The Scourge may be over, but there are still dangers lurking in the darker corners of the land. Not all of them are Horrors.
— T’lanthyn the Talespinner
Long ago, the land grew lush and green. Thriving forests sheltered plants and animals. It was an age remembered today in the echoes of myth and legend. Magic was a part of life itself, filling the world and allowing people to grow and prosper off the land’s bounty.
This bounty came with a price. An elven scholar discovered ancient texts that revealed magical energy rises and falls, a natural cycle spanning thousands of years. At its peak, dread creatures enter the world, causing a time of suffering destruction that would last for centuries. He called these creatures the Horrors.
Armed with this knowledge, magicians and scholars came together to learn more about the coming disaster, which they called the Scourge. From these noble beginnings grew the Theran Empire. While they couldn't prevent the Scourge, they found a way to protect their subjects. As the Scourge approached, villages and towns built fantastic underground shelters called kaers. Generations lived in these shelters, sustained by magic and protected with powerful wards.
Then the Horrors came and drowned the world in darkness.
The world’s flow of magic rose and at its height dread creatures from the depths of astral space crossed into our world, leaving suffering and destruction in their wake. They laid our world to waste in a terrible time known as the Scourge. Lush forests died. Bustling towns vanished. Beautiful grasslands and majestic mountains became blasted, barren terrain, home to the Horrors’ twisted mockery of life.
The Horrors lusted to destroy all life, but they did not succeed. Before their coming, the magicians of the Theran Empire warned the world. The people of the Earth took shelter in fantastic underground cities called kaers; their descendents grew up within these earthen enclaves, never seeing the light of the sun. For 400 years the Horrors roamed the land, devouring all they touched while people hid in terror.
Eventually, the ebb of the world’s magic forced these loathsome creatures to retreat to the astral pit that spawned them. The people emerged slowly from their kaers, half in hope the Scourge truly ended and half in fear the Horrors lingered. Though most of the Horrors left the world, many remain, inflicting anguish and suffering on other living creatures. As the people of the world struggle to remake the shattered world, they must combat the remaining Horrors who seek to prolong the destruction and despair of the Scourge.
The world has changed, almost beyond recognition. Many people died during the Scourge; entire kingdoms were lost. The Horrors breached kaers, tormenting and killing those within. Other kaers remain sealed, from disaster or simple fear; their contents await discovery by bold explorers.
In the Age of Legend, heroes band together to fight the Horrors and reclaim the wounded world for those born in it. They rediscover its lost legends and explore its changed face. Should they find folk still living within, these brave adventurers may lead such fear-darkened souls out to live again in the light.
As they search the altered land for legendary cities and lost treasures, they become the legends that will light the coming days. Tales of their deeds will live forever in people’s hearts. Heroes come to join in common cause from many paths. They come from many Disciplines, seeking honor and glory, and battle evil to redeem the world. A band of heroes may include an Illusionist, a spellcaster who combines deception and reality to confuse those around them; a Swordmaster, trained in the art of fighting with melee weapons; or a Beastmaster, able to train and command the beasts of earth and sky.
The world holds countless heroes, but all share one trait: a willingness to fight to reclaim the world from that which threatens it. Through noble deeds and sacrifice, the heroes of the world will forge its future.
The world of Earthdawn is one of legend. Its people and places are larger than life, the stuff of song and saga. Heroes fight the monsters of this and other worlds; their bold exploits light a beacon of hope for the future, as word of their deeds spreads across the troubled, fearful land. Earthdawn is a world of high adventure, high magic, and terrible danger. Those dangers lurk not only within long-forgotten kaers, but also within the minds of people corrupted by the Horrors. To reclaim the land and heal its heart and soul after the devastation of the Scourge, the world needs heroes. The players of Earthdawn, by creating their characters and playing the game, provide these heroes.
In contrast to many other roleplaying games, characters in Earthdawn don't simply survive each adventure and become a little smarter or a little richer. Earthdawn adds another dimension to roleplaying; its characters become heroic figures, accomplishing deeds so impressive that generation after generation will honor their memory in song and story. The world of Earthdawn brims over with legends, heart-stirring tales of famous adventurers. Earthdawn player characters can become the figures in those legends. As they build their characters’ legends through play, they create the fireside tales that their descendants will tell about them.
Gaining this heroic stature through daring deeds is as important a part of playing Earthdawn as any lesser gain in riches or experience.
It is an age of magic, wonder, exploration, darkness, and hope. Time to forge your legend!