In the year 1024 Galifar, it has been 28 years since the end of the Last War, a conflict that lasted for a century.

The continent of Khorvaire has entered an era of peace and stability.

The Lightning Rail, once used for troop deployment, now traverses the wilderness, carrying travelers to all corners of the land.

Airships travel ceaselessly above the clouds, strengthening the connections between the continent’s various nations.

The elves of Aerenal remain secluded on their island, safeguarding their past glory under the tutelage of their ancestral spirits.

The monsters of Droaam wage war amongst themselves, fighting for a chance at survival.

That summer, Karl, a 14-year-old, 1st-level Artificer, went out to sell the magical items he had crafted.

But just when he had made a handsome profit and was riding in a carriage—eating hotpot and singing songs, dreaming of the glorious future when he’d save enough money to pilot his own mech—he was ambushed by a Mind Flayer!

When he next awoke, it was in a stasis pod within a Mind Flayer’s ceremorphosis chamber. He could only watch, helpless, as a creature with an octopus for a head placed a bizarre, tadpole-like worm into his eye.