Lore

## Introduction

The city of Ashborne was once a place of peace and prosperity, a bustling trade hub at the heart of the Old Empire, rivaled only by the Capital in its golden splendour. At the height of its power the Empire ruled the known world, dispensing wisdom and justice in equal measure to all of its subjects - until, in their blind hubris, sages of the Sun Court overreached in their arcane experiments and shook foundations of the world; they made the Tear, and from it came rushing hordes of monstrosities that would swarm the land in all directions.

The Empire fell, swallowed by the Dark -a mysterious and malign force from beyond the Tear - and in the many years that followed, Ashborne, a mere shadow of its former glory, endured under constant threat from the unnatural veil of darkness looming on the horizon, and creatures lurking inside its shadow. As danger and opportunity come hand in hand, over the years grim tidings have brought a steady influx of curious adventurers, seeking to amass riches or unveil mysteries that lie at the heart of the calamity.

Like many others, you have come to Ashborne seeking fame and fortune, responding to the city council's ever-increasing demand for manpower and promises of gold. Your destination, the fabled remains of the old imperial capital-once the center of the civilized world, nowadays a ruin said to contain vast treasures in its gloomy halls.

As you make your way through the city, you realize it is in a dire state, signs of a recent siege evident on chaotic streets and dismayed faces of passers-by. A slim pretence of control is maintained only by the presence of mercenary companies in employ of the city council and a dwindling garrison of the city guard.

You walk by a tavern, a worn sign swaying in the wind betraying its name - The Dancing Dragon - and decide against having a drink. You will need all your wits about you for what's to come. Finally you reach the parapet overlooking the valley below. In the distance, not too far to the south, a thick wall of impenetrable darkness obscures the horizon at the source of all this trouble - The Tear - a wound in the fabric of reality, leaking foul things from the Dark. You can feel its alien presence gnawing at your sanity even at this distance, and you wonder how it must be for citizens of Ashborne to endure this encroaching dread every day.

As you watch the black clouds gather and advance, slowly but steadily across the evening sky the color of dried blood, doubt takes root in your mind, and you wonder - not for the first time-if this was a good idea. One thing is certain, however - you have a grim quest ahead of you...

## Ashborne

/city map image/

In the ages past, before the Tear, Ashborne was a proud and prosperous city at the heart of the old Empire - today it's a melting pot of greedy mercenaries groping for coin, curious scholars dabbling in the forbidden arts and ordinary people just trying to make ends meet. With the recent increase in turmoil surrounding the Tear, Ashborne endures siege after siege from both unnatural and mundane aggressors, perched defiantly on the outskirts of the Dark, offering a sanctuary of sorts to the virtuous and the wicked alike.

Ashborne is ruled by the city council, an elected body comprised of eight distinguished citizens - in times of crisis council members wield almost absolute power, and are bound to use it to protect the city at all cost. Whether or not they do so is a point of never-ending debate among the lower classes, especially now when the City is under constant threat and the Council exercises its powers to little or no effect.

## The Old Empire

Its official name lost to history, the entity that once held most of the southern lands under its sovereign rule is known today only as the old Empire.

What little empirical evidence remains of its existence suggest that it was at the height of its power when a calamity struck - the Tear - and brought ruin to a society far more advanced than ours in both science and magical arts.

## The Sun Court

A place of wisdom and learning, the Sun Court was the Empire's foremost authority on all questions of arcane and scientific nature.

Its occupants - the sages - were some of the brightest minds in all the known lands, who served as advisers to the imperial throne and keepers of accumulated knowledge of the ages. When not in imperial service, sages performed various magical experiments, bringing progress and prosperity to all subjects of the Empire.

## Records of Sage Asmodius

Collection of writings by the headmaster of the Sun Court, suspected to contain information on the origin of the Dark:

**Records of Sage Asmodius of the Sun Court, Imperial Capital, 23 BT, Entry 1:**

Sorting through some obscure writings of the Cult of the All-Seeing I have stumbled upon an interesting passage - it describes a place where everything a person can imagine becomes reality, literally, by the process of thinking alone. It seemed like a foolish notion at first, but having nothing better to do at the time, I decided to entertain the idea and have made some interesting discoveries along the way - I have since encountered at least a dozen mentions of similar phenomenon in various ancient texts from the central library...I will have to look into it in more detail when I have the time.

