he minstrel laughs, "You search for Blackfire?"

"Then you are indeed fools." he chuckles softly and continues, "Have you ever heard the story of how Blackfire destroyed our world, and the terrible reign of the Blackfire Lords?"

"No!" he says incredulously, "Hand me my zither and I shall reveal to you secrets long forgotten in all but a few lands."

The minstrel takes a seat and strums a few chords.

"Gather round all, and listen to the tale of the Blackfire Wars", he intones.

The minstrel begins to play and chant, "First, I must take you back to the dawn of civilization. When man was little more than savages trying to survive from day to day. Back to when the world was young and before glorious Talorien was raised to the heavens on the five Pillars."

The minstrel tells, "Thousand of years ago, the world lay in the grip of a persistent and numbing ice age. The northern lands were nothing but cold and barren tundra. Our ancestors lived a meager existence in these harsh conditions. They hunted wild animals and dug roots out of the ground. They were a strong people who worshipped gods of the sun, wind, and other forces and the gods in turn watched over their people. It was a semi peaceful existence with nothing but the occasional dispute over tribal lands to interrupt it. Until one afternoon, when the world was changed forever as the sky darkened and a great black swirling maelstrom appeared over the northern edge of the world."

The minstrel grabs a tankard of ale and takes a long pull. He continues telling, "The Elder Ones had arrived on this world. The Elder Ones were a breed not unlike you or me. They were tall and pale-skinned and always wore great voluminous white robes with all manners of arcane symbols on them. They arrived in long, sleek ships made of a strange metal that looked as if it were on fire, but was cool to the touch. Our ancestors believed them to be gods, and more than a few tribes began to worship them. They built a huge city on an island that sat in the middle of a shimmering blue lake. They were a wise people and guided our ancestor"s culture and helped them develop and build many great cities. Our people slowly drifted from the worship of the old gods and had begun to worship these new beings "the Elder Ones".

As the old worshippers abandoned their old faiths, the old gods lost power and fell from the heavens. Taking mortal shape they retreated to the wild reaches of this world, feeling abandoned and bitter to the Elder Ones." The minstrel winks and grins at the audience that has now begun to fill the small inn.

He raises his voice higher and continues, "The Elder Ones were an ancient breed. Countless millions of years ago, they originated upon an unknown world, many light-years across the galaxy. They were strange, unfathomable, and powerful beyond imagination. In their civilization astro-physics, mystic philosophy and arcane magic were as one. They learned how to travel from world to world via a system of complex inter-dimensional gateways or worm-holes. And they also knew of the peril of the voids in-between, of the lurking horrors that inhabitated the regions of Chaos into which the gateway led. The void was often described as the essence of pure chaos, incomprehendable and evil."

He raises his voice higher and continues, "The inter-dimensional gateways enabled the Elder Ones to travel quickly over the distance of many light-years. From the outside the gates appeared as black holes. The two largest gateways on the world were situated above the poles, and formed the principle of entrance and exit points for the Elder Ones' huge vessels. The gateways constituted entrances into a reality of 'inbetween space', 'warpspace' or void. However this void was not really empty, but composed of a shifting fluid, wholly alien fabric. By mean of powerful magic, they devised methods of protecting themselves against the dangers that lurked in the void."

"The traveling vessels were fueled by a mysterious volcanic-like metal that seemed to glow with an inner blue fire and was called "Blackfire". The Elder ones spent many years researching this uneartly and chaotic metal and found it to be an immense magical power source that would allow them to create magicks unheard of before and to warp the fabrics of space, creating the worm-holes."

"It was the collapse of both the polar gates that led to the world we know today. What happened, is not known, but most likely the Elder Ones encountered some cosmic intelligence too great for even their own. From their position in space the gateways erupted over the polar areas of the planet, unleashing the chaotic matter upon the world. These two areas of dimensional instability enabled many strange and dangerous creature to enter the world. Many of these entities were small malicious things, uncaring for creatures that had only physical life; others were larger and more powerful, the Gods and Demons of the void. These beings could exist simultaneously in different realities and they manifested differently in each one. Thus the stronger ones often gave shape to the weaker, while the least strong entered into the mind of living creatures and turned them to the service of the new gods."

