Feedback is welcome, as are questions about the storygame.
Long ago, in ancient days, days now shrouded by myth and mystery, the people of the Elder Heights lived in prosperity and peace with one another.
The Ancient Peace was broken on the day the Great Evil rose from the earth. Cunning and treacherous was the nature of the Fiend, and It appeared in a form greatly pleasing to the eyes of men. Some say it was the Elder Dragon, the first of it's kind, Some say it was the Fairie Queen, others say it was the Devil, but it doesn't much matter which of these It was, or if It was something else entirely, for every tale ends the same.
It came to the city in the heart of the Hills. To the heads of the households It came with smiles and sweet words. To each of the Houses, It offered a gift.
To the First, It gave the power to heal injuries of the body and of the mind.
To the Second house, It gave the power to manipulate unseen energies with the mind alone.
To the Third house, It gave the power of illusion to deceive the senses.
To the Fourth house It gave the power to read the future, and the thoughts of others.
To the Fifth house It gave the power of the winds.
To the Sixth It gave the power to summon and control flame.
To the Seventh house It gave the keeping of the waters, their creatures and their currents.
To the Eighth house It gave the power of the Earth, and all the things that grow therefrom.
To the Ninth house, It gave the keeping of the creatures of the earth, and the power to speak with them.
Every household accepted their gift with rejoicing and gratitude, Except the Fourth house, to whom was given foresight to pages of history not yet written in the book of time.
The Fourth house grieved at what they saw ahead: war, trouble, famine, division and death. They saw through the smiles and sweet words of the Deceiver, and some of them rose against the Fiend, demanding It take back the cursed gifts. The Fiend laughed, and cursed the rebels "for the fear of Death you oppose me, only through death and destruction shall you see power." Whereupon, the Deceiver fled the Elder Hills for Its work was done. From that day Necromancy and Black Magic have come from the Fourth House. At the beginning, this secret was kept from the other houses, and through intermarriage, was slowly spread to the others.
Eventually, It was the discovery of this terrible secret that led to the division of the houses, and the destruction of the Ancient Peace of the Elder People.