**Records of Sage Asmodius of the Sun Court, Imperial Capital, 20 BT, Entry 2:**

While translating one of the old Mua-Ta carvings, found in the depths of the Northern Wood, I have found a mention of a strange ritual - it seems that the Mua-Ta believe their dreams and nightmares can manifest in reality if certain conditions are met - the belief which strangely corresponds to the discoveries I made a few years earlier, about the wish-fulfilling place of antiquity. Be it an actual physical place or a magical phenomenon, I will have to replicate the ritual and see if there is truth to any of this...the ritual requires a lot of blood, however, so I will have to be discrete about it.

**Records of Sage Asmodius of the Sun Court, Imperial Capital, 15 BT, Entry 3:**

After years of failed attempts I have finally made a breakthrough in my research - the ritual was a success! I have sacrificed a large rat and used its blood to fuel the occult incantations found on the Mua-Ta carving, all along focusing my thoughts on a dream I had last night, about a beautiful field of Marigold flowers. Not long after, I managed to materialize a single flower from thin air, somewhat misshapen, but real nonetheless! This is unbelievable... I have to break the news to my fellow Sages at the Court!

**Records of Sage Asmodius of the Sun Court, Imperial Capital, 12 BT, Entry 4:**

The research continues...my colleagues on the project are excited, I can see it on their faces even though they hide it well-acting like children does not befit Sages of the Sun Court. Still, I can hardly blame them - we are on the brink of a monumental discovery - one that will forever change the course of history and the world as we know it. With some luck, we will be remembered as harbingers of a new age of wonders! Maybe it is time to inform the Emperor about my findings...

**Records of Sage Asmodius of the Sun Court, Imperial Capital, 11 BT, Entry 5:**

The Emperor, a pompous, self-absorbed fool that he is, does not share my enthusiasm about the research. I have explained it to him as best I could, taking into account his limited mental capacity, but the fool still refuses to listen - he thinks I am blinded by pride and academic zeal - as if he knows anything about such things...at least my colleagues at the Court understand - I will continue the research with a group of like-minded sages, regardless of the Throne's support.

**Records of Sage Asmodius of the Sun Court, Imperial Capital, 8 BT, Entry 6:**

At the Sun court we have formed a special research group dedicated to the project we colloquially named Heaven's Gate. After the initial ritual we have managed not only to replicate the results, but also to increase the success rate and magnitude of material manifestations. I suspect we have tapped into another dimension - one with a different set of laws, and are now channeling it into our own. I can only imagine what we could accomplish given enough time and resources...if only we had the backing of the imperial Throne - we could rewrite the face of the world with our thoughts alone....

**Records of Sage Asmodius of the Sun Court, Imperial Capital, 7 BT, Entry 7:**

A long-brewing unrest in the southern provinces could play in our favor - the Emperor is hard pressed to act but the lack of supplies keeps imperial forces immobilized and useless. If we could use the ritual to conjure up enough food we could make the Emperor change his mind about the whole thing and give us his support...luckily the slave market is as busy as ever and human blood is a much more potent catalyst than that of rodents - some of my colleagues frown at this, but I am firm in my belief that some sacrifices are necessary on the way to greatness.

**Records of Sage Asmodius of the Sun Court, Imperial Capital, 6 BT, Entry 8:**

At last, the Emperor has given us his support - I have managed to persuade him that the project is in the best interest of his people and the Empire on the whole. After months of hard work, we can finally begin to scale the project up - what I have in mind is a sort of permanent gate, which will allow us to manifest without a prior ritual - just as the ancient texts said, with naught but a thought. Gathering the resources needed to fuel the gate will be tricky however, but, with logistical support of the throne, it should be manageable within a reasonable time-frame.

