(Note:This is the current setting of Ashr'alan that all players will be involved in)

Now The World of Ashr'alan lies in a new age, that may be just as cataclysmic as the past age of blackness. The threat to the world now does not lie with catastrophic events, and plagues, but with the deterioration of the stability that has been mantained by the Alliance of the four great cities.

For nearly one hundred years the Council of Sky had represented the great hope and peace that was the future of Ashr'alan. With the great Empires setting aside their differences, and coming together to unite against the enemies of justice and peace, the Council was a force to be reckoned with. However, it could not be expected of mortals to put aside their own selfish natures forever.

Qantor's trade rulers had slowly begun to feel that their part in the council was to be gopher for the the might of Maxima. They also saw Rizam as a mere lapdog for Maxima. They felt that their only role was to supply more goods and services a cost to them, when they should be making a profit, in order for the people of the Qantor empire to thrive as they had for so long. Now they had the repelled forcers of Gierda somewhere in the completed fortress of Barbarosa allied with the Lizardmen, prowling along their southern border. If Maxima and Rizam were so concerned for peace why did they not fulfill Qantors request for miltary support to help fortify the border against the forces of Glynost.

The Imperial Senate of Maxima, for some time had began to question the Validity of the Council as well. The Senator Grackus Palpattus had slowly been gaining support in the Senate for a withdraw from the council if their Eastern ally would not live up to its duties in the Council. This voice of displeasure only magnifed in the Age of Ashes when Qantor flatly refused to send materials and manpower to rebuild Maxima, unless Legions were sent to protect Qantor. The Senate and most Maxums felt outraged that they had just driven back the armies of Trenton and contained the undead in the necropolis, as the loss of nearly one fourth of their forces. Now Qantor expected them to fight another battle across the continent without time to rebuilld? This sentiment of disdain has grown now to the point,that there is talk in the Maxum Imperial Senate of withdrawing from the Council totally. A few voices still point out that the true enemy would be the remaining forces of Gierda in barbarosa and the growing Lizardman threat. One of those voices is that of the Proconsul of Maxima himself Kalas Tyrgoth, along with a minotiry of senators. The pride of the Maxums, however, was greatly insulted by Qantor's refusal in the time of rebuilding.

Rizam, while not liking the idea of the Council disbanding, does sympathize with Maxima. They themselves were able to send aide to help rebuild the Capitol, even after suffering the volanic eruptions, so why could Qantor not send aide? Afterall, Qantor was only affected by the entire cataclysmic time, by the refugees that went there. Rizam's Great Duke and other members on the Council of the Sky, have been trying to hold the alliance together. They ahve found an ally in the Elven king Terregon Turinost, from the Southern Wood Elven nation. His people now face imminent danger, if the Lizardmen should attack in full force, with Gierda. The Great Duke and Turinost spend nearly all their time now in the Tower of the Sun, in the city of Mishra, where the Council of the Sky sits. They are adament in holding the alliance together.

While the forces of goodness sit and squabble amonst themselves, darker powers are uniting in this moment of weakness. The Barbarosa project is completed, and the forces of Gierda, allied with the Lizardmen, and Clasyki Darktooth orc armies prepare for invasion. They have licked their wounds for twenty years after their defeat by the Legions, and now they are prepared to strike again.

It is also rumored that the Arch-Mage Valsharen Vel'saruk has summoned a meeting of all the masters of the towers that house the magical users of ashr'alan. This news disturbs many throughout the land, since the distrust of magic is still widespread. Coupled with the recent spread of the Heazeron worship among humans, who now pledge to fight for the Ogre Mages...trouble is preparing to bubble over.

So now all of Ashr'alan stands on the brink of collapse, or perhaps renewal. Only the future and history will be able to judge what actions its people take.