In the beginning, there was nothing. Nothing roamed the great plains of the North. Nothing inhabited the swamps and mountains of the East. The Deserts of the South was barren of all life.
Than came the mist.
Out of the Night it formed. Swirling and congealing into vague shapes. Never holding solid form for very long. We can only now guess about the origin of the mist. Some say it was the breath of one of the great gods. Or even the creating of Leighton, the high god of all. But whatever the origins, the mist brought life.
Coming out of the great plains of the North, the mist created wolfs, bears, magic creatures, and all sorts of good things. Traveling throughout the lands, it deposited good creatures in its wake. From the North, to the East, traveling South, eventually settling in the West, the mist created.
After it settled in the West, the mist grew, day by day, it grew soon becoming so thick, the animals could no longer walk in and out of it. Than, on the 4th night, a new set of creatures walked forth from the mist. The adventurers of the land had been born. But the mist wasn't done yet. Slowly it allowed itself to form into great buildings, and streets. Finally, the mist was gone, all that remained was a great town, beckoning new travelers and adventurers.
Life prospered in the town, adventurers came, than left. The town was dubbed NightMist by the people, naming it after its origins. As life went on, the people began to spread out. Rangers and Druids foraged ahead into the wilderness, the Knights, Paladins, and Clerics civilizing the land behind it. Soon the towns of Cloud City and Northkeep popped up on the maps. Trade flourished, and the good people were happy for many years.
But not all the people were honest and happy. Along with the expansions of the new communities, the dark underside of the world showed forth. Assassins started killing people on their ways from the towns, and thieves took gold from traveling merchants. But the people counteracted and posted guards, and soon things fell into a balance. Until one assassin went to far.
Along with good, always comes bad. So is true in medicinal discoveries. Along with healing potions, came poisons. Most were essentially harmless, used just to stun unwary prey so they were easier to rob, but one fellow decided to take things to far. He created a potion tainted with his own evil essence, though, not being powerful enough, and not naturally gifted with magical powers, could do nothing to amplify it. But, in order to try it out, he went and waited in ambush one day. As luck would have it, a powerful druid, Norinth, and his bride to be SilverFyre were walking down the road, and Norinth was wounded from behind by the tainted dagger of the assassin. As he fell to the ground, he called forth the power of lightning to kill the assassin, not realizing the antidote would die with him.
SilverFyre, being the naturally gifted healer she was, tried her hardest to remove the poison, but the taint was so strong, it had soon blended with the heart of the good druid. As he died, a change happened. His skin turned grey, his hair grew wilder, and he arose. No longer a powerful and good druid, but now an undead Druid, with a power seemingly amplified by evil.
Norinth unleashed havoc, killing many people, creating horrors like goblins, and ogres to terrorize the good people. Soon, once good citizens began to defect, turning their lives into evil rampages with only greed and evil itself to keep them going. Many battles were fought between the forces of good and evil. Brother fought Brother, Mother fought Son, Sister fought Father. None were exempted by the all out assault upon the lands.
During one battle, the forces of good were under siege in the city of NorthKeep. The mages had a protective shield placed against the stones, and lightnings from the sky, and the paladins and knights fought the undead outside the city. The battle raged for days, until the Druid Norinth appeared at the head of his forces, protected by a barrier of pure evil. Calling forth a swarm of deadly drones, he charged at the city, but was suddenly blasted back by a beam of light. From the gates of NorthKeep, a mage stepped forward. In a booming voice, he announced,"Evil shall not corrupt this world, I may not be able to kill you, but I will die trying!"
With those words, the mage Ewin unleashed a magical assault never seen by anyone before. Norinth countered blow after blow, but was losing, and losing fast. In a desperate attempt, he sent his general Kalados in to try to assassinate this new threat, along with his pet Ssilx, and evil dragon of great blood thirst. Seeing the danger to their protector, the defenders of NorthKeep rallied out onto the fields. Combining their powers, they let loose a great Flame of Fire upon the evil forces.
When the smoke cleared, they found Norinth had magically teleported himself, and his generals away from the battlefield. The evil had fled, good had prevailed. The price was heavy however. In defeating Norinth, Ewin and his allies had burnt half of the plains into a dismal waste, where fire twisted creatures roamed, looking for someone, or something, to put them out of their misery.
That wasn't always the case in all the battles however. Memorable battles in places like Pern Valley were fought where evil dominated, and soon overran the place.
But, soon, balance was restored. The lands were still in a constant conflict, good forces against evil, but no more great battles were fought, no more major victories for either side have been won.
But there is no end to the age old story. Plots are being formed every day, adventurers trying their skills against the evil, and the evil against the good. Perhaps good will once again embrace the entire land, healing the scars, or maybe evil will succeed in destroying everything. Only time will tell.
Remember that? The nightmist story on the homepage? Well I don't know if this has been suggested but how about Norinth comes back? Don't be brutal if you reject this
