Greetings and fair weather to you, blessed wanderers...

Sit down and pour yourselves a drink, my friends. Let me spin a tale for you - a tale of romance and bitter betrayal, of despair and passion, of powerful nations at the brink of war and a virtuous king who fathered a nation.

It started not long ago... barely half a century (or two) in time. Yet the events that took place then reforged an empire, and, unfortunately, set other events in motion that would eventually crumble it.

First, I need tell you of the great Spiderthorne Woods and the Elves that dwell there. Spiderthorne Woods, named after a famous and reclusive wizard (as most great wizards are), is a vast thick forest filled with secret and magical glens. It has been shaped and reshaped by Grey Elven magics over and over again through the centuries. It is also home to the great Grey Elven nation known as Shian. For centuries, the Grey Elven warriors and wizards of Shian protected the Spiderthorne from the forces of evil and kept the dark races living in fear... but then the seasons changed. A harsh and unnatural winter descended upon the Spiderthorne, and with it rose an enemy that the valiant Grey Elves were not prepared for - The Dark Elves.

The Dark Elves wielded strange and powerful magic. They kept advancing as if their numbers were endless. They rose upward and pressed onward and onward as though driven by an unquenchable thirst for blood. The Elves of Shian were losing and in desperate need of aid.

Then, as in all moments of desperation, a hero arose. Accompanied by an army of valiant and courageous soldiers, a human named Andrius Mathien stepped onto the battlefield and into the frontlines. It it was at that moment, that the Drow raiders at last knew fear, for battalion after battalion of their brethren were laid to waste by Mathien and his valiant men.

Mathien's army was victorious. The Dark Elves were now in retreat, and Shian was no longer in peril. A treaty was signed that day between the Grey Elves and the Humans - a treaty signed and sealed by a handshake on the battlefield - a treaty not just of mere allegiance... but of true friendship.

In the shadow of that friendship, the humans were prosperous. An unprecedented era of peace swept across the region, and Mathien was crowned king of the lands that now bear his name. Mathien left no heirs, and it is his sister's descendants that now sit upon the throne. For over four and a half generations, these lands have known nothing but peace. But the seasons are changing... the past few nights have been bitter cold... harsh reminders that winter... is coming.

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Our story opens as our travelers arrive at the riverside town of Rheinfall.