The fall of Aranock

Aranock was left abandoned. The great guardians of legend  had fallen to the only adversary strong enough to oppose them.  Shiva and her invading army had flooded the city on the eve of what was called the 'Bad Moon' The mayhem that followed  was far worse then any prophecy had foretold.  Such was the swiftness of the attack, that Guards at the Outpost were unable to raise the call for help before their bodies lay lifeless. The swarm entered the city screaming fierce battle cries in a long forgotten language. Scared and unprepared,  the Townsfolk fled to the Eastern Exit of the City. Faced with a vast desert and in the dead of night they moved on, watching from a distance as their city was awash with crimson flame, Aranock had fallen.

The citizens struggled on through the desert for many days and nights before reaching an abandoned outpost centered in a forgotten town. Discovering the new Land, the Citizens where distraught, and sang stories of the fearful night that a powerful spellcaster invaded their city like a plague, taking all that they had owned away from them. Searching through the history written on the walls of the great cathedral they discovered that the land they'd fled too was the city of Aran, a vast desert of caverns and mines long abandoned . Aran lay on the other side of the Forbidden Mountain. Months went by while the Aranockians took refuge in their new home.  word of mouth traveled across the Kingdom to the other cities of the defeat of one of the most powerful civilizations that ever lived.

Shiva's power and influence  grew, as did her allys from neighboring cities grow in number. Her Golem brigades and spider hordes protected the streets of the City from re-habituation, and She agreed to give the Onyx King  Toxicus control over the Waste Tunnels in return for the Key to the Elysium-home of the Gods. Toxicus, not knowing what the key was for, handed it over Shiva. Delighted, she retreated to her stronghold and drew up plans to find and invade the Mountain of the God's where the elysium was located. He knew that the Elysium held great wonders and powerful ancient  weapons that would allow her to achieve her ultimate plan-domination over the entire Kingdom.

A small group of Aranock citizens, well rested and armed, decided to attempt to reclaim the city in Shivas absence. Their plan was to solve the mystery of the labyrinth built long ago by their ancestors. Tales told  that the labyrinth held the secrets of the disappearance of a legendary Seyan'du race.  An ancient and powerful  group of God-like warriors that predated the creation of the kingdom. The townspeople hoped that by solving the labyrinth they could discover the lost secrets and if they still existed, recruit the ancients to their aid.