"The God created all beings and built this vast world from the ashes. Then, one of his beloved emissaries tried to steal his place as the king of creation. . .but failed.

So, you want to know more about our world, do you, traveler? Well, I must say, sincerely, that you have come to the right place. We live in the Near World, that is only a piece of the KaranBlade world. Here we have huge cities, noble governors, skilled knights and wise magicians. Unfortunately, just outside the security of our glorious cities you can find the most diabolical monsters you will ever seen. No, I`m not talking about the orcs of the Barren Mountains nor the drow of Anahul Maakh, I`m talking of the demons that have surged into our lands the past years.

Yeah, traveler, the Codex proved to be the unique truth. The demon ruler, the once fictional Balrog, really exists, and so the legend was right: Two thousand years from today the demon ruler will invade our world, coming from the distant lands of Dordread. And this demon destroyed several ancient cities, like the legendary Torannia, only to be defeated by the mighty Galtar Karan and the Sword of Eternal Fire, also known as KaranBlade.

That`s it, they are no longer legends or fairy tales, they are all very real, and now the kingdom of evil is returning to our world, just at the exact moment in time that the prophets of the Codex saw a long time ago. The Balrog is coming, and because of our lack of faith, we didn`t made any preparations for it.

The Red War will occur once again my friend, demons against the world. But this time the Near World isn`t united like before, the high elves will never join forces with the dwarves, the barren or syll orcs will never aid any torannian. Because of all that, traveler, I`m travelling all the world, wandering our vast lands, in the hope of finding once again our savior, the hero sent by the True God. Not only me, but many other wise men are searching for this brave soul that will fight with the KaranBlade, because this hero might be the only chance for our survival.

Tellius Tolken, Loremaster of Talantha

A Brief Overlook at NearWorld

The vast lands known as Near World are a peninsula devided into three major countries: Torann, in the middle, is the most civilized of them; Stonebridge is the land of the dwarves and barbarians; and Dardeeh is a desert territory, with giants and drow elves, only the most insane dare to travel there. Also, we have the Syll island at east, where the pirate orcs hide from the law. To the distant and cold north we find the Khitai kingdom, where strange humans live, with weird weapons like the katana. Finally, to the far west are the demoniac lands called Dordread, avoid this like place like hell.

Torannian are the humans who live almost everywhere. They are the most populous race in Near World, so they are very common to find. Their name comes from the country Torann, which is the cradle of their civilization historically. Most of the cities of Near World were built by the Torannians, like Talantha, Bak, Soldur and Zirmandia. Some of the most famous torannians are Ultar Brightarm, the governor of Talantha, Marcus Odissey Biamindua, the supreme sorcerer of the Magic House, Deldor Daryll, the governor of Bak, Eleanor, the high priestess of Soldur, and Tellius Tolken, the loremaster of Talantha. Torannians used to get along with all other civilized races, but now most races just tolerate them because of their high presence in the world.

Rotunnians are barbarian humans who inhabit the south lands of Stonebridge. They are not very civilized and live mostly in villages and tribes. They are called Rotunnians, but no barbarians are found at the Rotun Montains. The name is derived from the proximity of their homes to these rocks. These folks are normally strong and healthy, but not well known for their culture. Actually, only a few can read and write, and only rarely can one be called a wise men. Rotunnians are often humiliated when they dare to enter civilized cities, because they seem to have big problems adaptating to the urban lifestyle. We may find Baldin, the Bigrock, leader of the south tribes and Jukhatar, the Wildwind, leader of the Rain Islands tribes among the rare famous Rotunnians.

Dardees, or "Daredees", are the humans who inhabit the desert lands of Dardeeh. Most of them live in the sporadic oasis within The Sand Ocean, the largest of the deserts. Obviously, their names are derived from the country Dardeeh's name. They are known for their courage and capability of survival. Anyway, it's very rare to see them outside their lands, and the ones who flee apparently became alike the torannians in many aspects, excluding the bronze skin. The only well known dardee is Kithz Kopesh, owner of the Blacksand caravans, which makes the comerce between the desert and the great cities.

Khitaians are the humans that live in the distant north, in lands covered by snow and tundra. They are a mysterious civilization, with their own culture, honor and education. Their weird weapons and armor are rarely found at the south lands, but they are very popular among warriors. Some fof the ew examples are the Katana and the Shuriken. Though they are rare to find in the southern lands, the ones who travel the huge distance are well respected for their courage. Khitaians speak a totally different tongue and apparently never loose their accent while speaking in Torak (world common). The most famous of the Khitaians must be the king Maw-Tutso-ju, who is believed to be the richest man in the world.

