Tortured Souls: Prelude to Destruction

Long ago, in the Age of Demons, two kingdoms were the capitals of two different lands. The kingdom of Cradwood was the capital of Drakenfall and the kingdom of Tristram was the capital of Ureh. Both kingdoms had in their center square three temples. In Cradwood, the temples were dedicated to the Ancients of Fire, Earth, and Spirits. And in Tristram, the temples were dedicated to the Ancients of Water, Air, and Shadows. It was said that on the grounds where the temples were built, the Ancients came down and created the land. And when they left, they left a part of them on the land. Temples were built over each place to protect the Souls of the Ancients. Along with the story of how the temples came to be, came a prophecy, "If any of the Elemental Souls should awaken, chaos would ensue and the world would be destroyed. But if they were separated a vortex of incredible evil would envelope both kingdoms and leave desolation and devastation in it's wake. The only way to reverse any of the effects is to seal them in the Void and release the seventh Soul of Ether." Knowing that the balance between Order and Chaos rested in their hands, both kingdoms made an alliance between them to protect the shrines. One of the requirements of the pact was that a school of magic be constructed in the kingdoms to service and learn from the shrines. That was when the trouble started, Cradwood wanted to construct a school of Paladins while Tristram wanted to construct a school of Vizjerei, a cult of sorcerers who draw their strengths from demons. Their feuding of the schools stopped after a few years, and for many years after that only little squabbles between the kingdoms happened until the day the Dark Shaman visited both towns. He had his eyes on the great prize of the souls as they would grant him eternal life if he used them in a ritual. The shaman started more and more trouble between the towns until he created the pandamonium he needed. His plan was to state that the other town was accusing him of false crimes and wants him dead, So the other town would want to protect him and visa versa. Through the chaos of fighting that had been the result of the Shaman's plan, two people weren't fooled by the actions and stayed in the temples to protect them, One was a paladin and the other was a Vizjerei. They had communicated with each other when the chaos started and understood their duties. But when the Shaman was nearing the temples both of the shrine protecters had to make a harsh decision. They had to scatter the Elemental Souls to the wind so that they could collect them and understand their power. They also knew that they needed the right knowledge to use the Elemental Souls to defeat the Shaman. The ritual to scatter the souls was completed in the knick of time because just as they were done chanting the incantation to cast it, the shaman had walked into the temples to see the ritual finish and the souls be scattered. Each went into their elements and left a little trail to help the two rebels find their wat to them. As the last soul left the temples two huge black vortexes appeared above both kingdoms. They descended and started to consume the buildings that they were above. From the vortexes, hordes upon hordes of demons spilled through to wreak havoc on the bewildered townspeople. then came two orbs, which surrounded the shaman. He assimilated them and split into two beings. One went to the other town to rule there. While all of the chaos was happening in the towns, the paladin named Fauldin, and the Vizjerei named Trael met in one of the surrounding villages. They had to come up with a plan on how to gather the six elemental souls. Then they came to an agreement, Fauldin would go to the Land of Drakenfall to search for the Elemental Souls of Fire, Earth, and Spirits and Trael would go to the Land of Ureh to find the Elemental Souls of Air, Water, and Shadows. The departed in search for the Elemental Souls that would heal the wound that was made by the Shaman. Now in the towns, nothing remained of the previous inhabitants except for the few piles of bones from their bodies as the demons devoured most of the humans that resided in both towns. Hope has disappeared in a world that has become unstable. Chaos has replaced it in the hearts of all.