PAINOldPainBk

The great city of Paineel was created to serve as a refuge and home base for us, the Cazicites. We, the practi- tioners of the dark arts, who were so wrongfully and uncere- moniously ejected from our homeland of Erudin, founded the city in the great hole blasted from the ground during the civil war. We carved our city out of the walls of that cavernous abyss and created a haven in which we had the freedom to seek knowledge - our inalienable right.

Our dark city, built with the blackest of ebony and quartz crystals, was seldom seen by outsiders. Most visitors died on the journey down or from the sacrifice of blood required for entry. Our center of safety and power, unbeknownst to us, however, faced a danger which would eventually prove its undoing.

A mysterious area of rock which, amazingly, seemed to have a life of its own, was found during excavations to enlarge the city. Its charac- teristics, unfortunately, were not observed until too late. The damage done to that rock by magical construction caused another tremendous explosion, loosing hordes of evil and dangerous beasts from within. Once again, our people fled from certain extinction.