Once upon a time there was a proud empire with many great clans. The Serpent Clan ruled while the Lotus and Crane maneuvered for greater control. Then a great darkness rose from the shadows and formed creatures of pure night that overwhelmed every clan in succession. Tarrant, leader of the Serpent Clan, fled south with what remained of his people and the Dragon Orb — the clan's prized possession. At land's end, facing the Horde with nowhere left to go, he used the Orb to sever the southern tip of the continent from the mainland. The Horde cannot cross running water. Tarrant's people were saved. He and the Orb were not. Two other clans found their way to this protected island: the Lotus Clan, twisted and corrupt, crossing by means no one has explained. The Wolf Clan, whose Druidesses had foreseen the tidal wave, built arks in time and rode the surge to the island's shore. How those three remnants of a broken world found their way to conflict — and to the island that became the stage for Battle Realms — is the story.