The World of Talamh

The day the portals opened

It started with an experiment. A particle collider pushed a little too hard, and the world cracked open. Portals tore through the sky and the ground, and through them came monsters, strange beasts and whole other races. The same rush of energy tore technology away. Phones, engines and power grids went dark, and magic took their place.

The survivors call what's left Talamh, the Irish word for earth. It is still our world, with the same streets, hills and rivers under your feet, but the rules have changed. In Wizardly Way, the real place you are standing becomes your corner of Talamh.

The strong attract the stronger

Life in Talamh comes with a catch. Monsters hunt humans, and the more magic you carry, the stronger the monsters you draw. That's why the creatures around you always seem to keep pace with you: the world notices when a wizard grows.

Monsters also keep cropping up again wherever people settle, so survivors keep moving. Wizards have their own way of talking about the danger, too. Defeating a monster is extinguishing it. Being defeated is getting snuffed out, your magical essence put out like a candle. (You get relit. It's just embarrassing.)

Ruairí Icebane

Not everyone who came through the portals came to teach. Ruairí Icebane is a warlord set on spreading his rule across Talamh. His followers, from axe and sword troops to fire-wielding casters, raid villages, burn towns and push his territory outward.

Every new wizard's story begins in the smoke of one of those raids. From there the main quest takes you from pushing back his scouts, to learning who he really is, to finding where he hides, and finally to taking the fight to Ruairí himself.

The Between and the Wane

Every portal passes through the Between, a space between the worlds. A quick crossing is harmless. But a rift that is left open lets the Between seep into Talamh, and the Between feeds on magic.

Wizards call that creeping corruption the Wane. In a neighborhood touched by it, the ground turns grey, pale motes rise from the earth, mana comes back slower, and the creatures there grow twisted and dangerous: Waning monsters. Left alone long enough, the Wane can swallow a whole neighborhood.

The cure is teamwork: seal the rifts, defeat the Waning creatures, and Purify the land. And whatever lives in the Between... well, that's a story for after Ruairí. Read about rifts and landmarks.