Even the bravest cannot fight beyond his strength.

It is the Year of the White Dragon, 627 After the Aegis.

For six hundred years, the conflicting powers of Light and Shadow were as clear as Black and White. The Light was divine, a force of good. The Shadow was darkness, a force of great evil.

Through the Light came salvation: The divine force reached out across the Empire and accepted all but those tainted by Shadow. For those few it offered nothing by oblivion, casting out of the darkness of the realm and forcing evil to shy away from the argent dawn it cast across the lands.

Through the Shadow came strength: The Arcane was a wild and chaotic thing to be tamed, yet also to be feared. Vast feats of amazing skill and power were there to be taken by those who had been born with the dark taint, yet with that power came a risk; a risk both of corruption from within, and death from without.

For six hundred years, the Church of True Light and the People of Fastheld worked tireless to root out the Shadow and praise the Light, fearing the cataclysm that the Church foretold of if they did not remain vigilant. But the Light can blind far greater than any darkness...

The Church was corrupt; her soldiers zealots and her priests heretics to their own faith. While they persecuted anyone suspected of being under the influence of the Shadow, be they innocent or not, they wrapped themselves in a blanket of paranoia and armored might. Where once the Church brought inspiration and hope, now only fear and devastation remained in their wake.

Beyond the great Aegis wall of the Empire of Fastheld, powers beyond Church's control sought to undo all that, however. The great dragons Val'sharax and Kalath'aria bore the distortion of the Church naked for all to see. Those that dwelled in the wild lands beyond Fastheld's reach lived as proof that Shadow may be a force of evil, but evil in and of itself. Centuries of deception and shadowy deals were revealed to all, and under the weight of it's own corruption the Church of True Light fragmented, removed forever from Fastheld's future destiny.

The Light of Truth shone, and burned away even those who proclaimed to follow it.

Bearing witness to this truth, the Emperor Zolor Zahir and the Prince Serath Kahar put aside traditional conflicts and worked together to end the established persecution of those citizens who harbored such taint - but not without restraint. Those who would seek to wield magic would have to have themselves marked for all to see and know to curb any potential for evil. Those who would seek to practice the darker arts as an unknown would face only death.

A new military has been ushered in; an old one replaced in turn. The tide of sexism once prevalent within the Empire is being pushed back as women are finally permitted into the Imperial Watch, and accepted as able Knights, Rangers, and Warriors. Tasked with protecting their own holdings, the powerful Noble Houses have begun to constructed Orders of Knights to defend the realm.

Meanwhile, forces beyond the Empire have begun to stir. The dwarf-like Halaghi, dwellers of the Dragonspine Mountains far to the north, have begun to gear for war. The Moss Men of the Weeping Stones Islands look to the oceans, wondering what rests beyond the horizon. Dragons rule the Wildlands, while dark powers gather behind the walls of Ebonhold.

Magic has returned to Fastheld, and may yet save it again.

 

Online since 2003, Chiaroscuro is a text-based original-fantasy interactive saga in which participants from around the world become central characters in an evolving story that reacts to chains of cause and effect.

Players can take on roles as politically powerful Nobles, adventurous Freelanders, stout Halaghi, and reflective Moss Men, adventuring across a vast city state and beyond as they interact and weave their own personal stories amidst the storylines driven by the staff.

The action takes place primarily in the walled city-state of Fastheld, a feudal realm divided into several districts that's ruled by Emperor Zolor Zahir I and six noble houses. But we've also got the Weeping Stones Islands, home of the pantheon-worshipping Moss Men, and the mountain cities of Halagh with their gadget-loving Halaghi denizens.

The ongoing storylines within Chiaroscuro are driven more by player interactions than admin-crafted story arcs. Although we still run occasional staff plots, much more day-to-day activity is in the hands of the normal players.

The folks who run the game are led by Wes Platt, a former professional journalist turned online storyteller, who also happens to be the creator of OtherSpace and Necromundus, to name but a few pursuits.

Now, as Chiaroscuro prepares for its fourth year, it continues on with new changes and a much wider scope of creativity!