For a thousand years, the Illsander Empire ruled an area covering areas now known as Wesland, Esland, The Neck, Scathe, the Isle of Bones and Isle of Peace. For many, it remains a time of peace, liberty, and wonder as detailed in the popular plays and libraries found around Albain.

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History is written by the victors, and reinvented time and time again to serve a need. True Archaeologists and Historians cast a different light on the Empire. They talk of slavery, of exploitation, of wealth beyond imagining and crushing poverty. The ruins found demonstrate the Empire’s power over trade, resources, magic, and, some say, their close relation with the Gods.

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What is in no doubt however, is the wars they fought with the creatures in the Borderlands and beyond. Some Historians suggest that, given the attrition rate of their armies, it was inevitable the Empire would lose control of its borders and that their lands would be invaded. They suggest that the Empire restored desperate measures to prevent this from happening and in doing so set in motion their own downfall.

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Old scrolls, fragments of greater documents, tell, to those with the skill and wit to read them, that Clerics and Magicians worked in their Temples and Towers to provide an army. After many years, many failures, many hideous experiments, they gave birth to the races of the Tieflings and Half-Orcs.

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Sent to the warfront, they made an immediate impact. The Tieflings wielding infernal powers and dark magic in the defence of the Empire, the Half-Orcs rushing headlong into battle cutting down all who stood before them. So powerful, so effective was their introduction that fear spread amongst the army and its commanders, its generals and when the borders were secured an edict was issued to stop new creations being born. However, they reproduced and grew in numbers. Only the war, the battles, kept their numbers in check.

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When the Empire fell, these two races were shunned, mistrusted, and exiled. However, some hung on and continued to live in lands of the old Empire, marginalised, but now they are emerging from the shadows and there is a growing but grudging acceptance of their presence. Their small communities, poor and downtrodden, can be found in most towns and cities.

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