Long, long ago there was a time where men were ruled by darkness, and its shadow poisoned the good intent of man's hearts. The Dark Age of the realm had brought about the most oppressive age known to man. The pawn of darkness King Steed had grown his influence by starting out in the beautiful land of Mestrane, the place where paradise reigned but entry was only admitted by a race called the Maldurians.

Let us retrace our steps. Long affter becoming King of the race of Maldurians, King Steed decided to do what was never intended to happen, and that was to spread his influence beyond the Meadows of Mestrane, which had always acted as the separating buffer between the outside world and the paradise of Mestrane. 

It did not happen by chance that King Steed was overcome with a thirst for power. In actuality, it began before the Dark Age had even started with a chunk in time later known as the Age of Magic.

During the Age of Magic, A group of powerful Magi (Knights who have perfected the ability to use magic cleanly and within the rights of their creator’s desires) were overcome with greed and desires to use the sacred Ertorin stones for their own glory and not its original purpose — to serve and protect the realm from evil.

These powerful Magi broke away from the order, and thus the art of Necromancy began. The group became known as The Necromancers of the North, beginning a lifelong battle of light and dark between Necromancers and Magi Knights.

During this struggle era known as the Age of Magic, these Necromancers became very powerful, but soon learned their physical bodies had become decayed and flawed from using the powers of the Ertorin stone for their own selfish desires. The leader of the Necromancers was known as Elri’ktor — and he quickly realized he had to find someone to take up his mantle, and quickly, as his body was beyond repair due to his abuse of dark magic. He quickly channelled the powers he had acquired into various resources of the realm such as animal tusks and dragon horns.

Taking a couple of his most powerful men, he burst his way into Mestrane, enslaving the race of Maldurians, and binding the King of the Maldurians, King Steed, to his will. 

And so, it began, the reign of King Steed— the Dark Age.

After the Dark Age ended, it was descendants of Ednord Ertorin himself (creator of the Ertorin stone) who ended up laying the most profound curse known to man upon the lands of Mestrane after managing to amass the greatest army mankind had ever seen. The Maldurians were pushed back into Mestrane where their master Elri’ktor sat waiting inside the flames of his Burning Furnace.

The spell was cast, and the Maldurians who had managed to refrain from evil were given the duty of guarding the Meadows of Mestrane day and night, in order to ensure no one entered or exited those lands. These Maldurians bear the markings of their hero, Ednord Ertorin, which line their white faces in lines of red and blue. 

The curse sent the evil King Steed, his master (Elri’ktor), and the entire race of fallen Maldurians into dormancy. Their bodies became flayed and rotted due to their dark magic, and thus they were given a new name for their kind, the Deranged Men.

Over a thousand years later, many had forgotten the horrors of the Dark Age. Ednord Ertorin grew old and died. His heirs began to forget the sacrifices that were made to escape the dark age, and thus they began to weaken—allowing any wise man to become a member of the Magi Order. Man grew hungry yet again for power, and the War of the Last Kings began, signifying the jump into modern times.

It was King Dalgrind of the small kingdom of Fereton who was forced to flee his homeland, as the neighboring nation of Adrossi had brought devastation to their crop land— a crutch that Fereton had relied on for food and trade in all of their days of civilization. 

King Dalgrind sought ultimate refuge, leading his men through the Blood Forest to what he thought could be their new home—the land of Mestrane. It had never been done before. Men feared those lands; for what dwelled within was no longer a paradise as it had been but was now a prison for the lost souls.

Seeking to evade the horrors and destruction of the ongoing war, King Dalgrind led his men miles and miles across the continent into the dark south to attempt a takeover of the fabled Mestrane, believing that he could decimate the decaying souls that dwelled their and rebuild the paradise that Mestrane once was.

As fate would have it, it was King Dalgrind’s squire who damned the realm all on his own. The host of men waited at the Golden Meadows of Mestrane, where they were greeted by the current Maldur King himself— protector of Mestrane. To lay eyes on him was to greet the guardians of hell’s gates itself, as he had taken up mantle as the Maldur king after King Steed’s banishment into dormancy.

The squire was foolish and had never seen a true Maldurian in the flesh. Seeing a race that did not appear as his own, he panicked, and swiped head of the Maldur King clean off with his sword. As it is known, when one slays the Maldur King, one then becomes the next king of the Maldurians—worthy of the role or not—it matters not.

And so, with the death of the Lord protector of Mestrane and that of the entire realm, the curse was also lifted—releasing Elrik’tor and his Deranged Men from dormancy. Ednord Ertorin’s curse had been placed inside the bloodline of the pure Maldur King, and the shedding of his blood had shattered the curse's grip on the land.

It was at this time that the War of the Last Kings ended, as man began to realize the fate of the realm and those implications ventured far beyond the lust for power and wealth.

With the Necromancers of the North replacing nearly every King in the land, Weptswur remained as the only land where man reigned supreme with a true King and a collective army. Meanwhile, in the nation of Raideth, a usurper to a weak throne, known by the name of Torval Rainblood, takes his place as commander and embarks on his own quest to the Meadows of Mestrane in search of the secrets within.

With the Magi Order in shambles following the War of the Last Kings, only two Magi Knights remained, each mentoring an apprentice in hopes of continuing the line of Magi for the good of the realm. Standing in defense of mankind, unbeknownst to him, was the true Maldur King, Terran the Squire. 

Although Terran the Squire did not know it at the time, he was the one who had lifted the curse, and now he is the one to save the realm if he can declare his kingship before Mestrane, in hopes of turning the loyalty of the Deranged Men in his favor.

And so, our story begins. Elri’ktor remains a spirit dwelling in fire—a slave to his Burning Furnace where his soul travels between his Deranged servant, Ral’tor, and his puppet king—King Steed. Approaching the dwellings of his Burning Furnace is Torval Rainblood, whose naivety leads him towards a trap that Elri'ktor has so cunningly set. 

As dark horrors slowly begin pouring out of Mestrane, it is up to the crumbling Magi Order to establish a worthy defense of the only realm they have ever known. Leading the fight for the Order is Fintan with his apprentice, Vince, and Randor Redcloak with his own prospect, Egalo Elgamar of Sunswood. 

Randor Redcloak leads a secret network in the Carnakane Deserts which act as buffer between Mestrane's Meadows and the rest of the realm. There is where he begins work at hardening Egalo Elgamar into a suitable Magi Knight, but challenges await them under the watching eye of The Leader of the Caves, Lord Dalian Dagnar-- whose loyalties remain unknown amidst his quest to find hidden gems beneath the shifting sands of the Carnakanes.

Further inland is Fintan Feyros who leads his apprentice Vince in a heavily watch-and-learn type of apprenticeship. Fintan displays his abilities with his Ertorin stone as Vince struggles to figure out his natural inclination towards dark magic, all whilst discerning what he wants to reveal to his master. 

The hearts of men are grim, and the power of darkness great. The true desires of man’s heart shall be tested, and the fate of the realm remains unsolved. The only thing separating Mestrane from the kingdom of men are the sands of the The Carnakanes where loyalties are unknown and strange creatures dwell, but that is soon to change.