The year is late in the reign of Sadric the Eighty-Sixth of Melniboné. His son and heir, Elric, a strange and sickly child, has just been born and his wife has died giving birth, leaving Sadric mournful and distant.
You - the player characters - are all members of the noble house Toravain, cousins to a greater or lesser degree, and all share a close affinity with the elemental spirits of water; your uncle, Lord Paravis Toravain, actually summoned Straasha the King of the water elementals to introduce you to him. The Sea King gifted each of you with a water elemental bound to your service in honour of your alliance.
Unwisely, six months ago Paravis allied his house with the cause of Prince Mylian, a Dragon Prince and around fifth in line (before the birth of Prince Elric), in his plot to discredit and politically destroy Prince Yrkoon, then heir-apparent to the Ruby Throne. Mylian and Paravis unfortunately underestimated Yrkoon's skill in the deadly and lethal art of Melnibonéan court politics. The plot backfired; Mylian and Paravis were arrested and slowly executed by the Royal Interrogator, Dr Jest. The few survivors of House Toravain fled the Dragon Isle for the Young Kingdoms to become wanderers, hoping one day for a way to recover the Emperor's favour enough to return to Imrryr. You chose to stick together to increase your chances of survival in the strange world of the humans.
