Four hundred years ago a vile priest named Vexilis rose to dominate the forces of Chaos. He gathered evil men and hideous monsters into his legions and cut a blood soaked swath across the civilized lands. His forces paused at the edge of the Rolling Plains at the foot of the Dragonspire Mountains. There he constructed an unholy fortress call the Temple of Evil Chaos. He intended to create a stronghold to guard against defeat but the pause gave the civilized lands and the Church of Law time to regroup and organize. The Grand Army of Law slammed like a hammer into the dark stone of the Temple and it gave way under the pressure. When the forces of Law were done every stone had been scattered and every man and monster who could be found that fought under the flag of Chaos was brought down. So complete was victory that peace reigned for generations after, but Chaos is insidious. It has crawled back into the world, haunting dark places and making borderland roads unsafe to travel. The nations of the Rolling Plains have troubled each other with wars that have left even more land barren and open for the darkness to slither in.

The Village of Downhaven sits on the crossroads between nations. It has enjoyed the protection of Castle Wolfsburr that looks down on the village from the highest hill. House Valcourd has been able keep the area neutral in the recent troubles and out of harm's way as armies shift around the borders of Valcourd lands so that trade is not disrupted. The fields remain productive and the water clean. The few refugees that have come this way have not been burdensome. Everyone in the village had begun to believe that Downhaven was untouchable.

This assumption has been proven flawed over the last fortnight. Bandits attacked peddler train on the West Road. A refugee family disappeared from a camp a couple miles east of town. Strange baying sounds have been heard coming from the Brambles, a small marsh a short walk to the north. All of this was tolerable until Marna Goodspring, the town wise woman, disappeared and the strange hobnail tracks led straight to the Washnoran Falls. The folk of Downhaven have always known there were caves behind the falls, but there was never much reason to worry about them. Now they are worried.