Introduction

## In the Beginning

Aeons ago, when only the Great Void existed, the world came into being. At first it was formless and empty, another shadow in the darkness. It languished for untold millennia in despair, waiting for when it would be given purpose.

Into this were born our Gods - the twin Moons that circle our world and bring joy and love; and the vengeful Sun that peeks over the horizon to scourge the world anew each time. From them were born the younger Gods, who would help shape the world and the creatures that live in it.

As the world was given form and substance, the vicious Sun rose for the first time and the Gods that served it came to burn the world. The Sun's wicked fire scorched the surface, turning it black and lifeless. Yet, when the Sun turned away and Her servants left, the Gods came back and began to toil once more. As aeons passed, the world came to resemble what it is today. Time and again, the Sun would come, scorching away the work of the Gods - but each time there would remain a little more, - until even the Sun could do nothing.

To the frozen lands of Iskandarr, where the Moons circle the night sky for longest, were brought the Moonborn. The true-born children of the Lunar Gods, these giants made their home in this land by carving cities in the Ice Sea. At the height of their power, it is said that the towers of their cities could reach the heavens and that from their height they could speak to the Gods.

## The First Age

In the end, however, nothing lasts forever. Some say that it was their folly, some say that it was the accursed Sun, but the beautiful cities of the Moonborn crumbled and the few that survived the cataclysm that shattered their great civilization scattered. In time, they would sire children - the Aelan.

As the last of the Moonborn dwindled, they hurried to help their children learn the secrets of the world. They taught the Aelan magic, philosophy, they spoke of the Gods and showed them the many secrets of the world and the Great Void beyond.

The First Age began when the last of the Moonborn died and Ice Sea began to melt away. As the ice receded, the Aelan traveled as nomads, finding purchase amidst silent mountains and windswept moors. In these lands of shadow, they built cities and villages, and struggled to survive.

Through these centuries of quiet struggle, the Aelan would meet new beings that they had never seen before. Though there were many - both monstrous and fair - three great races emerged as the rulers of Iskandarr alongside the Aelan.

First among them were the savage Inu and their tribes. Blazing torches in-hand, they came from the northern mountains bringing with them disease, famine and death. They bore gifts of the Sun, and upon their ragged banners they carried the accursed sigil. Only by war they were driven from the lands of the Aelan into the harsh Windlands of the North.

The second were the Tama of the deeps. They dug their way to the surface from great chambers in the center of the world, always seeking to satisfy their curiosity. They spoke of Gods that live in the depths, in the rocks and gems, and of the dark fires of the world from which they spring.

Finally, the last to come were the Men'u. Emerging from magical portals after a great calamity befell their land, they settled the Southern-most shores of Iskandarr, where they began to build citadels and fortresses unlike any that graced Iskandarr before.

## The Second Age

Only a century ago, the magic of the world began to wane. It was the first change that heralded the coming of the Second Age. The Sun would begin to emerge more and more as the Moons retreated. The dead waken in their icy tombs and Draugr stalk the nights.

It is a time of trial and strife, as the land of Iskandarr begins to melt once more - and the Ice Sea shrinks once again. Beyond the lands of the Aelan, the Inu plot and plan, raising the Sun banner once more to begin a "Holy War" for the salvation of this land. The Men'u build and shelter themselves behind walls, still yearning for their sun-bleached green lands, hoping to unlock the secrets of portal that could take them home. The Tama, who had come so frequently to the surface to trade are fewer now and speak of a rumble in the deeps, as if the world was waking up...

You come in a time of great change in Iskandarr. Tread carefully, young one, lest your lifesblood water this land, as so many before you did.