To the Circle of Knights:

I, your humble servant, send you greetings. This missive is sent without the knowledge of my commandant and in violation of his orders. I take this action in full knowledge of the consequences it may bring upon me and through the conviction that in doing so, I fulfill my oath.

The commandant has been acting strange of late as if afflicted by some dark spell. I know that information of evil portends has not been forwarded to your august body as required by our charter. Many of our most faithful followers have died suddenly and mysteriously within this last fortnight. The commandant has been too ready with replacements for them, replacements which have an unclear feet.

I ask that you send a knight of pure character and high stature to investigate my conduct and this report. As further evidence, I provide, in its entirety, a letter found on the body of one Hal Horbin, a ranger of the highest character.

'Dear Istan:

Far from annoying me, I find the greatest pleasure in responding to your inquiry, dear brother. It has been some time since I have turned my mind to the scholarly histories in which I formerly delighted. Your questions regarding the relationship between the War of the Lance and these outposts provides a welcome diversion from my non-nal duties. But first, a bit of background...

Ansalon is a small continent stretching from the arctic to the equatorial climates in the southern hemisphere of the World of Krynn. It was across the face of this troubled land that the War of the Lance raged in years past and brought our company to its present unhappy fate.

In the 348th year after the Cataclysm, the evil forces of Takhisis, the Queen of Darkness, launched the treacherous war she had long prepared in secret. Striking first north, east, and then south, the armies of evil dragons, fell draconians, and all manner of other evil beings quickly overran the unprepared and the unsuspecting.

The good dragons, historical enemies of the evil dragons, could not ally themselves with the forces of good. As part of the Dark Queen's plan, their eggs were taken as hostage while the great beasts slept. The good dragons' "neutrality' was the price they paid to keep their eggs from barm,

While the good forces' attempts to ally against the common threat were hampered by treachery and old feuds, the evil armies made good use of their time. Quickly consolidating their hold on the newly conquered lands, they struck west and even further south in the winter of 351 A.C.

It was in this year that a group of companions met at the Inn of the Last Home in Solace. The exploits of the companions are now welt known - How they gained the disks of Misbakat and returned them with the first true cleric to walk the lands since the Cataclysm. How their discovery that the draconians were the result of the corruption of the good dragon eggs freed the good dragons from their pledge and brought them into the war on the side of good. How they helped Berem to return to the temple outside of Neraka and with his death close the portal that gave Takhisis an entry into Krynn.

It was at this time that many counted the war over. With their queen locked out of this World, the Dragon Armies lost their sense of direction. Many urged the good armies to return home and disband, some were foolish enough to do so.

But evil retained a strong grip on much of the land. The corruption process was stopped, but the good eggs were not returned and the exploits of the companions had given evil yet a new form.

IMPORTANT GEOCRAPHIC FEACHERS OF NORTHEAST ANSALON

The territories in the game are those that were overrun by the evil armies during the War of the Lance or were occupied by evil beings before that war.

Throtl was the capitol city of the Hobgoblins. Neraka was the special city of Takhisis and her temple was located near it. Sanction was a pre-cataclysmic city that was the base of operations for the Dragon Armies. Kernen was the capitol city of the Ogres.

The mountains near jelek hold Codshome. While these are now empty ruins, it is rumored that an area sacred to the True Gods exists somewhere in these mountains,

The lands are largely empty, save for a few settlements. The City of Sanction is the only area that has come close to its pre-war level of settlement.