You live in a land of eternal warfare. Fifteen years ago the wizards of the warring Great Kingdoms nearly brought about the end of the world. No one knows which side was responsible; all that is known is that a wizard devised--and tried to cast--a spell far beyond his capabilities. The spell shook the earth, leveling buildings, tearing huge chasms in the ground, and even splitting open mountains. It shook the entire realm, from the dwarves deep below the Bone Mountains in the west to the islanders in the Roiling Sea to the east.
The quake itself killed tens of thousands of people. Those that survived found themselves in a waking nightmare. Pouring out from the newly-formed chasms across the world came the denizens of the underworld: hordes of humanoids, hell hounds, driders, even the dreaded destrachan, whose hide is impenetrable by non-magical weapons. The creatures rampaged across the countryside. The humanoids gravitated towards towns and cities, wearing them down with sheer numbers until no one was left to oppose them, then settling into the ruins to loot and war with one another. Mankind was driven from their homes; the children of the rifts were the new lords of the land. Fleeing humans gathered in remote places in loose clans to alternately fight, run, or hide. Their numbers are quickly shrinking as each year passes.
For three years you and your clan have been fighting for survival. You’re determined to try to make a better life out of it. You’ll start out in a makeshift village on the edge of a swamp. It’s safe for now, but you don’t know when the next horde is going to come around and make you move on again. There’s a way, you think, to make it so that you don’t have to move anymore: find a few more people, search around for some decent equipment, and build a stronghold. That way, people can do something besides figure out how to live another day and focus on taking the land back and rebuilding civilization. The nature of your task is as heroic as you choose to make it – carve out a safe haven for yourself, seek out a way to ally with the evil the plagues the land, or lead the revival of Man in this realm.
The big cities – Timber, Kell’s Dock, and Port Arkos – are where you’ll find the arsenal of magical weapons you’ll need to turn your rag-tag group into a force to be reckoned with, but keep in mind – the bigger the city, the more enemies you’ll face. You’ve seen an old map that points to a couple of castles. If intact, they’ll make fine strongholds. There are fewer and fewer people in your nomadic clan every year and you never see any other groups anymore; just a few stragglers every now and then. The time has come to take control of your future.