Rusvalin Intro

We live in a world defined by its scars.  Roughly a millenia ago, an entity of unknown power managed to amass armies in all the primary realms: the heavens, earth, and hell, trying annihilate everything.  In a desperate attempt to save the races, the gods split the holy continent of Ainador into two halves, Kalinan and Gurthal.  Kalinan housed the remnants of the races, giving us a chance to recover, while Gurthal was blasted by deific power until nothing was left standing.  Sadly, the distance between the continents was not enough to spare us completely, and the magical weave surrounding our continent was badly damaged, leaving magic erratic and unpredictable.

A decade later, the wars in the heavens and hell were won, with the entity and its generals being banished beyond space and time.  As the gods turned their attention back to the earth, they realized just what their attempt to save us had done: it had ruined us.  Ancient sages had destroyed themselves and villages by performing simple healing magics, the heads of diviners were exploding when trying to scry, and paladins had fallen over dead by simply praying to their god for strength in battle.  The only civilizations that thrived were the ones that didn't rely on magic; the goblins and humans were overtaking everything.

To save us from our certain destruction, the gods repaired the damage as best as they were able, but large swaths of the weave had scarred over in those short ten years, and they could only do so much.  They also put the seeds of life into the dark continent, letting their clerics know that they would watch over any settlers.  Over time, civilizations rose and fell, settlers came and went, and life, inevitably, began to move on, with a limp that would never go away.

We live in a world defined by its scars. A world where a man can set his family comfortably for life by taking a single voyage, returning with riches and memories that will haunt him until his death. A world where creatures can slip between dimensions against its will, forced to start a new life in our shattered realm. A world where mages are feared not for their power, but for their lack of self-preservation, gathering power even as each spell brings them closer to destruction. A world of distrust, hatred, pain, and sorrow.
We live in Rusvalin.