For many years, there was peace. About six years ago however, a darkness appeared. It was not thought of much at first, but it grew, becoming substancially darker and spreading to engulf the entire country. The nature of it has baffled even knowledgable scholars, and nobody knows where it originated from, or why it is even there.
However, the rising darkness caused trouble all over the land. Hours of daylight decreased somewhat, and even the light intensity seems to have dropped. Evil creatures began appearing, gaining strength as the darkness did. These new monsters began attacking and overthrowing many of the lightly defended and/or weak settlements. As a result, many town and villages are empty and in ruins, their inhabitants having been either slaughtered or fled to the larger, well defended and protected cities. And now, travel between places is rare, due to the danger of being out in the unprotected wilderness.
Recently, however, in the North, there have been report from the fishermen from the east shores that the darkness no longer seems so strong on the horizon, towards some of the offshore islands. They do not dare investigate themselves, due to sea monsters and pirates being present. Also, their boats are not suitable for such a voyage. Intrigued by these reports, the northern King has called some soldiers together, to investigate.