User Guide

One god, Tovason, did not entirely abandon The People.
If they kept watch against evil, he promised, they would
eventually return to their former greatness. The People
built a village around the temple and kept guard
against Veste’s return. Through the years they mingled
with other tribes and the gift of morphing slowly faded
away. Eventually, only two of The People carried this
gift. They were wed and bore a child they named Kirt.
At his birth, the old gods gathered. Malkor had been
growing in power, and down every path the gods could
see lay their ruin and destruction — Malkor tri-
umphant and all the lands enslaved. But, down the path
Kirt would travel, the gods could see nothing. It was as
if he cast a shadow over the future of the worlds.
Kirt was given the name Shadowcaster. In him resided
the hope of The People and the ancient gods. But
Malkor and his followers learned of this hope. One
moonless night the doors of the temple flew open and
Veste, somehow alive centuries after he had fled, raid-
ed the village. He attacked the house where Kirt lay
sleeping and slew his mother and father.
But Tovason had been watching the child. Just before
Veste and his beasts entered the child’s room, Kirt,
under the care of the last Holy One, was sent to a far-
away land where magic was little known and less
respected. There Kirt grew into maturity under the
guidance of a man he called Grandfather.
Grandfather kept close watch over Kirt, for he knew
the Evil Ones were searching everywhere for him. One
night a storm arose in which Grandfather recognized
the power of Malkor. On that night, Grandfather told
Kirt of his heritage and sent him back to The People,
just ahead of the rending claws of Malkor’s slaves.
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