Welcome traveler, to the continent of Ansalon on the world of Krynn. It is the year 547 Alt Istaria (AI). It has been five-hundred forty-seven years since the fiery mountain was thrown down from the Heavens and destroyed the Empire of Istar, Light of the World, in a single day. It has been one-hundred nintey-five years since the return of the Priests and Raistlin Majere's and Tanis Half-Elven's successful gambit to strike down the Dragon Highlord Ariakas and defeat the second attempt of Takhisis the Destroyer to take over the whole of Krynn. It has been one-hundred eighty-three years since War of Chaos and the Second Wandering of the Graygem -- curing the madness of the Secondborn Races. It has been one-hundred twenty-six years since the War of Souls, the third (and hopefully final) attempt by Takhisis the Destroyer to take over the whole of Krynn, the destruction of two Godhoods and the breaking of the Pantheons. So ended the era historiians now call the Years of Tumult. It has also been one month since the death of two mortals.

In Sylvanost the elven priestess Alenia Seleramoon -- the last living mortal to have walked among the temples of Great Istar -- passed away in her sleep at the age of 567, and with her all mortal memory of the Age of Might. In Nightlund the human astrologer Algon Po fell down the stairs of his observatory and broke his neck, and with him died the last human memories of a world ruled by opposing Pantheons of Gods and dragons in the sky. For a time historians called this new era the Age of Mortals, but the Gods have returned in earnest and the mortal races are no longer alone. This is the Age of Dissolution. All of the old bonds - the Pantheons, the Alignments, the Churches and Orders are all broken and have lost their absolute hold on Krynn.