Season One

A Land Torn Asunder

          The land of Naestradea belonged once to the Fey and Elementals and Forest Spirits alone, a lush and wild land full of life and magic. So it remained until the 7th Umbral Conjunction when the conflux of aether changed the land forever. The great volcano rumbled, the mountains quaked, thick fogs choked the coastline, pulses of energy rippled the sky, and giant stone archways appeared. But it was not these events themselves that would leave lasting impact upon Naestradea, but rather the new arrivals that they heralded to the land. Travelers came, immigrating from lands unknown to the denizens of Naestradea, strange and varied and seeking new homes within the realm. From the volcano came the tieflings, and through caverns and passes newly opened in the mountains came the dwarves and goliaths. Ships loomed out of the mystical fogs bearing humans, from the sky came the aasimar, and through the stone gates the orcs. Each of these peoples came seeking little more than peace and prosperity, but their ways were different, and their needs destructive to a land that had known only natural harmony. Trees were chopped, beasts hunted, caverns stripped, such resources seemed quite abundant after all to these newcomers, but such greed was not without its cost.

          The forest dwindled, the elementals suffered, and the Spirits grew wroth. Their anger grew until it began to twist and darken their fey stewards into terrible creatures of shadow and anguish that would come to be known as the Shadow Lords. These beings were fueled by the rage of the Spirits and forming a council they began a reign of dread, tormenting the realm for many years. Such misery drew the varied peoples together however, each of the races joining together to forge an army with which to face the Shadow Council. One by one the Lords were slain or driven deep into hiding until at long last Naestradea was freed of the scourge that had plagued them. Peace returned, for a time at least, but as with all things it could not last forever. The orcs thrived building up great cities where their stone gateways had brought them through to these lands, and in their prosperity they were content and gracious. Humans came seeking refuge and aid, aid which the orcs gave readily, but the humans were not content with this, they sought more, sought that which the orcs possessed themselves. Seeking out sinister powers the leader of these humans struck a dark bargain to eradicate the orcs, but the price was greater than they could have imagined. The orcish city was indeed laid to waste, but the dark sorceries used did not wipe it clean but rather afflicted it with plague and disease, marring it forever with the curse of undeath and decay.

          This tragedy set into motion a dreadful war, one that would decimate the population of fey and elemental much as the plague had destroyed most of the orcish populace. Even after the wars end the realm remains in a state of turmoil, its people troubled by dark magics and beasts. Will brave souls converge to uncover the source of the malevolence that still threatens Naestradea, or will the land fall to ruin and chaos?