a man’s past and give him a chance to defend whatever lives they can have.
The small trading town of Archill is near the borders of Daegard and Vinnengael. New soldiers have been gathering here to train. Whether you have journeyed here to join the militia, heard word of bounties to be paid, or sought an opportunity to better yourself through trade matters little due to a rapidly changing development. Undead have been seen in ever increasing numbers coming from the south. Some men have reported seeing them in broad daylight just outside the town walls. What or who could drive the undead to come so close and in great numbers? The only known fact is its emanating from beyond the border, from the Vinnengael Empire. The situation in Bandor may not be what it seemed...... |
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