In a galaxy far from the Milky Way, a solitary yellow star sits. Four planets are all that circle the star. The star’s name is Cyloran. The closest planet is in orbit 1 around the star and is known as Lionette. The furthest planet from the star goes by the name Raidres. This particular planet is a large gas giant, similar in many ways to Sol’s Jupiter or Saturn. The third planet from the star, Dolphi, is a small gas giant.

The focus of the system is the second planet. This planet is a ball of massive proportions. It resides in the habitable zone of the star and is known as Jil-Trath. The world consists of over 60% water, though the inhabitants of the area we are concerned with do not realize this.

In the beginning, a set of unknown gods created the world, using extremely powerful divine magic to create things such as night and day, and the change of seasons and weather patterns. It is believed these gods also created the native races of the planet, including the dwarves, elves, orcs, and ogres. But, for unknown reasons, these gods left the world to its own devices. The peoples of the world, therefore, were unable to get above primitive technology, and were rather frightened by their abandonment. No priests existed, as they could not gain their divinely-given spells. Magic was scarce as well, because literacy was non-existant.

All of this changed. When the worship of the one, true god supplanted the ancient Roman religions on Terra, the powerful beings known as the Roman Pantheon lost all power in the world. Instead of giving up, however, they began looking for another place to start humanity and try again with their worship. They discovered the godless world of Jil-Trath in their search, and decided to become the new gods of the world.

One thing missing in the world was humans. The Pantheon recreated humanity on the planet, spreading it around in small tribes of equal technology as the current inhabitants of the world. However, the Pantheon knew humanity would be the key to bringing the primitives up from their low technological level and up to at least medieval technology in short order.

It did not take long for humans to establish themselves on the world. This new race quickly outpaced the technology and birth rates of the other races, becoming the dominant race on the planet. The other races were swept along with the technological enhancements, and in some cases becoming minorities in human communities which began springing up in all the different lands of the known world.

Unfortunately for the Pantheon of Romans, their enemies, the Titans of Myth, discovered their plans. Consequentally, the Titans approached the various humanoid races on the world, whispering paranoid ideas in their ears. The humanoids turned to the Titans because of the paranoia instilled in them, and decided to fight humanity for the territory humans had gained. This began the constant skirmishes between the humanoids and the good races of the world.

The area where humanity started was named Alderia. In Alderia, many different tribes of humans had sprung up on the plains. These tribes began to form villages and towns after giving up their nomadic lifestyle. The leaders of these tribes decided to unite into one government, to better survive the monsters preying on them. Thus, they met and decided to form a representative form of government. Each tribe would send a member to the great council and speak in the tribe’s behalf. Slowly, over the course of approximately 1,000 years, the original tribes began to spread outward, now calling their unity the Republic of Alderia.

Alderia began absorbing other cultures into the republic. Within a hundred years, the Alderians had expanded to encompass the land still possessed by the modern country of Alderia. Yet, the Alderians were not content to stay in their country. The republic decided to colonize other lands, and integrate other cultures into their all-encompassing country.

Humanity was not limited to Alderia. Humans had spread out to the edges of easily cultivated and controlled land. In these areas, cultures were formed which began to unite as did Alderia, though at a later time. Not surprisingly, due to the Roman Pantheon’s interference in the process, these lands developped into similar cultures to those which appeared on Earth. Unfortunately, just like in Earth, these lands were barbaric compared to the Alderians. Despite this, some of the lands resisted fiercely to these efforts of Alderian expansionism. However, since these lands could not unify to defeat the Alderians, they became absorbed. Eventually, the Republic expanded to all explored regions of the world.

A great age was happening. During this time, magic became prevalent and the gods allowed mortals to create great items of power. Also, strangely, many items of power from Earth appeared in various regions. It is believed the gods rescued their now powerless items on Earth and brought them to Jil-Trath. It was during this time that most weapons of magic were created. Also, due to magical influences and godly interference, Alderia surpassed the technological level of the Roman Republic and Empire, raising to the level of medieval technology.

However, a problem existed. The Republic was growing heavy under its own weight. The infrastructure holding regions together was slowly eroding away, despite technology equivalent to Earth’s Middle Ages. Even with magic attempting to keep things under control, the Republic of Alderia was faltering. Something had to give.

Something eventually did. The overuse of magic caused a sudden, but mild, lowering of the magical energy in the environment. Jupiter and the gods stabilized the world, at the cost of the magical abilities of many races being suppressed. This occurred almost entirely within the makers of magical items, a state which still exists to this day. Thus, creating magical items is much more difficult now.

Understandably, the people panicked. Luckily, cooler heads and less religious demogoguery occurred within Jil-Trath than what occurred on Earth. The world was not plunged into a Dark Age, as Earth was. However, the Republic was in danger of collapse.

