​​​​​​​​​​Decades ago, a band of heroes known as The Blades of Dawn set out to destroy the dreaded lich, Azalin, whose lair lay in the shadow of Sonoma Con City. When faced with certain death, Azalin offered a terrible choice: defy him and perish… or claim ultimate power by betraying their own.

Four heroes refused. One did not.

Veladoon the Blackblade, a once-noble paladin, struck down his companions and gave himself to darkness. True to his word, Azalin granted Veladoon immortality, but did so by binding his soul into eight cursed fragments - shards of a shattered phylactery - and scattering them across the land. Each fragment carries a terrible choice by the one who finds it: destroy it to weaken Veladoon’s power… or claim its power for yourself and risk certain corruption.

Now, Veladoon corrupts the city under Azalin’s command. The skies are choked with a heavy black fog that swirls like smoke from unseen fires. The once-lush gardens and fields are reduced to a wasteland of withered plants, their leaves curled inward like clenched fists, their grains brittle and pale.

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Though every step is shadowed by dread and every breath heavy with unease, life in Sonoma Con City continues.

 

Whispers drift through Sonoma Con City about where the soul shards might be. Some are rumored to have been found, though the tales never say by whom or by what.

From distant roads and forgotten paths, a new band of adventurers arrives in Sonoma Con City - whether guided by fate, or lured by shadows, none can say. Their choices will shape the future of the realm.

 

Will they rise as the city’s salvation… or succumb to the same dark temptation that claimed Veladoon’s soul?