There is only one god and his name is Elduin, Dwarves are stories, magic isn't real and the northern kingdoms are made up of raiders and the unfaithful. For two thousand years this has been the truth for the people of Alturine, the holy southern empire. For two thousand years, tradition has been leeched away to form a vicious cycle where the rich stay rich and the poor beget more poverty. Only now, when the southern realms of men are at their lowest does darkness leak back to stake its claim. Marius was raised in the northernmost reaches of Alturine under the trees of the Black Forest where remnants of the old kingdoms still linger. He never believed the stories of short mountain men, nor the old fables about mages and dragons. Yet the darkness cares little for belief and faith. He watched as wargs tore his mother and sister asunder, as the undead carried his father into their ranks and as his town was put to the torch and drowned in blood. Rage fuelled and vengeful Marius struck out against the architect of his misery only to be outmatched and left for dead.