One individual, a senator from Alderia, had a solution. The solution, however, was extreme but he attempted it despite the risks. First, he worked to get a puppet elected to the presidency of the Republic. Once this was accomplished, he worked to gain control over the military and the magician's guild. After this goal was accomplished, the senator, now chancellor, forced the president to declare a new constitution. The new constitution turned the council into nothing more than an advisory body while the presidency was changed into a true Emperor.

As advisor to the Emperor, the former senator was able to streamline the bureaucracy to extreme efficiency. The military firmly in his corner, the Chancellor began to expand the role of the military. This began to reach extremes. He justified this as a measure to stop the ever increasing horde of creatures appearing in the wilderness.

Slowly, the Emperor’s puppet reign grew more and more repressive. The age of the Chancellor was another factor. The Emperor puppet position changed hands numerous times during this period of 350 years, as the various Emperors died by many different means. Strangely, the Chancellor was still alive and had sired a number of offspring well into his two hundredth year of councilorhood. This started the rumors. Those contemplating rebellion discovered the truth. The rebels quietly circulated the information between cells. The Chancellor had obtained lichdom, and would exist forever unless stopped. With this information, the Rebellion coalesced into being and grew in strength.

Finally, the Rebellion became open, declaring all subjugated countries in the Empire free to choose their own way of governing. In retaliation, the Empire fought back. A great war was waged between the rebels and Imperial forces. The war escalated to a point where the Emperor began to take personal charge of the Imperial forces.

The Emperor decided to end the Rebellion once and for all, after fighting against various forces for almost 17 years. He heard the rebel fleet was organizing near Point Carsa, so decided to send the entire Imperial fleet to deal with the rebels. Due to the importance of this engagement, the Emperor decided to personally lead his fleet into battle. The Imperial fleet sailed out three weeks early, to make it before the rebels caught wind of the plot and moved the rendezvous point.

The rebels did hear of the fleet movement, but decided instead of fleeing to ambush the Imperial fleet. Rebellion leaders placed one third of their fleet behind the horizon, ready to attack when ordered. Warships not included in the hidden group were armed and ready, used as Q-ships off of the Point.

As the Imperial fleet approached, the Emperor’s chancellor, Ashawahenon the lich, divined the location of the entire Rebel fleet, not just the decoys. When the battle was joined, the hidden force of the Rebellion found itself attacked by an equivalent diversionary fleet of the Empire. Thus, the battle quickly developed into a stalemate, both sides losing a large number of ships.

Just as it looked as if the battle would become a dragged out engagement with no clear victor, a force of riders on griffins appeared. The force circled the battlefield, startling both sides of the conflict. Both sides recognized the flyers as one of the mercenary air cavalry units of Lightfinger’s Legion. The Emperor was elated, as he believed his secret attempt to secure the services of the mercenaries had been accomplished. Lightfinger himself landed on the Emperor’s flagship, while his forces took positions above the Imperial fleet. The Emperor approached, ready to command Lightfinger where to place his forces. Before he got a chance, however, Lightfinger struck down the Emperor in front of his guards, declaring himself a member of the Rebellion. At the same time, Lightfinger’s mount changed into a dragon which devastated the flagship and crew. Meanwhile, the Legion commenced air attacks against the Imperial fleet. When the rebel forces noticed what was happening, they rushed into the battle, totally offensive. Both combined routed the Imperial fleet.

When the battle was over, almost the entire Imperial fleet lay in ruins. The second in command of the Empire, after declaring himself the new Emperor, sued for peace. The rebels attempted to get Lightfinger to act as a somewhat unified leader, but he refused. His refusal resulted in the fragmentation of the various areas into individual countries, as they stand today.

Who was the mysterious savior of the Rebellion? Why did he refuse the general secretary position offered to him by the Rebellion? How did Lightfinger gain control of his Legion? Though it is tough to decipher his mind, looking at his background one can find a number of interesting points about Lightfinger. His story starts at his ‘grandfather’, Ashawahenon.

Ashawahenon was a very ambitious senator. He had a plan to turn the republic into a grand empire. Of course, the Emperor would really be a pawn in the hands of the true power, himself. Yes, the necromancer who led the islands into oppression was ‘grandfather’ to the man who helped destroy its iron grip.

Lightfinger was born David Luven Lightfinger. At birth and through adolescence, David was isolated from the world he now lives in, as he lived on Earth, not Jil-Trath. When he was about 30 years old on Earth, a diviner of great power informed Ashawahenon that the Empire would fall to one who was not of Jil-Trath birth. Ashawahenon scoured the many planes until he discovered Lightfinger’s existance. Drawing him into Jil-Trath, Ashawahenon manipulated the Emperor into attempting to kill Lightfinger. He had made a huge mistake with this attempt. Lightfinger was able to escape from the Emperor’s clutches, after surviving numerous attempts to kill him in the gladitorial arena.

