Dragonlance Campaign

It is a time of despair. Three centuries ago, the Cataclysm brought ruin to the world of Krynn. The vanity and arrogance of the Kingpriest of the Lordcity of Istar led him to believe himself the equal of the old gods and he devised an elaborate magical ritual to ascend to godhood himself and to take his place among them.

Thirteen Signs of Warning were sent to Istar. A storm battered the city for thirteen days, the trees wept blood, and other ill omens were seen. The signs went unheeded by the Kingpriest and he persisted in his vain ceremonies, demanding that the gods answer his call.

Instead, the gods sent the thirteenth and final warning, and abandoned the world to its fate. A burning mountain fell from the sky, destroying the shining city of Istar, and sinking it to the bottom of the sea, thus ending one thousand years of peace and prosperity on the continent of Ansalon.

In a single day, the Age of Might came to an end. Thousands upon thousands of innocents died, the face of the world was reshaped, and the gods themselves, having turned their backs on the world, faded into legend. Through ages of struggle, the people of Krynn survived, but the world is a shadow of what it was.

The Cataclysm ushered in an age of chaos. The land was radically scarred, causing famine, plague, and war. The Knights of Solamnia, who might have kept the continent of Ansalon united, were distrusted as former allies of Istar and were persecuted across the continent, even within the nation of Solamnia itself.

The elves of Silvanesti and Qualinesti shut their borders, as did the dwarves of Thorbardin. They have withdrawn into their forests and deep tunnels, refusing entry to the wretched refugees of humankind. Nations of cruel hobgoblins and ogres have capitalized on the misery, and claimed regions for themselves. Much knowledge has been lost to the darkness.

The effects of the Cataclysm eventually waned, and the civilizations of Krynn cautiously rebuilt. But as new societies arose, the world learned a jarring truth: the old gods were truly gone, and clerics, who once worked miracles on their behalf, had vanished. Many turned to new religions, often founded by charlatans or zealots, bereft of the divine magic of old. Even so, Krynn slowly heals. 

However, a new threat in the East grows. In the city of Neraka, an alliance of evil humans, ogres, and hobgoblins has been forged. They call themselves the Dragonarmies, after the mythical creatures who were banished by the Knights of Solamnia a millennium ago. One by one, the peoples of Nordmaar, Khur, and Goodlund fell under their heel. The elvish homeland of Silvanesti held out for nearly a year before the elves were forced to evacuate their ancestral home. With virtually all of eastern Ansalon under their control, the Dragonarmies have spent much of the last year consolidating their power.