**Records of Sage Asmodius of the Sun Court, Imperial Capital, 1 BT, Entry 9:**

The word of our doing has escaped the inner sanctum of the Sun Court and the common folk are not happy, to say the least. Riots rage across the Capital for days on end - fear of the unknown has overpowered reason and logic, as it usually is with those unable to grasp the big picture. I don't know how much longer the Emperor's troops can keep the angry mob from storming our chambers and destroying our precious work...we must hurry up and push the schedule, safety procedures be damned - once the gate is operational we will make everything right again.

**Records of Sage Asmodius of the Sun Court, Imperial Capital, 1 BT, Entry 10:**

What have we done? We could never have predicted the magnitude...the raw, undiluted power that beckons from the other side of the Gate is like a vast ocean compared to our puny experiments of past months...how did we ever think we could control such a thing? Every attempt to channel it so far has resulted in catastrophic failures - it responds to our probing by manifesting obscenities and horrors from the deepest reaches of subconscious mind...did I call our creation a gate? It's more of a tear - we have torn something fundamental in the fabric of reality, and we don't know how to mend it. Gods help us if we don't figure something out soon...

## The Dark

When the sages of the Old Empire ripped a tear in the fabric of reality, what came from the other side wasn't what they'd expected to find at all an unnatural darkness spread across the land and within it nightmarish creatures intent on causing pain and misery to all things living.

While the true nature of the Dark remains a mystery to this day, some scholars have speculated that it is the collective unconscious of humanity given life by arcane magics - our deepest and darkest nightmares made flesh and come to haunt us in the waking world.

## Sunken Grotto

A complex of caves stretching the shores of the Northern Basin.

No one knows for sure how far these caves go but they are large and wide enough to house all sorts of miscreants and monsters - from bandits and thieves hiding from the law to foul beasts and undead crawling about - one can never be too cautious when exploring the Grotto as one never knows what dangers might be lurking around the next corner.

If the city council's advisers are to be trusted, you will find two of your targets here - the so called Prince of Thieves, surrounded with his army of miscreants and marauders, should be your first concern. After he is dealt with, there is the Baron of Bones - this undead menace is rumored to reside somewhere in the lower levels of the Grotto, in a chamber made out of bones of his enemies.

Sometimes these manifestations are just misshapen monsters, and sometimes they wear a familiar face - they resemble people you know, friend and enemies both. Whatever the case, they are always hostile, and once they appear you have no choice but to put them down...

Undead, on the other hand, bring no absolution whatsoever - the more of them you destroy, the more they come at you in their mindless frenzy...after you deal with the more mundane threat that is the Prince of Thieves you should hurry up and find the Baron of Bones, and put a stop to his terror, before the undead overwhelm you with sheer numbers...

As you descent yet another dark tunnel you wonder how much time you have left before the ritual is complete, and the All-Seeing awakens from his millennial slumber. A horrifying thought springs to your mind then - perhaps it is already done, and you will have to deal with the consequences, one way or another?

## Glacial Mountains

Glacial Mountains rise to the south of Ashborne, their high, ice-encrusted peaks impassable but for a narrow pass leading towards the Withering Woods and the darkness beyond.

Harsh, inhospitable climate as well as nomads, orcs and trolls that settle in the area make for a place best avoided by anyone sane and sound in the mind.

If you wish to travel farther south you must first dispose of the Orc Chieftain barricaded in his fortified camp. After that you may proceed to hunt down the Ancient Troll, leader of the troll pack that plagues the higher reaches of the Glacial Pass.

Your mind clears also, and you wonder what awaits you at the end of your journey - is the Tear, as some scholars speculate, a doorway to another dimension, one so alien that its mere contact with this reality bends the physical laws and twists the minds of rational beings into madness? If so, how do you stop it? How do you prevent the Dark from spreading its cancerous tendrils further into this world?

The frequency and number of manifestations the Dark conjures up from your psyche seems to increase also, as if orcs and shadow creatures weren't enough to deal with. You proceed with caution, knowing that a single wrong step could mean your demise in this icy hell...

Down the slope, not too far to the north, you can see the excavation site - in its center a large portion of ice has cracked and crumbled, revealing a giant hole in the ground, a gaping darkness resembling a maw of some ancient beast. As you approach the hole you can see that it is, in fact, a tunnel, leading deeper underground into the eons-undisturbed ice...perhaps you will find some answers inside this icy tomb of antiquity?

