It was the early 21st century when the plague came. At first, it seemed like some sort of media stunt, after all the undead were all of the rage within popular culture. But it was all too real. A plague of epic proportions, only imagined within movies, swept the planet. Everywhere people were dying, but they did not stay dead. Zombies plunged the world into a post-apocalyptic war zone wherein those who were not infected tried in vain to stay that way. Militias and mobs endeavored to establish protected zones and killed any who tried to approach, but still the plague ravished the world. Civilization fell and even as the undead perished, they always seem replenished by the survivors. Almost a score of years had passed and humanity had all but lost its hope of survival, barely eking out miserable lives while vainly struggling to survive.
What came next was not even imagined in the most fevered dreamers minds. When and why they came is anyone's guess. Whether they were here all along, or from somewhere else; whether they were invited or just another mindless blow against humanity, these things we do not know. What we do know is that the attempts at order and cleansing that mankind tried to inflict upon the undead were far more successful when undertaken by Dragons.
The Dragon Kings swept forth from across the seas, bringing fire and wrath upon all of those left. With the dragons came magic. The world groaned as what was left of humanity fractured into the fantastical races of myth. Elves, dwarves, fey of all types either sprung from humans or arrived as magically as the dragons had. Seemingly sworn to the eradication of the undead, the Dragons, with fire and magic, cleansed the earth as only they could.
Mankind (along with his new cousins) regained a sliver of their former selves in the limited use of technology and science now that areas of safety could be established. Though the average life of a man or women more strongly resembled that of their ancestors within feudal Europe than any of their cousins from earlier in the century.
In the almost 50 years that they have ruled, to say that the Dragon Kings have succeeded is only part of the truth. There are still many dark places in the world where the undead and their ilk roam, spreading decay, darkness and Chaos. The Dragons have established themselves as God-Kings and rule mercilessly from great citadels with the fire and light of Order. They have bestowed upon mortal men hints of their power, people who rally forth to bring light to the dark.
In the middle are what remain of humanity and the other races that now walk the earth. Enslaved but safe within Dragon Realms, or free but living within the grasp of the undead or the wild. It is in this world that our adventurers find themselves.