It was light, that's all they would remember was the light that pulled them from the world below. The people of Altrea were forced into a land scattered by ruins, mysterious woods, and creatures of amalgamated designs. As these people suffered and strived to live, their small settlements grew and connected. Finally, by either fate or chance, the people from down below met an intelligent race that was known as Altreans. This race gave the people from below a grand city to both act as a place of harmony between the groups and a place of protection.

As time moved on, and peace had allowed the people to flourish, the young and determined had gained an innate sense of curiosity as to why they were there. As if being called by an unknown force, the youthful adventurers sought out the places where they had come from the ground. While it took much adventuring and tribulations, a small party had found an underground door. Upon opening this door, they encountered a vast expansive room. Beyond that, was a small room with a single leather-bound book.

Upon reading the book, the young adventurers head gained an ability that was long since forgotten. This book had allowed them to use magic. As the small group returned to the capital to announce their findings, they saw that other parties, looking for the same reason, had found unique objects and texts as well. Rituals to summon other beings, spells to light up the dark, and incantations of immeasurable possibilities. In order to protect and understand this knowledge, the Altrean people decided to build a grand academy. This academy would help to understand, learn, and forge this new path that was granted to them. This would become known as the Midvale Academy.

As Midvale Academy continued to grow and prosper, a new era of peace was found. Not only had the new studies of magic help to bring balance in such a chaotic world, but it had helped the people of Midvale find other races of people who were scattered across the grand landscape. All were not as willing to share, however, and many of the other settlements created their own magical academies to rival Midvale. Powered by both Politics and personal agenda's, the time of peace was soon to be over as the magic war was about to begin.

Slowly, each of the other provinces withdrew their people from Midvale to prepare for the oncoming darkness. Yet, a small group of Nine students from the beginnings of Midvale Academy knew something else and found a secret within the Academy. Afraid of what would happen if the other provinces went unchecked, this small guild formed the Underground. This cults true order was to find any and all information on magical texts or relics and bring it back to Midvale. Volcanna, a charismatic alumni of the Midvale Academy, was nominated as the leader of the Underground.

The worst was yet to come, while the Underground had copied or collected many magical texts, Volcanna soon discovered that each of the other provinces planned to storm Midvale, to prove their superiority. Through the Underground network, however, Volcanna had discovered an ancient secret of the world below and sought the only thing powerful enough to stop the oncoming war.

Deep in a catacomb hidden in plain sight, Volcanna, and a select few from the Underground, found an ancient relic that could channel pure primal magic power. Upon using the relic, they saw the future devastation and darkness that would occur if the magic war was to occur on Midvale. By using both their power as the elite of the Underground and the possessor of the relic, they ordered that all magical texts be brought to Midvale. Once all of the texts were gathered by the Underground, Volcanna was going to use the relic to lock away the magical texts and releases an ancient creation, known as the Mist, into Altrea. Yet, on the night, treachery occurred within the ranks of the Underground.

All that was recorded in history, and survived the fire of the academy, was rumor of what happened that night. It was said that the stars had stopped shining bright, the earth shook, and a brilliant flash emitted from the top of the clockwork tower. As civilians looked to the Clockwork Tower, they saw the academy was burning and watched in horror as it began to collapse.

As a century has passed, the world of Altrea has survived, but strange disappearances, figures in midnight cloaks, the Mist, and many ancient evils are beginning to stir once again on the surface. As if that wasn't enough of a danger, reports of people awakening with magical powers are found drifting through every tavern. If the stories of old are true, the world of Altrea is in need of heroes, but who is up to such a momentous task?

A child born of a family noble,

Unpure in blood, was scorned in total.

As pressures added and name at stake,

The child left, the young heart did break.

As time spurred on, it carved its cost,

With nothing left, all was lost.

Found twisted by darkness, harboring spite,

He was found by people who worshiped the night.

With powers of old, fire and ice,

They taught the child secrets at a price.

For the power he sought to shatter his home,

He must pledge himself to the scale leathered tomb.

With power old and knowledge new,

He was given one final task to do.

Cleanse Midvale of the beasts of old,

Reviving the power that was foretold.

He covered the town, with darkened light,

Purifying Midvale from an ancient might.

The battle was won, the war was over,

But from where his feelings lay dormant, his chest grew colder.

Walking the city, cleaned of the dark,

He saw only bodies, ending their arc.

He questioned the truth, of living this path,

When he saw the truth of his long-burning wrath.

A child torched by his cleansing power,

Still stood erect from its final hour.

With doll in hand, and mother surround,

The last that child saw was the power he crowned.

Under the Midnight sun, did he learn his name,

The Dark Star, as history would tell, and his power to maim.

The Dark Star left, to flee from his curse,

Yet outside of Midvale, his story finds its last verse.

A Knight of Light, with new crest clad,

Would rise from the ashes to meet the dark nomad.

As powers converged Day and Night,

The Scorn of the Night fell to the Knights of the Light.

May travelers be wary of all of the Dark,

And relish in the day for all it will spark.

While the war continues, a battle, a fight,

Hold steadfast, like the Beast of Light.

As the party has slowly begun their adventure, rumors and stories of old have begun to leak into now. One single thread connecting them all is a mysterious group known as the Shadowhand. From creating the Darkstar to almost annihilating the Altrean people, this strange group seems to lie in ancient history across all of the land of Altrea. Just who is in charge of this organization and how did they come into power to begin with?