You better end this madness right now. Before it has a chance to spread!

## Withering Woods

Mist-covered swamplands south of the mountains obscure the way to the imperial capital and the Tear within.

Between the hostile tribes of Mua-Ta and a variety of creatures best left undisturbed, only the bravest or most foolish of adventurers dare to enter this nightmarish swamp.

This is the last obstacle that bars your way to the Capital - you will first have to deal with the Mua-Ta and their chosen champion, hiding in an underground temple somewhere deeper in the swamp. Finally, if the rumors hold any truth, there is a dragon - an ancient beast driven to madness by the Tear's malign influence, said to hunt down and devour anyone foolish enough to approach its den...

This is homeland to the Mua-Ta and the masked little creatures harass you every step of the way, determined to protect their sacred temple and whatever secrets it holds.
Dark manifestations are also getting stronger and more numerous, but that's only to be expected, as you get closer and closer to the Capital. You realize, in a sense, that you are indeed discovering a new frontier - the hidden depths of your own mind - and you don't like what you found so far...

You don't know much about the ancient wyrm except that the denizens of the Withering Woods fear and respect it for its legendary strength - along the way you encountered dozens of wooden totems depicting the dragon, carved in a rough style characteristic for misshapen animal limbs of beastmen. Judging by the frequency of these "artworks", at least you know you are going in the right direction...

Scouring the nearby ruins you have found fragments of texts dating back to the last days of the Old Empire - they mention an army of machines, the last futile attempt of sages of the Sun Court to redeem for their hubris and defeat the Dark. Having no mind of their own, these constructs were supposed to be immune to the Dark's influence and unstoppable with their bodies made out of alloy resistant to all magic.
The idea, good as it may seem in theory, did not work-it would seem that it was conceived too late, and what little of the army was constructed soon fell into disuse with the empire's demise. Whatever prompted these machines to activate now, after all this time, remains a mystery, but the answers should be found at the central manufacturing facility somewhere to the south...

## The Tear

Somewhere in the ruins of the old imperial capital, covered in a never-ending night, the Tear stands out like a gaping wound in the fabric of reality and leeks nightmares into the waking world.

It is said that those foolish enough to cross the veil of darkness that envelops the area around the Tear never return, at least not the same - death or madness claims them in the desolate wasteland that formed around the ruins of what was once a center of the civilized world...

As you traverse the seemingly endless desert you begin to glimpse a silhouette of a ruined city far on the horizon - it must be the lost capital of the Old Empire, and, within it, your destination -despite overwhelming exhaustion you quicken your pace and continue south, always south...

Your passage is not an easy one - hordes of undead, still clad in faded arcane robes from the old imperial era, harass you along the way, while nightmarish humanoid figures - corrupted worshipers of the Dark, no doubt - wait in ambush at every turn. And then there is the Tear - this close its pull is like nothing you've felt before - a freezing cold of an endless abyss probing at your mind, stripping it of conscious thought until all that's left is raw animal instinct, the will to survive and reach your destination.
Guided by the writings of Sage Asmodius, you head out for the Sun Court, its tall spires beckoning you to the center of the city...

As you cross the gloomy corridor a suffocating feeling nags at your subconscious mind and suddenly you are aware of a presence so vast and hungry it makes your whole body shiver with dread - something lurks in the dark ahead and awaits your approach...

Mind uncluttered and free, you realize that the source of the Dark's power, that which gives it fuel to manifest, is buried deep inside you - it has been all along - and you are almost ready to face it...

## Burning Caldera

The site of a devastating volcanic eruption which occurred sometime before the Tearing, leaving a whole imperial outpost, name unknown, buried under mounds of calcified lava.

Such remote outposts were not uncommon in the Old Empire - sages needed complete privacy to conduct some of their morally dubious experiments, considering somewhat orthodox worldview of the imperial throne and the emperor himself, who did not always look eye to eye with his pioneers of magic and technology...

