As long as any can remember, Sizayni was the most magically enlightened clan of any inhabiting the land now known as Starthra. Its tribal structure, medical study, and technological research surpassed even that of the ancient House Starthra. However the Sizayni paid little attention to magical intellect until the years leading up to The Great War. In fact, only three years after discovering their innate magical talents, the Sizayni built a castle high in the Windy Mountains. It was named “Sizan,” after Sizayni’s first King. Men and women devoted their lives to the practice of magic, thus earning themselves the term “priest.” These Priests were known simply as “The Sizan.”

     The Sizan were quick to learn the various schools of magical study: abjuration, alteration, counjuration, enchantment and charming, divination, illusion / projection, and invocation. For ten years the Sizan expertly fused their technological genius with their newfound magical ingenuity, and they thrived. However, after the tenth year a new form of magic was theorized, tamed, and mastered by a league of Priests who would later become known as “Necromancers.” Originally called “Necromants,” these Priests had learned to manipulate reality with devastating effects. The Sizan encouraged study in this new field, unaware of their destined fate.

     After a single of year of Necromantic development, the Sizan Necromants tampered with a link joining multiple planes. An algorithm was developed and implemented, and Conjurist Wizards, masters of summoning, were used as tidal links to a parallel dimension that tore planar boundaries and shredded the fabric of space and time, releasing a demon horde of beasts known only as The Hunzial. The world was quickly plagued with Hunzial war bands that pillaged towns, murdered men and women mercilessly, and devoured children by the dozens. The Sizayni’s superior long-ranged weaponry was mangled and destroyed by the Hunzial’s close-ranged combative tactics, and hundreds of Sizayni were slaughtered or enslaved. The Sizan, while valiantly struggling to maintain order in their lands, sent a missionary of eight Wizards, one from each school of magic, to Starthra to negotiate an alliance. Shortly after having left Sizayni, the Castle of Sizan was assaulted, overrun, and nearly demolished by the unstoppable Hunzial horde. No Priest, Mage, or Wizard within the castle walls survived the single night of close ranged combat.

     Of the eight who successfully negotiated an alliance with the neighboring clans, Starthra, Cryos, and Benzar, only the Necromant, Hotho Tabaldak, managed to survive the months of war that followed. The remaining seven were slowly found and butchered by the Hunzial hungry for the taste of enchanted blood. Their bodies were claimed as trophies for Hunzial commanders. Nearing his own fate, Hotho Tabaldak swore his life to the Necromantic Code of deceit, treachery, and an insatiable hunt for power, thus becoming a chaotic evil character of unequalled caliber.

     As the story tells, the grandfather of Drythar Starthra took up a new sword, and a new passion for survival. Coupled with a final defensive drive, the Starthran Alliance successfully pressed the Hunzial back through their rift, which was closed shortly thereafter by Hotho Tabaldak. Rumor has it that Hotho allowed a few Hunzial to slip back through for experimentation, although no evidence has ever been found.

     The alliance with Starthra and its sister clans survived for many generations, although the Sizan were to remain dormant for one thousand years. Hotho Tabaldak, as the only remaining progeny of the Sizayni’s struggle for intellectual dominance in the magical fields, was burdened with the task of documenting as much as possible to refill the mangled castle’s ashen libraries. Most of the Castle had fallen into abysmal pits gouged from the surface of the planet by the mighty spells cast in defense by the cornered Sizan Wizards. However enough remained to be renovated and transformed into a School for Wizardry.

     Now that Sizayni has nearly been repopulated, Sizan is eager to open its doors once again to a new class of Priests, and a new code of life: wisdom, endurance, and preparedness. Had the Wizards of Sizan known before the Great War that the Hunzial’s combative methods would overpower their long-distanced spells, perhaps the loss of life would not have been so great. The Sizan, under Hotho’s guidance, are eager to practice new techniques that can repel a multitude of different combative methods, from planar manipulations to devastating psionic attacks, even enchanted melee combat techniques.

     Some may say that Hotho Tabaldak is eager to create an army powerful enough to challenge Drythar Starthra himself. However, as many within the Starthran Council of Valiants know, Sizan’s loyalty has always been to the survival and legacy of Starthra – Hotho’s only family, friend, and savior.