The Primevals

In prehistoric times, the seventeen Primevals ruled over the Toraja. They were the first creatures of the Otherdark and nothing human could stand in the way of their power. They enslaved humans, forced them to work, mated with them, ate them. Humans built their strange cities and worshipped the Primevals as gods.

The gods and heroes of ancient times were finally able to imprison them. Only imprison them, because their power was so enormous that not even a god could destroy the Primevals (and possibly, because gods do not exist?).

Can something that was not born die at all?

From their dungeons they can still influence people. People still serve the Primevals, voluntarily or forced, and look for a way to free them.

The Otherdark

The Otherdark is another dimension, another plane of existence. It possesses a completely own reality and completely different laws of nature. For the human mind this place is incomprehensible, dark, at best gray, and completely formless - chaos.

Where the Otherdark reaches Toraja, it changes the reality of the people. It bends laws of nature, it abolishes them, and it changes matter and life on a deep level. It corrupts reality.

The Otherdark is the source, the origin of magic, but also of the changing corruption. The more the corruption spreads over Toraja, the easier it becomes for the spirits to take root in the world, to influence the world, to influence the people, to make them slaves.

Perhaps Toraja is threatened with the cruel, dark fate to sink one day completely into the Otherdark.

The people suspect this. That is why they are skeptical of sorcerers who use the power of the Otherdark.
They fear wizards.
Hate them.
Need them.
A game with darkness and ruin.