EARTHDAWN
is an RPG that was published by FASA co. Any material of theirs used in
this site is theirs by copyright. The material in this site is used without
permission, but in no way should be understood as a challenge to those
copyrights.
THE
WORLD OF EARTHDAWN
Thousands
of years ago there existed an age of magic and high adventure, the age of
Earthdawn. The power of magic flowed freely through the world, and people could
draw on magic to perform both wondrous feats and everyday tasks. But the dawn of
magic also brought Horrors to earth, creatures from the depths of astral space
that devoured all life in their paths. For four centuries, the people of earth
hid from the Horrors in underground shelters known as kaers, while the Horrors
devastated their land. This time came to be called the Scourge. Now, the people
of Barsaive have re-emerged from their sealed kaers and citadels to reclaim
their world from the remaining Horrors and the oppressive Theran Empire, whose
tyrannical reign once enslaved them. From all across Barsaive, bold heroes arise
to explore their world. Swashbuckling, lizard-like t'skrang join with
living-stone obsidimen, tiny, winged windlings, orks, trolls, dwarfs and humans
to search for magical treasure and slay the Horrors that still exist. Magicians
spin the magical energies of the universe into powerful spells, and adepts use
the magic to enhance their natural talents. Armed with magic, courage, skill and
daring, Barsaive's heroes strive to heal the world of the scars left by the
Scourge and to build their own legends.
The heroes of today are the legends of tomorrow.
--King Valurus III of Throal
We live in an Age of
Legend
After
centuries of hiding beneath the earth, humanity has ventured out into the
sunlight to reclaim the world. Tolls, dwarfs, elves, orks, and humans live side
by side with exotic races: the lizard-like t'skrang, the small, winged
windlings, and the earthen obsidimen. Creatures both magical and mundane dwell
once more in the forests and jungles. Arcane energies offer power to those
willing to learn the ways of magic. Once, long ago, the land grew lush and
green. Thriving forests sheltered plants and animals and people grew and
prospered off the land's bounty. Then the Horrors came and drowned the world in
darkness. The world's flow of magic rose, at its height dread creatures from
the darkest depths of astral space crossed into our world, leaving suffering and
destruction in their wake. The world's inhabitants named these fell creatures
the Horrors.
They
laid our world waste in a terrible time now known as the Scourge. The 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 and
the people of the Earth took shelter under it. They
built
fantastic underground cities called kaers and citadels; their children and their
children's children grew up within these earthen enclaves, never seeing the
light of
the
sun.
For four hundred years the Horrors roamed the land, devouring all they
touched while the people hid in terror, until the slow ebb of the world's magic
forced these loathsome creatures to retreat to the astral pit that spawned them.
The Horrors departed before the magicians and wise men had believed they would.
The wary people emerged slowly from their kaers, facing the world half in hope
that the Scourge had truly ended and half in fear that the Horrors lingered.
Though most of the Horrors left this world, many remain, inflicting cruel
anguish and suffering on other living creatures.
As humanity struggles to remake
the shattered world, they must combat the remaining Horrors who seek to prolong
the destruction and despair of the Scourge. Now heroes travel the land,
rediscovering its lost legends and exploring its changed face. For the world has
changed, almost beyond recognition. Many people died during the Scourge. The
Horrors breached some kaers and citadels and destroyed their inhabitants. Other
kaers remain sealed, from unknowable disaster or simple fear; their contents
await discovery by bold explorers. Should they find any folk still living
within, these brave adventurers may lead such fear-darkened souls out to live
again in the light.
The dwarven kingdom of Throal lies at the center of the
province of Barsaive, the largest inhabited province in
the
known world. The dwarfs seek to unite Barsaive's far flung cities and people
under one crown and one banner, the better to repel the advances of the Theran
Empire that ruled Barsaive before the Scourge. The Therans returned to the
province shortly after the Scourge ended, seeking to bend it again to their
yoke, but the people of Barsaive rejected the Therans' iron rule and rallied
behind the dwarfs of Throal. Beaten for the moment, the Therans gather strength
and wait to strike again. As Barsaive's heroes search for lost treasures and
battle fantastic creatures, they must also fight the Therans, who plot to rob
Barsaive of its newfound freedom and make its people pawns of their vast Empire.
In
the Age of Legend, heroes band together to fight the Horrors and reclaim the
wounded world for those born in it. As they explore the altered land, searching
for legendary cities and treasures, they become the legends that will light the
coming days. As with those who went before them, tales of their deeds will live
forever in men's hearts. From many paths, the heroes come to join in common
cause. Those who seek honor and glory come
from
many Disciplines and battle evil to redeem the world with a multitude of gifts.
A band of heroes may include an Illusionist, a spellcaster who combines
deception and reality to confuse those around him; a Swordmaster, one trained in
the art of fighting with bladed weapons; or a Beastmaster, able to train and
command the beasts of the 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.
