Arkai: Machine & Magick

Welcome, traveler. Please, have a seat by my fire. The night is cold, and your journey is long. Do not be surprised—you do not recollect your meeting me before, for we have never met. But I am privy to your trek; you wear newness upon your face and know nothing of the mysteries and pain that Arkai will bring you. Why do you travel to Arkai? Do you wish to adopt a trade? Do you wish to see where its winds may take you? Perhaps you desire to work a new vision upon the land? I wish you the best of luck, for many come here with the same hopes and dreams. Some find their destiny, while others meet a fate much less kind. This is a land ripe with opportunity and danger. Master its ways, or succumb to ruination.

A Tempestuous Era You rest at the crossroads that could lead you to the domains of the industrious humans, the arcane elves, or the fierce beastials. The humans are masters of science in the Tempus Empire. Their rapid expansion and reckless abuse of the land have made them enemies of the beastials and the elves. There are also the elves of the Daonmista, who are masters of magick and live in harmony with nature. Their allies, the beastials of Kalayaan, are masters of nature. But you may also encounter a person who is half-beastial, or even half-elven. These few vagabonds are products of illicit pairings between different races, and are treated as abominations by all. A pity—for their minds are often robust and their wits most keen.

There may be no current war amongst the three, great peoples, but there is no great love amongst them either. Their enmity is great, and travelers would do well to exercise caution. Humans are popular targets for elven snipers and beastial man-hunters, though I have heard tales of hapless elves and beastials running afoul of Imperial patrolmen. The soldiers of Witch Hold (and elsewhere) are not known to take prisoners. Take care wherever you tread, lest you become another unmarked grave by the roadside.

They say that things were not always this way. Historians and scholars alike claim that, five millennia ago, these races lived in harmony. It is believed that a love shared between a human and a beastial created scandal, and political tensions rose to war. Some claim that elves were driven from an eldritch otherworld. There are many theories existent, but most agree that all of the races had, at one point, lived in peace. Some fools seek to bring about this peace once more, but make such an opinion known, traveler, and you shan’t last long.