High elves are the elves of Mahul Maakh. They are a very noble race, tgough some say they are just arrogant. The high elves obey a council that consists of the oldest patriarchs of their families. Because of their long life expectancy, this council may very well be the "grandparents" of all their folk. Some of these elves are bound to nature and rarely leave the Mahul Maakh forest, but many others go adventuring all around the world. These elves are known to hate both orcs and dwarves because of their "lack of nobility". They normally don`t consider Rotunnians as "humans". The high elves rarely team up with any other race on their travels, though sometimes they like to use the efficient thieving skills of the hobbits to reach magical relics. The Mahul Council is currently formed by six approximately 700 year old males and Fiodras, an old female who leads the votes, some say, using her amazing beauty.

The dwarves of Near World live in the northern part of the Rotun Mountains, in their fantastic underground city called the High Helm. They are skilled miners and blacksmiths, but some of them often decide to study other things such as history and geography. Known as the "masters of mountains", most of them go outside their city to live and adventure in the open lands. There are lots of dwarves in Bak and Talantha. Dwarves have a common hate with all the elves, who they call "the nobles of the woods". Also, they don`t get along with orcs and giants at all. Among the famous dwarves we find Bhrodain, the governor of the High Helm, Oldagg, master-smith of the High Helm, and Antysa, famous priest who lives at Soldur.

Syllian orcs, or syll orcs, are the orcs who live in the Syll islands. They are rude pirates that plague the entire east coast with their pillagings, particularly at Zirmandia. But this city just gets what it plants. They differ from their descendants, the barren orcs, because of their thinner, agile body, though the barren orcs are much stronger. Most of the syllians are pirates, or at least have a parent that is a pirate. They are naturally bound to the ships and all their related skills such as navigation and swimming. They love the sea and prefer to navigate much more than stay on dry land. These folks are racial enemies of almost every other civilized race, but not as bad as their reputation would make them seem. There are various famous syllian orcs, however all of them got their fame by plundering and pillaging the cities of the coast. People like Fillowpig, Axumal and Captain Cyclops are known and hated all around the coast.

Barren orcs are the orcs who live in the underground caves in the eastern part of the Barren Mountains, near the High River. They live comparatively near to Talantha and the torannians, but they rarely leave their caves because they don`t like the sunlight and avoid it as much as possible. These folks are very well built and have excellent strength. Almost every other civilized race doesn`t get along with them, though they have a better reputation than the syllians. Many of these folks live in Sur, because its former governor, Garlik, was forced to open his gates to the most uncivilized of races in an desperate attempt to refurbish it`s economy. The talanthians questioned this act and in response Garlik left the government of Sur to Zurtak, a barren orc, in exchange for an antique sword that Zurtak and his followers found deep underground in the Barren Mountains. So Zurtak now is the most famous orc in the world, and his city is growing up with the entrance of the varied races, day after day.

The hobbits and gnomes of Near World live in western Stonebridge, near Soldur. Hobbits make their round houses int the ground on the plains, and the gnomes live in sophisticated buildings amongst the hills. Hobbits are usually very peaceful folk and don`t seen to like the adventurer life much, but a few of them, particularly the more ambitious, go around the world in search of fun. Actually many hobbits make a living at Mahul Maakh, to the displeasure of the high elves. Gnomes are known by their genious engineering skills, and many of their inventions, like the cannon and the rare powder wands (arquebus), are copied by the dwarves and torannians. They don`t seen to like traveling, and like the hobbits, rarely leave their homeland. Excluding the hobbits of Mahul Maakh, all other breeds of hobbits and gnomes have a fair relationship with the civilized races, though the gnomes tend to hate giants and orcs like the dwarves. Among the famous hobbits and gnomes we can find Floro Galduick, mayor of the hobbit lands, and Gnocha Galliezzo, master-inventor of the gnomish folk.

Finally we have the uldras, a harmonic race that lives in the forests north of Bak, near the Great Water. These folks are bound to nature and all the animals and non-hostile beings. Many of them are beloved of the elementals and spirits of the woods, causing a little fear to the dishonest who deal with them. The uldras almost never leave their home forest, and the few who do are banned from their mysterious clans. Thus, any uldaric adventurer is a loner by nature, and will rarely team up with anyone else. Uldras also have a great affinity with the druids and barbarians, because of their shared love of the nature. The only famous uldra is Yaal Kin Futh, the Grand Druid of the uldaric woods, and one of the most powerful beings of the world.

And there you have a brief description of the Near World and its civilized races. Hope you have had as much fun reading this as I had writing it.

Tellius Tolken, Loremaster of Talantha