masters, turn in those who disobey the Night Kings

decrees and the legates demands.

Crimes include the pursuit of literacy and learning, the practice of magic, providing help to outlaws,
or even hiding a few sacks of grain from the dark gods
tithe-takers in order to feed ones family. The punishment for such acts begins with lashings horrid enough
to kill most men, escalates to slavery guaranteed to do
so, and at worst includes fates even worse than death.
There are other, less easily defined and even less
easily defeated foes awaiting your characters in
MIDNIGHT. Hunger and want are everywhere, and cannot be cut with any sword. Despair and ignorance creep
through the people of Eredane, and cannot be banished
with a spell or a ritual.

The Heroes
of Midnight
The legendary heroes of past ages are all dead or
corrupted by the Shadow. The lines of the kings are all
but ended, and the strength of the elves and dwarves has
waned. The only thing standing between the helpless
masses of the people of Eredane and the overwhelming
evils described above are a handful of desperate, determined heroes. The player characters are among these
unbowed, unbroken few.
They may begin their epic journey as inexperienced and desperate fugitives, but they are destined to
become Aryths last great champions. They are often
unwelcome and unheralded, for danger often follows
close behind them, and even the common folk they strive
to protect may turn against them. This is an age of darkness and fear, and for many, all hope is lost. Despair
turns to desperation, and most of the common people
merely wish to save themselves and their families from
the ravages of the Night Kings. To aid heroes blinded by
glory is to call down the wrath of the Shadow, and few
have any interest in dying for a lost cause.
Despite the odds stacked against them, the heroes of
MIDNIGHT have a few simple but powerful edges over their
foes. The races of the free peoples of Eredane have been
tempered by years of want and war. They know their homelands like no others, dependent as they are on the terrain for
survival and protection. They have greater natural affinities for certain skills, abilities, and weapons than races
from other settings; whether it be the way of the horse
or the way of the sword, the use of magic or the use of
stealth, the races of Eredane excel at their chosen paths.
Even the creatures bred by Izrador himself, the orcs, can
be heroes in Midnight, and their strength and savagery
when turned against their fellows is a dire thing indeed.

Introduction

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