"The entities that shifted part of their consciousness into the world were of many kinds and dispositions. Some were benign, while others less so, and most were insane or mindless. Some manifested themselves as true Chaotics, creatures of whim and change, while others entered as single-minded personalities encapsulating harmony and balance. (Law being one of the possibilities of Chaos). A great deal of the matter in the void was sucked into the world, and is know as Blackfire. A substance that brings chaos and strength to those who have it. But along with it there is also change. The Elder Ones were wiped out, and the battle between law and chaos plagued the world. The force of change developed the Elves, Humans, Dwarves and Halflings along with a multitude of other creatures. Some sort of balance developed as neither Law nor Chaos could win the battle. In the middle of this Humans grew to be the dominant breed. Humans, already strongly tainted with Chaos, became beings composed of both Law and Chaos. A combination that proved to be quite deadly."

The minstrel sighs and his voice takes a more somber tone, "Born out of chaos came seven of the most vile and evil creatures ever known. Spreading chaos and destruction these creatures hungered for pain and suffering, and they fed on the essence of blackfire. Thus they were named the Blackfire Lords. The battle between Chaos and Law raged for a hundred years with one side unleashing powerful magicks on the other and the other side retaliating with even more powerful spells. However with the birth of The Blackfire Lords, Chaos proved to be the dominant side, and the future looked bleak."

The minstrel peers around the room, as he strums a few chords. He pauses and looks at the packed inn. He smiles and continues the tale," The world was wracked and tortured with this titanic struggle and the continent began to shift, causing great earthquakes that leveled whole cities and raised mountains where valleys had been. Secreted far away in their remote homes, the old gods wept at the destruction of their beautiful world. They convened a great council and talked about what they could do to stop this madness. They came to the sad conclusion that they could do nothing at this time, that they would have to wait until one side had become victorious. So they kept themselves out of the conflict and waited for the time to be ripe for their plan to be implemented. Meanwhile, the battle raged on and the forces of chaos spawned as each day passed.

Years later the old gods met, they convened a war council and came up with an idea that could help defeat The Blackfire Lords. They sent for their best Blackfire-smiths and gathered up the remainder of their supply of the precious Blackfire. They ordered the smiths to assemble three suits of armor that were made from pure Blackfire, and to forge weapons also made from the powerful source. The smiths crafted for a hundred years while the struggle continued on the world"s surface. Finally, after all but one of the smiths had died in the making of the hellish armor, the last smith came forward with three perfect suits of Blackfire armor. The armor gleamed with the inner fire, that was characteristic of the metal, and was inscribed with mystic symbols that covered every centimeter of it. The weapons, crafted also from the powerful metal, shone with a deadly sheen, and their surface was inscribed with the mystic symbols of power."

The audience crowds closer as the minstrel pauses for a moment. Then after taking a small pull from his fresh tankard, he continues, " Three heroes strode forth and took the sets from the dying smith, and equipped themselves with the magical armor. Then went forth to battle Chaos and the Blackfire Lords. Their names were Blahesing, Absalomah and Harrow, and they shall forever be remembered and revered"

The minstrel pauses and wipes a few tears from his eye.

He clears his throat and takes another long pull from the ale, draining it.

He continues, "A hellish battle erupted, and the forces of Law launched an all-out attack on Chaos and the lair of The Blackfire Lords. The struggle turned into a bloodbath and the three heroes fought relentlessly the opposing Blackfire Lords. Blahesing and Absalomah were slain, but they managed to kill all but the last Blackfire Lords. Silence covered the sky, and Harrow stood face to face with the last Blackfire lord. Full of fury and his soul burning with the energy of blackfire, Harrow strode forth and took hold of the last lord. As each of them held the other in a lethal grip, the battle turned into a contest of fury and magical energy. The magical energy rippled through the air, and the sheer power burned both of them into ashes. Once again balance beteen Chaos and Law had been restored."