David travelled incognito, slowly gaining skill in combat by fighting against various wild creatures. As his aliases gained in fame and fortune, David found a number of like-minded individuals. His Legion grew as he founded a castle far from civilization. He began to loot ships flying the Alderian flag, thus becoming somewhat notorious for being a mercenary and a pirate.

When the rebellion became open, David quietly supported the rebels. Hiring his men out as mercenaries to both sides, though, got him the confidence which he needed. The Emperor had changed in Alderia, thus the new Emperor knew nothing of the prophecy, and Ashawahenon had forgotten about it completely over the many years. David had not forgotten, and thus began planning the destruction of the Empire. Discovering the plans for the ambush of the rebel fleet, David raced all of his units to the scene. He arrived long before either side and set up his plan of action.

David watched the battle develop into a stalemate before taking action. He only moved his griffin troops, having them circle the Imperial fleet while he landed on the Emperor’s ship. Before doing so, he borrowed a weapon from one of his priestly followers, a mace enchanted to destroy undead. David landed on the deck of the ship, and as he thought, was met by his grandfather. Before anyone could act, David struck down the Emperor and declared himself for the Rebellion. Ashawahenon the Lich, advisor to the Emperor, fled to Hausbeck.

The tide of the battle turned. With his griffin suddenly changing into his old friend, a blue dragon, David laid waste to the flagship while the rest of his forces engaged the Imperial Navy. The results were spectacular. David was touted as a hero and a savior, just as he had planned it. He had destroyed the Empire, like what was prophesized.

The Rebellion leaders attempted to permanently solidify themselves with a league of nations, with David as its first chairman. He refused, however, in a statement calling for total independence of each land without having an overall leader. Having an overall leader, he wrote, would eventually lead to the same system he just overthrew. His statement was carried over time to all settlements in the known world. The countries each agreed with his statement, and to this day are totally politically independent.

After the war, things were very turbulent in the world. Numerous internal rebellions plagued the governments of the newly-formed countries, as well as that of Alderia. Luckily, the governments which were selected, with the exception of Penta, were able to suppress all of the various rebellions in short order.

The next stage was setting the official borders of each country. This led to many small wars between nations, the largest battles occurring between Rohaj and Hausbeck, and between Alderia and Nieton using Penta as a battleground. Skirmishes still continue on these borders, though the official wars are over. Al-Rezaq and Rohaj attempted an attack against Cybaline simultaneously, but was foiled by the anti-magic of Cybaline’s cities. Thus, those borders have remained relatively stable, though both sides sit and stare at each other across the borders from each other.

Penta’s troubles, combined with a lowering of naval power caused a rise of piracy on the Sea of Midian. The piracy still continues today, though Rohaj, Hausbeck, and Alderian naval forces have returned to pre-war strength. Pirates attack any ship, plunder it, then sells the cargo in Penta, where the warlords are always constantly looking for supplies. Thus, Rohaj has now turned to convoys for its ships which trade with Cybaline, Al-Rezaq, and Alderia.

The most notorious pirate was, and still is, Lightfinger. The ‘savior’ of the world during the rebellion turned his ways to plunder and piracy shortly thereafter. Thus, his reputation as a hero has been tarnished. His forces are the most powerful on the Sea of Midian, though he was seen as a great man by his Legion, as well as his more mundane followers, who all inhabit his walled island of Ahamo near the land of Penta. Many stories and rumors abound about Lightfinger’s exploits, most of which are not true.

Lightfinger was a big thorn in the side of Hausbeck, considering Ashawahenon is now ruling that country. Hausbeck, in a surprise move, allied with both Alderia and Rohaj to attempt to defeat Lightfinger once and for all. The three navies met, then began to attack Lightfinger’s island fortress. What they got was the alleged martyrdom of Lightfinger when he appeared to destroy the entire Hausbeck force with a tidal wave. Rohaj and Alderian navies retreated, content with the knowledge Lightfinger was now dead. The Legion, however, continued with sporadic pirate raids since, though Lightfinger was supposedly dead.

Tensions are building again. Hausbeck accuses both Alderia and Rohaj for purposely destroying its fleet. Borders are constantly under attack now, almost but not reaching another state of war in some cases. Penta’s land is continually in conflict. Adding to all of this has been numerous reports of Lightfinger being alive, and adventuring in the turbulent lands of Penta. The reports were recently confirmed by the sole remaining survivor of the town of Vesti in Penta, where Lightfinger rejoined his much-reduced group of pirates in wiping out the town.

Thus, nothing is stable yet in the world.