The world of Telara exists at the nexus of the planes. The Vigil, Telara's founding gods, sealed the world with a magical Ward to keep it safe from Regulos the Destroyer, Eater of Worlds. But the magic that keeps the Ward in place has been compromised, creating dangerous doorways between Telara and the planes. These doorways, or rifts, have the ability to grant otherworldly powers to those brave enough to seize them, but they also threaten the very existence of Telara.
Millennia ago, the Vigil forged the world from sourcestone and gave it to the races of Telara. They lived in harmony with each other until their world was invaded by the Blood Storm, a pack of baleful gods that embodied the six essential forces: life, death, air, fire, water, and earth.
The Blood Storm had traversed the universe, its members gorging themselves on the worlds they encountered. At their head was Regulos, the embodiment of death. When they came upon Telara, the lesser gods of the Blood Storm rebelled against Regulos, preferring to rule over that world and not simply devour it.
Manifesting as great dragons, the Blood Storm fought amongst each other for dominion over Telara, and against Regulos, to keep him from destroying their prize. The people of Telara rose up against the divided Blood Storm and vanquished Regulos, killing his physical form and banishing his spirit. With the help of the Vigil, the Ward was created to protect Telara from the planes, keeping Regulos and the Blood Storm at bay. The five lesser dragons, in turn, were trapped in elemental prisons.
Great civilizations rose and fell in the centuries following the Blood Storm war. One of the greatest Telaran empires, the Mathosians, disavowed previous generations’ pursuit of planar knowledge and power, pledging themselves to the principles of faith, duty, honor and justice.
Telara prospered for centuries under the Mathosians, until the death of King Jostir 80 years ago. His demise set in motion a battle for the throne between his twin sons, Zareph and Aedraxis Mathos. Aedraxis, the elder brother by a few seconds, had become corrupted by the Dragon Cults, and allowed himself to become an embodiment of Regulos' power on Telara.
In the final battle between the brothers, Aedraxis pierced the barrier between the planes, calling on the god of death to overcome Zareph. Regulos' power flooded through the opening in the Ward, manifesting into what Telarans have come to call the Shade. The Shade's black tendrils of death and ruin annihilated the opposing armies, killing even Aedraxis, and left much of Telara devastated.
Zareph escaped the first corrupt touch of Regulos and led the survivors to Port Scion, Telara's last safe haven from the planar threats. Only a short time later, as the threats from the planes grew, the gates to Port Scion were sealed and this haven was closed to the survivors of the Shade.
Now, with the Ward crumbling, no place on Telara is safe. Rifts between the planes grow more numerous by the day and the Blood Storm stir in their prisons, calling out to their minions on Telara as well as their home planes.
But there is cause for hope. Telaran heroes of old have begun to be reborn in the Shadowlands as Ascendants, and two powerful factions of heroes have emerged to defend Telara against Regulos and the threats from the planes. The Guardians are a holy order that believes they have been reborn through the will of the gods while the Defiant are a collective of rugged techno-magical individualists.
Both groups would save Telara from total destruction, but they also desire to conquer it and establish a new empire in their own image. For Guardians, it is a world of honor, tradition, and devotions to the Vigil. Defiants, by contrast, yearn for bustling magical cities where those who wield planar power can rise to the top of their mechamagical spires.
The Dragon Cults increase in power with each passing day, and are taking full advantage of the conflict between Defiant and Guardian to weaken the Ward even further. Time grows short, and with the threat of annihilation by Regulos and the Blood Storm at hand, the choices that Telara’s heroes make have the capacity to save, or destroy, the world.
