Nowhere

We had to run. Don't you understand? We had to! The Loshan Empire's armies--they had us surrounded, bent on conquest as they have been for centuries. We thought we were far enough away, our kingdoms of Rividend and Galric. How did they get so close? Were we asleep so long to their glacial advance? We knew that one day they would come and we would deal with them then, so it was dismissed for generations. No matter. The time has come too late. Rividend has fallen. Galric is in flames.   We heard the stories for years of those who escaped the conquest. That is how we knew to run. Why we knew to run. Our archmage and our king, they went out with steed and steel and the magical element Iskellion. They bought us some time agains the superior numbers, tactics and weaponry. Bought us time because every story told us the same--that the imperial policy was complete and total regicide. Every family member, no matter their age or station. Give nothing for the conquered people to rally around. No rebellion. Crush their spirit, so as to replace it with their own. It had worked for centuries. It is working now.   So we ran. We followed the apprentice wizard into a dark tunnel hidden beneath our burning castle walls. Down we went. The queen and the children and a few aged advisors from the king's court. The Prince in hopes that one day we could finally subvert Imperial Policy. A few meager guards. Servants. A handful of Xeramerdis mercenaries. Even a prisoner. Into that shimmering portal of light that brought us here. A place the wizards call Nowhere.   How could those wizards who had only skimmed the surface of this place for their precious Iskellion have known? Deeper within lay dangers--peoples, lands, and things unknown to the world we come from. And they all seem as intent upon our destruction as the Loshan Empire.   ...   I think we have made a mistake coming here.