A hundred years ago Vickdis, having grown weary of constant intrusions on his lair, decided to do something about the random adventurers stealing his belongings. He hired a band of monsters, outfitted them with equipment and sent them out to raid the homes of those who had stolen from him. Word quickly spread of a vast “army of monsters” that was plundering villages and terrorizing the countryside (these accounts were grossly over exaggerated) an d thus the mortal kingdoms banded together (for once), sending their armies against the forces of the evil, Arch Lich. Vickdis was indeed a powerful being, but had no such designs as raising an army. He desired, for the most part, to be left to his own devices in the study of the arcane. It was the main reason he had become a lich after all. Undeath was a small price to pay for an eternity to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos.

With the mortal races breathing down his neck Vickdis had no choice but to hire even more monsters. To Vickdis’s surprise most monsters volunteered. The tale had spread quickly of the heroic lich who was rallying the monstrous races to crush the oppressive mortals once and for all. Unwittingly Vickdis was now the leader of some monstrous rebellion.

The war has been over for nearly 50 years. Most of the mortal kingdoms falling under the great armies of the Lich Lord. Vickdis now sits somewhat unwillingly as Lord over most of the world and is now occupied with the tedium of leadership. Despite the fact that monsters wander the streets and share the same spaces as men, day to day life has gotten back to relative peace. To put the messy matter of war behind him Vickdis did away with oppressive laws and over taxation. He constructed schools, built roads, shored up infrastructures and established the Grand Guild. All really in an effort to get back to what he really wanted from the start. Peace and quiet.

Monsters roam the streets, but most have jobs or even join the adventurers guild. Some children are born cursed, having the appearance of beast men, a spell Vickdis can’t quite figure out how to reverse. Due to the effects of the war, sometimes interdimensional portals open, leaving behind people from other worlds. There are vast dungeons and labyrinths all over the countryside with stockpiles of riches left behind by fleeing nobility and hoarding monsters.