'Tis almost a year since thy defeat of the Guardian.

In that time wehave repaired much of damage done in the Guardian's assault.

The time has come to take a pleasure in what we gave accomplished

On the Anniversary of your triumph, we shall hold the Festival of Rebuilding at my castle in Britania. There we shall honor thy victory and reliev the past adventures.

I shal be honored if thou attend. Ever thy friend, Lord British.

And after festival Britania asleeps in peace. But the next morning...

Horrible black wall started to grown around the all castle.

Everything's getting dark...

Sky become leaden...

...and it is the begining of your adventure.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BRITANIA written by Nystul

The history of Britannia is a long and turbulent narrative, which for conve-nience I shall divide into seven parts, corresponding to seven crises which menaced the land. The earliest recorded histories take place during a period known as the Age of Darkness. At this time, the land as a whole was known as Sosaria, and Lord British ruled a smaller nation called Britain. This was a chaotic and difficult period to live in --- rival states were constantly at war with one another, and bandits and monsters roamed freely over the countryside, preying on those weaker than they. It was in this period that the Triad of Evil came forth to threaten the land. The first of these was Mondain, a young man who had slain his father (a powerful and respected sorcerer in his own right), and seized a powerful magic jewel, which he believed could make him immortal. He and his evil servants ravaged the land and began building a kingdom of darkness that threatened to encompass all Sosaria. It was at this time that the Avatar, then known only as the Stranger, first came forth from the other world, to answer the call of Lord British. It was the Stranger who defeated Mondain, and restored peace for a brief time in Sosaria. This peace soon ended, however, with the rise of Minax, Mondain's apprentice and his child bride. Minax organized the evil beings of Sosaria under her powerful direction, and again devastated the land with dire sendings. Again, the Stranger appeared and battled the evil confronting the land, traveling through time and space, finally tracking Minax to the Time of Legends before slaying her. After the demise of Minax, Lord British, widely recognized for his wisdom and virtue, ascended to the rulership of all Sosaria. Soon, though, a mysterious fiery island rose from the sea, and once again peace in Sosaria was disrupted. This time, the Stranger assembled a group of four heroes, and these four crisscrossed the land and braved the horrors of Britannia's underground dungeons, until they had located and destroyed the mighty Exodus, mystic child of Mondain and Minax's union, part human and part machine. This was the end of the Triad of Evil, and in the ensuing celebration Sosaria was renamed Britannia, a single nation united under the rule of Lord British. Aperiod of growth and prosperity followed, and Lord British turned his attention to philosophy, the nature of virtue, and the perfectibility of humankind. In each of Britannia's eight cities he established a shrine devoted to the study and perfection of one of the Eight Virtues. In addition, he founded institutions devoted to the three great principles of Truth, Love and Courage. The call went out for one who would become the Avatar, the living incarnation of these abstract virtues and principles, and once again the Stranger answered this call. This mighty champion of arms now became a moral hero, as well, and aided by eight strong Companions, at last retrieved the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom from within the Great Stygian Abyss. It was shortly thereafter that disaster struck the land. Bringing the Codex to the surface triggered a violent seismic upheaval that opened up a vast complex of caverns, the Underworld. Lord British led an expe-dition to map the caves, and was captured by the Shadowlords of Falsehood, Hatred and Cowardice, who had been released from three shards of Mondain's lost Gem of Immortality. Lord Blackthorn, ruler of the land in British's absence, was possessed by the Shadowlords, and instituted a vicious totalitarian govern-ment. Once again, the Avatar, aided by the Companions, stood fast in defense of Britannia, this time as rebels opposing Blackthorn's new regime. In time the Shadowlords were destroyed, our Lord British rescued and Blackthorn exiled. Peace flowed throughout the land for years, until it was discovered that the Avatar's earlier victory in claiming the Codex carried its own terrible price. The upheaval following the retrieval of the Codex destroyed the homeland of the Gargoyles, an ancient and civilized race living on the far side of the world from Britannia. Unwittingly, the Avatar had partially fulfilled an ancient prophecy of the Gargoyles, that a false prophet would one day steal their most holy artifact (the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom), destroy their homeland and then lead a genoci-dal war against their race. The Avatar had already fulfilled two-thirds of this prophecy (by unwittingly stealing the Codex and triggering the destructive earthquake), and the Gargoyles were not eager to see it completed. They invaded Britannia and captured all eight of the sacred shrines of Virtue. The situation seemed desperate, until the Avatar realized the true reason for the Gargoyles' hostility. Displaying wisdom as well as martial prowess, the Avatar resolved the interracial conflict by giving both humans and Gargoyles access to the Codex. There followed another period of peace, this one lasting almost two hundred years. In this time the Avatar returned only once more, in a little-known expedi-tion to prevent a foolhardy wizard from allowing a powerful demon, the Slasher of Veils, to gain access to our reality. Unable to destroy the Slasher, the Avatar banished it to the Ethereal Void, inadvertently setting off a volcanic eruption that destroyed, once and for all, Britannia's Great Stygian Abyss.

Court Magician,
in service to Lord British