Riftkey

The Academy's ranks are thinning each year. Since the decision to cease social graduation of mages, those with talent enough to become Journeymen or reach Magus status are fewer and further between.

Calen, a Journeyman Blademage, works with his Magus friend Evrian to find residue of cast spells and to decipher, build, and sell this knowledge to the Academy for a living. But Calen has a bad habit of venturing into the Deadlands for this knowledge, and the Deadlands are no place for a lone mage.

The Deadlands, a huge scar in the earth caused by the use of magic in a human war 300 years ago, is a landscape of terrain burnt to obsidian, all harsh angles harboring unforgiving wraiths. The Dryads, progenitors of life and whose language modern magic stems from, have seen the Deadlands, and have realized their mistake in giving humanity the gift of magic. The only way for the world to be at peace now is for humanity to cease to exist.

But as Calen searches for ways for humanity to survive the Dryads' wrath, he discovers a new, more sinister threat lurking in the shadows...