The known history of Theldrow stretches back to the beginning of the Age of Magic, starting after what is commonly called the Devastation. No one really knows exactly what cataclysmic event took place then, other than the name. All that is know is that two centuries of darkness followed this event. From that world sprang a new one, one rich in magic. Though the Age of Magic is long since past, (it too ended cataclysmically in the Battle of Kah), another age, the present one, has since arose from the dust (though some speculate that this age is approaching an end as well).
Of the Age of Magic, much is known, but of the Age before it, little is know. It was referred to as the Age of Might, and it ended very abruptly. Some speculate that Good and Evil sought control and the result was the terrible waste of a world. There are a few other, however, that suggest that this was not the case. They suggest that some other force was to blame, and that Good and Evil joined forces to stop this force, and in the end decided that the world would be better to perish rather than succumb to this unknown power. All this is a matter for speculation, for almost nothing remains of that age long ago.
•Player Background•
You remember little of your father, the scholar Leoric, mostly just that he was often up late at night scouring through ancient books. You remember his telling your mother that he would be off, researching a lead, and would be home in a few days. You were seven then. You are now seventeen. He has never returned.
Some time after this, you and your mother had to leave your family house, and live in a monastery. There you learned the ways of the gods and goddesses that interact with the affairs of mortals on Theldrow.
Recently, your mother passed away and, you choose to find out what happened to your father. From the few books of his that remain, you know that he was researching remnant from the Age of Might, and found a lead. In the ten years since he left, time has been hard on those old books of his, and about the only things that you can figure out from them are the word 'portal', and a reference to 'Cravenshaw overlooking Boden'.
So you have sought the help of sages and ancient records, in an attempt to find information on Boden. From those sources, you have managed to put together a rough map of the area. Boden is a trading city, giving it's name to the rivers that meet there (the North Boden and the South Boden, although the South Boden approaches Boden from the west), far from your farm, in the Duchy of Arapos. It has two entrances, one to the east, the other to the south. For some reason, however, the entrance to the south has long since been abandoned. The town has seen better days, especially since the southern trade route that leads there is now abandoned, what with the recent problems down south and all. No longer do merchants travel the South Boden River, coming from Dragonia, to trade wares with merchants from the north and west. Perhaps this is why the southern entrance has been abandoned. Perhaps there are other reasons…
Of Cravenshaw you know nothing, although you seem to remember that "Crav" means castle, and there is an old castle, south across the river from Boden - certainly this is Cravenshaw? The old castle has three parts: a main inner building, a smaller building attached to the walls in the south west, and a tower in the south east. You will have to explore it to gain further information.
((((((((((((((((((((((((((You may want to print this out))))))))))))))))))))))))))
((((((((((((((((((((((((((You may want to print this out))))))))))))))))))))))))))
You have left the monastery, and learned the ways of combat and magic since then. With you, you have an old dagger, a family heirloom, and a small sack of gold. You have set out to find what happened to your father, and so have arrived on the trail to the northwest of Boden (top left corner of the map). Your adventure begins…