The minstrel pauses yet again to measure the crowd. He looks around and grins broadly at the packed inn. He begins the tale anew, " All humankind celebrated for days and worshipped triad who defeated the Lords. Harrow's name gained godlike status as being the one who managed to defeat the last Blackfire Lord. His soul had been consumed by Blackfire energy during the battle, but by mystic means some aspect of his former self was reincarnet by the people's strong belief. He wanders the Empire at night sometimes in the shape of a man but has also been seen in the shape of pure blackness burning with a inner blue flame and is now named by the people as Nocturnal."

The minstrel bows deeply as applause fills the tavern. Then suddenly in a flash of black-bluish light he is gone and nowhere to be seen...

on the borders of chaos but also from within. Lurking within the tangled depths of the vast forests are mutants, Beastmen and even the occasional dreaded Chaos Warrior. From time to time these groups run amok, slaying and burning until their bestial appetites are sated with the blood and suffering of their victims. Mostly, though, they wait for the day when they shall pour out of the forests to burn the cities and claim The Empire for Chaos. According to various omens, the day is coming; the warp-gates will again expand and the gods will reward their chosen people with blood and the gifts of Chaos. So they wait within the forests, picking off those who wander too far from the roads, but yet they mostly fight among themselves - for how else shall the strong prevail?

Dangerous as these bands are, they are not as great a threat as those Human servants of Chaos already in the town and cities, plotting the downfall of The Empire and worshiping the Chaos Gods behind securely-locked doors. These are indistinguishable from the ordinary citizens of The Empire - they control towns and guilds, and even have influence at the Imperial court. Such are the Chaos cultists within The Empire, working to undermine it and paving the way for ascension of their foul gods.

Many of the cultists are dupes or fools blinded by the glib promises of power and wealth. They see only personal gain or the fulfillment of their most carnal and depraving desires in the actions of the cults. Blinded by their own desires, they fail to see the true nature of the cults and are easily manipulated by their superiors. Others are not so gullible; they know why the cults exist and do their utmost to further their power. Chaos brings strength, and those who wield that strength are in position to tear down The Empire and glory in the power of Chaos Gods.

And so, in dark subterranean caverns and behind the magnificent facades of rich town houses, they hatch their foul plots. If Chaos were a united force they would have succeeded long ago, but time is wasted in internecine warfare as cultists of different groups tear each other apart in pursuit of their goals.

Nor does the conflict stop at fights between the worshipers of different gods. Many cults follow the same god, while opposing each other vehemently. All the while the Chaos Gods take delight in the actions of their followers. Casting its hideous shadow over all of this is the Horned Rat and its followers, the Skaven, the feared ratmen who gnaw at the roots of The Empire, bringing decay and spreading their foul practices.

are unaware of the extent to which Chaos has wormed its way into the all the levels of Imperial society. If they knew they would not be so complacent - steps would be taken to curb the spread of Chaos and Witch hunters would receive far more support than they presently do. Life in the Empire goes on as normal, the authorities satisfy themselves with the occasional trial of a Demonologist, Necromancer or the burning of a Witch, and with the sanction the destruction of villages believed to be harboring the agents of Chaos.

As Chaos grows in strength, the nobles of The Empire continue to indulge themselves in parties and other glittering social events, and the middle classes go blithely on their way seeking to enrich themselves and join the ranks of the nobility. At the bottom the common folk struggle to do the best they can, worshiping the gods and praying that the harvest will be good this year. But the times are changing, more and more people are joining the Chaos cults and the number of unnatural births is growing each year.

The players of Blackfire take the role as men and women who have decided to explore to world. Weather you choose the side of Law or Chaos is up to you. Born poor, you have decided to reach for fame, riches and power. Life is harsh and only the strong will prevail.

Chaos never sleeps and the great day of wrath is coming, who shall be able to stand?