But all that was before the Kingpriest of Istar. He was a good man at heart, but his faith burned too brightly, and his pride swelled until it matched the size of his kingdom. He believed that evil should be scoured from the land forever, so that only the good could remain. He demanded that the gods grant him the power to do it, to become a god himself and force his brand of goodness upon the world.
The gods warned him. They sent thirteen omens of disaster to show their displeasure, but the Kingpriest would not listen. In his arrogance, he believed these were simply tricks of the dark gods, trying to stop him.
The final warning was a single message, one last plea to turn back before it was too late. But the Kingpriest ignored it, certain of his divine right.
The gods, furious at his hubris, delivered their judgment. They did not answer with a thunderbolt or a storm. They answered with a star. A fiery mountain fell from the sky, crashing down upon the world forever changing its face. It struck the city of Istar and sunk it beneath a new ocean of blood, where a great maelstrom spins ceaselessly to this day.
This was the Cataclysm. A tidal wave of divine punishment that shattered the world. Mountains crumbled, seas turned to dust, and coastlines shifted forever. The continent of Ansalon was broken, and millions were killed. The gods, angered by the devastation their arrogance had caused, abandoned the world, leaving their children to a cold and silent future.
Since the cataclysm (351 years ago) it is known as the Age of Despair. Now, generations later, a cold silence has settled over the world. The gods are gone, and prayers for healing go unanswered. The once-great Knights of Solamnia (the Kingdom of Solania) are little more than a memory, mistrusted and disgraced. The general public thinks they are the cause of the Cataclysm. Why didn't the knights stop this from happen, they believe everything is there fault. Their high ideals are seen as naive in a world where survival is paramount.
Life is hard and unforgiving. Communities are small and isolated, struggling to hold on in the rugged landscape left behind by the Cataclysm. Most people have forgotten the old gods, or curse their names for the world they left behind.
Even magic has waned. The Wizards of High Sorcery, a secretive and powerful order, still practice arcane magic, but they are few in number and jealously guard their secrets within their hidden towers. Divine Clerical magic, however, has vanished entirely.
Yet, the darkness has not been banished, merely quieted. Strange and vicious creatures that have not been seen in centuries stir in the shadows. But worse than monsters is the fear that gnaws at the hearts of the people, the fear that the old evil is not gone but merely sleeping, waiting for its time to return. You were born into this shattered world, into this Age of Despair. What you do with it—whether you find a way to bring hope back to a world that has forgotten it, or succumb to its darkness—is up to you. Your journey begins now.
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