The Scarred Lands were not always so. Less than two centuries ago, the world of
Scarn was healthy - its forests were green, its seas pure, and its very heart pulsed
with magic. The mortal races toiled the land and hunted the beasts, building entire
civilizations, stone by stone. It was no paradise, but it was a prosperous world.

Of all Scarn's beings, both magical and mundane, the most awesome were the titans.
The titans were entities of monstrous power, and their strength was derived from
Scarn itself. The elements of the world and the skies above nourished them, granting
them near-limitless abilities. Given sufficient time and patience, a titan could sculpt
islands and mountain ranges, cut rivers, and breathe life into entirely new species of
creatures. If they combined their powers, they could create entire continents. Even
so, they were entities of raw fury, forces of nature that lacked the vital spark that
would make them into something more.

Mighty though the titans were, they were not yet gods. But their children.

Although philosophers have difficulty explaining just why and how it could have
happened, the children of the titans were not truly titans themselves. Like their
progenitors, they drew some power from the world of Scarn, but the remainder of
their potency derived from another source. They drew the greatest portion of their
strength from the world's mortal races, feeding on the intensity of belief and on the
vibrant mortal condition. The power these children called from the mortal races made
them something new, something better. It made them gods.

The gods' enviable connection to the mortals of Scarn was destined to set them
against their parents. For although the titans were at one with the essential elements
of heaven and earth, they cared little for the world in their charge. If a titan was
disappointed with how a coastline developed, he thought nothing of reducing it to
sand with a series of tidal waves, cleaning the slate. If a titan grew bored with the
thriving mortal races in her domain, she might give birth to horrific monsters to make
things more "interesting."

The gods, who felt the suffering of the mortal races to their very souls, decided that
the titans' reign had to end. Even the cruelest of the gods realized that if the titans
were to cleanse the world of mortals on a whim - a very real possibility - loss of the
mortals' faith and vitality would cripple the gods. So these celestial lords met in secret
and plotted rebellion. When Denev, the titan of the earth itself, spoke out against her
brethren, the gods took it as a sign - and the Titanswar erupted.

Eight gods and one titan went to war against a dozen other titans. The revolution
shook the heavens' pillars, shattered the blazing iron streets of hell, and raged across
the face of the world. Under the force of combatants' blows, mountains split into
rubble-strewn plains. Islands sank as warriors used them as stepping stones. Gods
and titans alike spawned races of monsters and humanoids as foot soldiers in their
feud. And divine blood spilled across Scarn, warping the very land.

Terrible though the war was, it finally came to an end. With the help of Denev, the
gods were victorious. They could not kill the titans, once and for all, however - not
even they possessed such power. Each titan had to be restrained or imprisoned,
prevented from regaining his strength and seeking revenge. The gods pulled the teeth
from Gaurak the Glutton before burying the Ravenous One beneath the earth,
ensuring that he could not chew his way out. They cut Mormo the Serpent Mother into
pieces, scattering the parts far and wide so the Queen of Witches could not reform.
And so the gods dealt with each titan in turn, stripping them of their power and sealing
them away.

Now, Scarn is no longer the world it once was. The land bears horrible scars where
gods felled titans. The Kelder Mountains are split with chasms left by a heavenly axe.
The Hornsaw Forest has grown gnarled and twisted after feeding on the spilled blood
of Mormo. Great deserts and badlands linger where verdant fields once lay. An entire
sea runs red with the blood of a titan who lies chained at its depths. The world has
twisted and changed wherever the titans or their dismembered remains lie. Many of
the monstrous races created by the titans and gods during the war still survive in the
gouged reaches of the land. Those races favored by the gods prosper. The titans'
chosen are less fortunate, watching and waiting from their wilderness exile, plotting to
restore their fallen patrons.

Scarn is no longer. To many of its inhabitants, it is now simply the Scarred Lands - a
wounded world that has yet to heal.

But there is hope. Cities begin to prosper once again under the watchful eye of their
patron deities. Mortals sharpen their skills of war and magic, the better to hunt the
monstrous beasts that prey upon the weak and injured. The followers of the gods are
ever vigilant, careful that the titans' scattered minions do not succeed in restoring
their heartless lords. The Scarred Lands are a place of fierce barbarism and intense
struggle - and yet, the mortal races aspire to something much greater. With good
fortune, bravery, sorcery and skill - and no small amount of providence - perhaps the
Scarred Lands can be rebuilt. Perhaps Scarn can be restored.

But first, the heroes of the Scarred Lands must survive.


Setting Overview