Ninety years ago, Ascala was devastated by a cataclysm. In the final days of a centuries-long war, a thousand mages gathered to oppose each other on the battlefield. In the battle that ensued, the Arcane Veil, the intangible barrier that seperates Ascala from its Arcane energy, cracked, sending a shockwave throughout the world. Some small number of people survived, their world, their home, now reduced to nothing but ashes and cinder.

Man persisted, as Man does. Nearly a century on from the cataclysmic disaster, people have gathered into small communities. Faced not only with the troubles of the harsh, barren land, they are subject to the monstrosites born of the cataclysm, creatures warped by the Arcane energy seeping slowly through the barrier. As such, they choose to remain in small groups, for fear that larger communities might attract these beasts.

Tales have begun to spread, retellings of legends and myths from the old world, as well as new stories. Arith, the son of his village’s tailor, hears tell of a surviving mage, one who bore witness to the tragedy that brought Ascala to its knees. It is also said that this mage knows a way to restore that world.

Fanciful tales, Arith was told. Silly rumours, to comfort the weak of mind, surely. Could it really be anything more?