Once, many years ago, Gilar was home to a mighty empire. They worshipped the goddess Wee Jas, the Scarlet Sorceress, Lady of the Death Journey. Wee Jas was not an aggressive death god, after all every living being came into her fold at some point, even if it was only to pass through on the way to another god’s realm.
The people worshipped and Revered Wee Jas and her clerics did well by the people. They opened up the Paths of the Dead so that they could trade with all sorts of planes, and gradually the people of Gilar became incredibly wealthy and powerful.
However all empires fall eventually, and Gilar was no exception. Trade through the paths of the Dead started to go wrong, the Gilarians signed contracts they couldn’t honour, and powerful creatures came to exact revenge for the broken contracts. Then the other nations rose against them. For years the Gilarians had ