Dungeons of Drakkenheim

A group of mercenaries have sought out a job as escorts to the legendary kingdom of Drakkenheim, a place of lost to living memory nearly 1000 years ago and only recently rediscovered. The problem is, the capital city has fallen to a cataclysm, leaving the entire kingdom in the grips of a civil war between five factions, each with vastly different goals and plans for the kingdoms future.

Nearly 700 years ago, the realm of Westemar suddenly cloistered itself from the outside world. Impossibly high mountains erupted from the earth, a raging storm of ice and thunder began to swirl endlessly around the peaks, and anyone foolish enough to find a way through was met only with an early end. The people of the outside world were suddenly cut off from the mighty civilization and the arcane magic that it once allowed to flow freely. Millions perished in the resulting famines, wars, and pestilence they were suddenly unable to contend with. But they endured, and soon rebuilt without the aid of the magic, though never reaching their own former glory.

Then suddenly, the endless storm dissipated and pockets of the ranges receded back into the earth, bridging the Westemar and the it's arcane knowledge to the rest of the world once again. In time, Westemar and the other realms managed to strike an accord of mutual benefit and a new age of prosperity began on the continent, with the city of Drakkenheim as the centerpiece of commerce, knowledge and the arts.

That was before the purple fire rained down from the heavens and destroyed the mighty metropolis in a torrent of destruction, leaving behind a thick mist known as the Haze, weird crystals densely infused with arcane energies, and inhabitants that hardly resemble the bodies they were born with.

You have taken up a contract to escort someone to the town of Emberflame Village, and help them set up a base of operations. To what end, you didn't ask, for each of you have your own reasons to head to the village and try your luck at unlocking the mysteries of Drakkenheim. The journey to Emberflame is arduous but well traveled, though not entirely safe since the realm was thrown into chaos.