The Closing of New Malisa
The night following the Battle of Sunim proved to be a harbringer of the dark times to come. As the day paled into the blue-black haze of night, a chill wind arose from the earth and wailed across the kingdom like the shrill call of a banshee. Reports quickly surfaced from every city, telling the same tale of an agonizing scream that taunted the populace with tales of eternal torture and vengeance.

The scream lasted throughout the night, cresting and falling like love-torn weeping. A year passed, and we had all but forgotten the chilling wails of that night. Then, on the year anniversary of the Battle of Sunim, when the day rose anew again, we all beheld the horrific result of the wailed promises. New Malisa had disappeared behind a circle of utter darkness. The blackness was so thick, so pure, that not even the mages from Korath could penetrate it with their magic. The kingdom became terrified at the prospect of losing our bastion of light and its people to this unknown evil, and countless souls ventured into the circle of darkness to attempt a valiant rescue. The result was always the same. They returned to us utterly mad, with evil in their hearts and an inhuman hunger for murder. Lord Holt in his mercy called off the crusade, and had the tormented souls who dared venture the darkness brought to the monestary of the Lord of Night where they were guarded and treated, though to no avail.

The wall of darkness still cuts across the plains before New Malisa, and the fate of its people remain a horrible mystery.

The Desert Torment
Years passed without further event. The mages and priests of the lands studied the strange wall day and night, but with little new knowledge to show for their efforts. The strange scream had not reoccured since that first night of horror, and the people's worries began to subside as they adjusted to their new reality.

It has been reported that a merchant caravan on its way to Sarnville was the first victim of the "Desert Torment". This can not possibly be confirmed, as so many have now fallen prey to the horrors that have emerged in recent years from those red sands. The Desert Torment began with a darkening of the sky localized over the Great Eastern Desert of the continet. The nomads there thought the darkening skies would bring the gift of rain from the Lady of Sea and Sky - it did not.

The temple to the Lord of Fire that stood at the gates of the Great Eastern Desert had long been desecrated by the overzealous followers of his enemies. Yet in its place, a dark citadel rose from the sands unleashing armies of undead horrors and fiery demons upon the blasted wastes. The darkening sky eventually brightened again, and when the last cloud had faded, the Great Eastern Desert had become enveloped by a sky of hellish red fire. Some dared whisper that the Lord of Fire had found a way to return from his banishment to punish us all. Whatever the truth, the Desert Torment, as it came to be called, effectively blocked Sunim from the rest of the kingdom - except by the pirate infested water routes.

Again Lord Holt sent his bravest to battle these new horrors. Though the leader of these armies remained shrouded in mystery within the dark citadel, the threat subsided as the cities united against his armies.

The Return of the Lord of Justice and the Release of the Dragons
Months of bloody battle slowly opened up new passages of trade for the kindom's people, and the knights of Lord Holt gave their lives freely to ensure the safety of these trade routes. Yet the shrouded leader of this new horde was not done with his machinations. While our might was directed at his endless undead armies and the mysterious wall of darkness, evil magics worked on the plains where the Lord of Justice was slain by the Lord of Fire. We know little of what happened on that most holy site, but from the ravaged earth stained with the dead deities blood, rose a giant of corrosive power, and he bore the symbol of the Lord of Justice upon his tainted brow.

At the same time, figures robed in blood red garments were reportedly seen marching into the dragon lands. The next morning, the frontier outposts sent messengers to every city in the kingdom in a frenzy of frightened urgency. Scrawled on an official notice were two simple lines, but they spoke volumes of the nightmare to come....

"The barrier has fallen. The dragons have returned..."

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