The Story

Azeran, a once beautiful land, has fallen to dark elementium, one of the three states of magical energy. What was once forests filled with life are now swamps were predators hunt anything and everything. The cities that were once prosperous and pius have become riddled with crime and poverty.

What caused this? Simple... War. A great war that ended 30 years ago is to blame. The people of Nezine invaded Azeran, barely being pushed back. Their invasion destroyed much of Azeran, leaving only misery to pool. The invasion was launched 40 years ago. It started with a surprise attack on the capital. The nezinans rode into Osergarth, the the azeranian capitol, on merchant ships. By the time the invasion horn had been blown, the nezinans had taken half the city. By nightfall, the king's head fell from his shoulders. The generals were only saved by the guards mounting a surprise strike to evacuate them out of the city.

Until the fourth year of the war, the azeranians lost every battle. What changed the tide of war was the Battle of Grand Tree, where the azeranian forces surrounded a battalion of nezinan soldiers, which won them the battle. For 3 years after the Battle of Grand Tree was filled with victories and losses from both sides. All this death led to something that many could not have foreseen. Creatures created by dark elementium began to rise, striking inside nezinan land, weakening their forces greatly. This two front war for the nezinans allowed the azeranians to make great strides in the war, winning almost every time for the last three years of the war. This war costed both sides greatly, weakening the nezinans and nearly destroying the azeranians.

Now, all that is left is ruins, aside from some of the few cities that survived, or have risen in the past 30 years. These ruins often still hold treasures deep inside them, for good reason. The life of a treasure hunter is not easy, as many of the creatures that were created by the dark elementium have taken over most of the ruins, and the roadways, and many other ways of travelling.

The Magic

While magic wielders hold great power, they are at risk of falling under the control of the ethereal, a group of beings who cannot affect the world physically. The goals that they seek vary from ethereal to ethereal, but rarely are they in the best interest of the physical world.

If one has enough will power, they can become a freed. These are beings who have broken free from the control of an ethereal. Becoming freed often grants powers that could not have been used before, but it can take years for a magic wielder to free themselves, and it marks them forever. While taken, or under the control of a ethereal, the skin and hair becomes black as night, and the magic wielder is just a vessel through which the ethereal can access the physical world. When freed, one goes to the opposite direction, losing all skin and hair color, which turns to a pure white. When taken, or freed, one's eyes change to some unnatural color and become slits, like that of a lizard or cat.

The power that fuels magic is elementium. Elementium comes in three states: light, neutral, and dark. While all can be used for any form of magic, the difference comes from how they affect the environment. Light elementium creates a highly livable and peaceful area, neutral elementium acts as an average, and dark elementium turns the affected areas into inhospitable and poisonous environments. The use of elementium is done through mentally forcing it to take the form the user wants. Control of elemtium can be acquired by actions from being born with it to having it unlocked by another to having it unlocked by a life-or-death scenario.

The Playable Races

Humans - Common and quick to reproduce, humans have the most variation of all the races, from the most timid to the fearless leaders. A human has the ability to do whatever they want to do, with significant effort put into training.

Grilly - A reptilian people who closely resemble humans, they are both intelligent and simple. They have merged with human society as mercenaries, warriors, and mages. They were, over 300 years ago, once a tribal people. Now, it is rare to see a grilly who has strayed from the common jobs their people take on.

Sov - A dull whited insectoid people who have four arms. They tend to be great at building and have some of the most well respected craftsmen. However, Sov generally can only take on one trade, their minds incapable of keeping track of the information that is required to handle multiple trades.

The Religions

Muniara - The worship of the moon, the only warrior to ever conquer the ocean and the keeper of balance. This is most often practiced by honorable warriors and scholars.

Sovo - The worship of the sun, the one who brings both life and crops. Farmers are the most common people to practice Sovo.

Cadara - The worship of Cadaros, the god of money and trade. This is the most commonly practiced by people who live in cities.

Tioru - The worship of Tio, the god of freedom, crime, and anarchy. This is almost exclusively practiced by professional criminals.

The Common Enemies

Dragons - A race of large, flying lizards that vary in size and disposition towards other creatures. Most often they are hoarders, using their powerful minds and bodies to amass the greatest collection they can. In history, dragons have done everything from guided heroes to laid waste to cities to collect all that can be collected. Most races fear them, and the fact that they are now reproducing at an unnatural rate in Azeran.

Goblins - Nearly mindless pack creatures who simply seek to hunt and kill everything. They often surround themselves with both filth and metallic items. They reproduce like rabbits.

Orcs - The bigger and smarter cousins of the goblins, orcs live in filthy places where they plan their next battle and forge using stolen materials. They fight with both furiosity and efficient organization. They reproduce slightly faster than humans, but age at nearly 4 times the rate.

Trolls - Mindless giants who want to be left alone to live their quiet lives. They are extremely territorial, only allowing other trolls in their territories.