But even as the Isle of Oblivion broods in the seas of every fragment and the agents of the Lich-Queen strike terror throughout all lands, a new hope has arisen, a firebrand raised to defy the Dark. The Nightstalkers have returned.

The Stalkers were an ancient order, devotees of Arnomus the Rogue, trained by that Titan to serve the armies of Ardan as scouts and spies. The rising of the dead hordes gave them a new purpose. At the height of the War of Shadows, the Thirteen heretics who first devised Necromancy called forth the first Vampires, giving Oblivion its most powerful weapon. Packs of the Nightborn swept through Ardan by night, falling upon the armies of the blessed realm and spreading terror into even the strongest cities and fortresses. On the fateful night the blood-drinkers fell upon the Carhane Legion, decimating it, there was one man who stood his ground and knew no fear.

His name was Colshak, one of the Stalkers, and he quickly learned that a dozen dagger strokes could rend a Vampire's undead flesh when the strongest swing of a flamberge failed. Colshak escaped the slaughter of his legion, saving a dozen of his fellow soldiers. The tale he brought back gave the Men of Ardan hope. After long consultation with the Nameless Titan, Coleshak devised a new style of fighting, and armed himself with new spells and techniques to fight the darkness. Hundreds followed his example, and a new order, the Nightstalkers, was born.

There are those who say Colshak learned his art while serving on the desert frontier, from watching the dreaded Blade Dervishes of the Devil Men. Their speed and ferocity were coupled with a range of blessings, holy teachings, and exercises that could dispel the dark power of the Void, protect the Nightstalker from the powers of the dreaded Vampires, or send hordes of mindless dead fleeing from the light. Colshak, himself scarred by the fangs of a Vampire, embarked on an obsessed crusade, devoting his life to the destruction of all undead. In time the fame of the Nightstalkers spread far and wide, and the very Irekei who had served as their inspiration adopted the arts of the Nightstalkers, using them in their own Blood Wars.

When the spells of the Nameless Titan ended the War of Shadows at last, Colshak was not content. He feared that the Soulstones and the Web might not endure forever, and that someday Oblivion might ravage Aerynth again. No vault, no book could be entrusted to last forever, and so the thirteenth Titan wove a mighty spell, placing Colshak and 11 of the mightiest Nightstalkers into a magical slumber and removing them from the world, to some hidden realm born of magic. If ever Oblivion should breach the barriers the Ardani raised, the Nightstalkers would rise again and resume Colshak's crusade.

When the Isle of Oblivion appeared, Colshak and his brothers awoke. Daunted by the scope of the undead invasion, the Nightstalkers have decided that their greatest weapon is not their blessed stakes, but their knowledge. The original Nightstalkers scattered, journeying to every land to serve as teachers and trainers, in the hope that every realm can raise armies of new Nightstalkers and drive the unholy shadow from Aerynth once and for all.

The Nightstalker class is ideally suited to players who enjoy sneaking around the edges of battlefields, picking off vampires who think their fortitude makes them untouchable.

• Focus skill: Exorcism.
• Disciplines available: Archer, Black Mask, Bounty Hunter, Huntsman, Prospector, Rat Catcher, Saboteur, Traveler.
• Races available: Aelfborn, Human, Irekei.

A bleak realm of horror and entropy, Oblivion was once part of Aerynth, an Elvish realm ruled by the pale princess Ithriana. Soon after Ithriana wrested Shadowbane from Beregund Bladeseeker, the forces of Oblivion struck, wrenching her lands from the face of Aerynth and casting them into the Void. Ithriana was transformed into the Lich-Queen, and her loyal kin have been refashioned into unholy terrors. The eldest Vampires, founders of the four Clans, now dominate the land, serving as the Lich-Queen's heralds and generals.

The seat of Ithriana's power, Oblivion's landscape is blasted and worn, a bleak wasteland long since leached of all vitality. Here, unholy necromantic magic permeates all things, twisting them into foul new shapes. Oblivion is home to many fearsome creatures, unliving and loathsome, massing for the final assault on the world of the living. Ithriana's minions and the Brotherhood of the Shroud have begun the construction of the Doomgate, a direct portal to the cold heart of the Void. When it is complete, no flesh shall be spared, and the cold Dark will consume all.

Oblivion is a place of dread and a desolate wasteland. The Vampires who inhabit the realm have become Ithriana's devoted servants, and their dark dwellings dot the stark landscape. Other foul creatures, born of dark sorcery, prowl the land. They hunt the living, seeking to slay another soul and swell the ranks of the unholy.

Two regions of note stand out among Oblivion's lifeless wastes: the Bone Marches and the Plain of Ashes.

Bone Collectors

These mysterious figures skulk about old battlefields, cemeteries, and the domains of those who have defied death. Their origin is uncertain, as is their true nature. Not themselves undead, Bone Collectors are believed by some to be maimed and transformed pawns of the Shroud cults, serving those who serve Oblivion. Secretive and feral, they speak only through signs and simple grunts. The Bone Collectors are named for what they do - gathering loose bones and skeletal remains. Some they render to Necromancers and death cults, while others they keep for their own foul ends.

Bone Drakes

The Necromancers' greatest creations, Bone Drakes are the skeletal remains of the greatest terrors Aerynth has known, hideous fusions of the powers of Chaos and Oblivion. Animated through foul, exhausting necromantic rituals, these massive horrors are the greatest foes of the living, save perhaps for Ithriana herself.

Bone Stalkers

These foul creatures were once the chimera vulture lions bred as warbeasts by the Deathless Empire, but now are bound to Oblivion. Captured by Ithriana's minions and tortured, the Bone Stalkers' flesh was stripped from their forms, their very bones bound into servitude by the blackest magic. Vulture-beaked and fearsomely clawed, they roam the lands of Oblivion in packs, their keen senses sniffing out the telltale signs of the living.

Gaunts

Once they were mighty Elves, the favored guards and servants of Ithriana the elf-queen. When the Void claimed Shadowbane, they were cast into Oblivion with their mistress. Their torment, combined with the awful magics of Oblivion, changed them, making them a terrible and fearsome addition to the armies of the Black. Gaunts now serve Oblivion fanatically, hating all that they once were and reveling in their newfound unholy power.

Risen Dead

The Risen Dead take many forms, from the lowliest of shambling zombies to the quick-witted, aggressive husks of the recently slain. Some of these Risen Dead still possess the skills and powers they bore in life, while others are filled only with an insatiable hunger for living flesh. Many still wear the weapons that slew them, and all of them are united in their role as dismal foot soldiers in the army of Oblivion.

Skeletal Horrors

Long has the world been plagued by the skeletal forms of the fallen - but until the coming of the Necromancers, the secrets of raising forms other than humans had been lost. Now the dreadful remains of Aracoix, Centaurs, and Minotaurs stalk the world, filled with rage at the living, delivering the Void's wild vengeance.

Soul-Eaters

The origin of these creatures - ghastly beings consisting of flesh, skull, spine, and tendon - is shrouded in mystery. Are they native to Oblivion, and is this their natural form, or are they new constructs of the Necromancers, pieced together from the corpses of the slain? Grim overseers of the unholy legions, these creatures are among the most horrible lurking on the isle of Oblivion.