The time moves in cycles, you think to yourself, as you look into the distance - a fiery top of the caldera burning red with boiling lava once again. As you make your way through the charred landscape you can see the evidence of the ancient tragedy still present in the form of half-buried stone buildings and humanoid figures protruding from the ground. It is not only the grotesque landscape, however, that is ominous about this place - you can sense something wrong in the air around you, a powerful and malign presence lurking farther ahead, beckoning you deeper into this burning graveyard of antiquity...

Finally, after defeating a group of assailants, you manage to get some information from a subdued djinn - under threat of eternal torture, the creature confesses the name of its master - a familiar name - Asmodius! Could it be the very same Asmodius from the old imperial records? Did the cunning sage evaded his doom somehow and cheated death altogether? Or is this some impostor who adopted the infamous name as a a way of bolstering his feeble ego? Whatever the case, the person behind all this mess is clearly deranged, and must be stopped before his dabbling in the arcane gets out of hand...

Just beyond the abyssal hole, on an impromptu throne made of discarded equipment, sits a figure clad in twisted metal armor engraved with myriad of arcane runes. The mastermind behind this whole mess, you realize, as you feel the power radiating from the figure in waves. In the end, you never get the chance to confirm its identity - the creature, driven to madness by its own overwhelming power and twisted to malignancy by the dark, attacks you on sight and without provocation, directing all its malice towards you...

## Imperial Mausoleum

Far to the south of the imperial capital, in a barren desert, a mausoleum was built to house the deceased of the ruling dynasty - no one has entered its sacred chambers since the Tearing...

It is speculated that the rulers of the old Empire built the mausoleum in such a remote place on purpose - they wanted to keep their own mortality an abstract notion, far removed from minds and eyes of the common folk, over whom they ruled as gods in mortal flesh.

You approach in awe, scanning the grandiose structure for any signs of entrance, and soon spot a high rectangular cut in the stone wall. As you near the gaping slit, you begin to notice bones littering the desert sand - more, and more, until the ground is covered with thousands of macabre remains of all shapes and sizes. Taking this as an ill omen, you prepare for trouble, and slowly start your descend into the darkness of the old imperial tomb, barely suppressed feelings of terror and insanity arising in your mind with each footstep, following in your wake, like old companions...

But there is also something darker hiding at the core of this place, something more sinister than a group of renegade mages dabbling in the forbidden arts, and it makes you shiver with dread and foreboding. Dark creatures, some of the most powerful you've yet encountered, have made their lair in the hidden reaches of this sprawling tomb, and they seem to be out for your blood...

Their agenda is, if they indeed have one, remains a mystery, but it seems they are intent to collect as much blood as possible, preying on necromancers and Mua-Ta alike. You will have to go deeper into the mausoleum, where their lair undoubtedly is located, to find some answers...

## Blasted Wastes

A numerous group of orcs is said to reside in the area, reclusive and isolated from the rest of the Horde - a behaviour uncharacteristic for their kind in itself, and only bolstered by frequent bursts of violence against passing merchant caravans. Knowing the orc's innate aversion and natural resilience towards the Dark, it seems that something altogether different has stirred the bloodlust of the human's ancient rivals...

Desperate to fight the Dark, they have turned to taboo rituals of demon summoning, an archaic blend of magic and worship, dating back to the Age of Ignorance. Could this somehow be connected with the strange obscenities of flesh you keep running into?

However, something has gone very, very wrong. Instead of assuming their usual corporeal form, lesser infernal spirits have been corrupted, twisted and deformed into formless masses of infernal flesh. Orc shamans suspect it to be the work of the Dark - somehow, the two primordial forces have collided and resulted in an abomination, neither infernal nor dark in nature, but something in between. Their progenitor, a Demon Lord with whom the orcs have made a pact with, can't be very far ahead," it's piercing screams of anguish over its mutilated children faintly audible even over the sharp hiss of the desert wind.

You advance further into the valley and the screams of the rampaging Demon Lord gradually increase in volume, until you spot it in the distance - a towering humanoid figure, twice the size of a man, with a pair of diabolical horns adorning its slumped head. It is surrounded by scores of carcasses belonging to its deformed progeny and some orcs who scuttle about it, trying to appease it, to no avail. It's past time you put it out of its misery...