A New Adventure Awaits...

### *A brief background to the setting of the campaign.*

The Blood War; the eternal conflict between the fiends of the Lower planes. The struggle between the chaotic Tanar'ri, the demonic forces of the Abyss; and the lawful devilkin, Baatezu of Baator, which has kept the influence and power of both sides in check for millennia. The Blood War has raged on since the Age Before Ages, a dark period when the Prime Material Plane had not fully developed. The conflict is massive, spanning entire planes of reality, and hosting an immeasurable number of fiends.

No one was expecting the war to end.

When Asmodeus, the undisputed ruler of the Nine Hells, struck a truce with the greater forces of the Abyss it was obvious that his eyes had turned to the Upper Planes. If the deities of good were to be overthrown, no one; not even the demons of the Abyss, could hope to halt his tyrannical conquest of the multiverse.

With the gods fearing the coming conflict, the Material Plane was abandoned. In an instant across Faerûn priests and witch-doctors lost commune with their deity. Paladins lost their purpose, and clerics lost their identities. An age of fear and uncertainty had dawned upon Faerûn, birthing several swift yet destructive conflicts across the known world. The 'Age of Abjuration' had begun.

Two centuries passed. Neverwinter lay in ruin, ravished by war and poverty. The Lord’s Alliance’s influence had rescinded north to the harsh winters of Baldur's Gate; as the Zhentarim took advantage of the fractured world with easy pickings. The use of magic was a dying art. Mages and priests were persecuted by the general populous, whom still bore the scars of their gods’ abandonment; those who wished to study the arcane arts had to do so in the secrecy. The extraordinary and the otherworldly were hunted to nigh extinction; their hunters fueled with fear, hatred and vengeance.

Yet as a forest fire destroys the familiar so that new life can flourish, the primal races began to adapt to the changes of the age. Without the assistance of the gods, and the new taboo surrounding magic, the world began to innovate in an unforeseen direction. Civilization once again entered another golden age.

Another century passed, and the Sword Coast enjoyed a prosperous period of peace and wonder. Magic was a rare sight to the common man save the odd parlor illusionist at the local fare. Instead, machines of lumber and steel hastened the beating heart of civilization. Neverwinter was revived, a great metropolis of stone and iron. The Lord’s Alliance, having returned order, exploited the remnants of the Zhentarim’s reign. Great strides were taken in the fields of medicine and engineering, and the primal races no longer relied on the generosity of their silent deities.

Yet with this independence came familiarity. Over time familiarity became apathy. With apathy, came stagnancy. The Underdark was now just a myth to most, and fiends were thought to be conjured from stories to scare disobedient children. The passion for discovery was lost to many.

But not all.

New technologies allowed the mightiest of ships to be built, which could traverse seas none had previously dared. To those who yearned for the wonder of the unknown, who dreamed of the forgotten, these ships served as a symbol of hope in a hopeless world. To those who had been forgotten whilst hiding in the shadows; mages, outsiders, aberrations; these vessels served as arks of freedom from a grey and lifeless city. These arks would carry all within to a new life. To the New World, to the West Marches.

It has been almost five decades since the first settlers arrived in the New World. Several towns and cities have flourished, creating an intricate web of trade, travel and politics. Yet much of the West Marches remains untouched, and even more untamed. Wondrous and otherworldly creatures thrive in the continent’s varied landscape. Strange communities, cults and factions are nurtured in relative seclusion, away from the influence of the Lord’s Alliance. The local sentiment for independence is ever-growing.

It is in this land were the skills of the adventurer are required. Much of the unknown lies ahead, and it is yours for the taking - should you choose to brave it.