Background

You grew up on stories of heroes. You heard the tales of Mordenkainen and the Circle of Eight, of Tasha and her Company of Seven. You heard the stories of Yorek the Undying and Sir Bannon Brass and their stand against Turrosh Mak of the Border Kingdoms. You thrilled at the tales of Roderick and Corbin and Aerique battling through the Underdark, or how Blessing and Ammon and Alysia brought down the mad god Tharizdun. As a small child, perhaps you liked the funny stories of Juniper and her pig Sweetboi, or the strange parallel worlds that brought together Chonk and Smallfriend with Leaf and Aeris. There were so many stories…

But there wasn't a heroic story for you to be a part of. You grew up in a time of tragedy and hardship. 200 years of war had wrecked kingdoms and reduced great empires to scrambling in the ashes against one another for scraps. Lords and peasants alike took what they could get and eked out a meager existence. Great nations would rise, but fall to the weight of internal politics or external foes. In times, the greatest of the wars ceased, and the remaining kingdoms (such as they were) settled into a long stalemate. Even the hope of dying in a glorious battle seemed to be extinguished.

And then, for you, an opportunity arose.

Now, you stand on the side of a mighty ship as you spy land for the first time in weeks. The mists part around your vessel and you hear someone shouting "land, land!" as you wheel about.

The Lost Continent, Ithlacar in the elfish, looms before you: snow-capped mountains rising to the north. You have heard stories of this place all your life as well: a world lost in the mists. Some claim that it is the birthplace of the gods themselves, a veritable Eden where all things are perfect and unspoiled. Some claim it is a viscous hellscape, locked away for the good of the world. Others claim that it holds the remnants of ancient empires whose magic and technology rivaled anything yet discovered by your people, which could rebuild a kingdom. In stories, it is blessed, cursed, perfect, and damned, depending on the telling. The only thing that all could agree on was that there was no way to pierce the strange mists that surrounded this continent. Sailors and marines from all kingdoms have tried to gain entry, but all have been rebuffed by the mists: turned around or sunk to the depths. Occasional seafarers spoke of finding their way through to the land beyond, but no one was ever able to replicate it and those stories were passed off as the ramblings of the drunk or mad. And so the area was simply avoided. Until now…

For reasons yet unknown to you, the DeGent Trading Company has finally found a way to pierce the mists that have surrounded this land for as long as anyone living can remember. Securing an exclusive and secretive contract with the Kingdom of Keoland, they have recruited folk from all walks of life to join the expedition. The wars that have ravaged the countryside for the past centuries have given people little to hope for, but those that have joined this expedition find themselves buoyed by the idea that perhaps something new awaits them beyond the mists.

You have come here for many reasons. Some have come to explore, others to spread their faith. You are researchers and bounty hunters, cartographers and archaeologists. Warriors and visionaries. You have come seeking fame, or wealth, or ancient secrets. Some are just trying to start over in a new land.

But you have all joined the expedition, and now you see a land before you that no-one you know has ever seen in a millennium. Now, you see your chance to have your names written into the books of lore. You have the chance for greatness.

The Lost Continent of Ithlacar awaits…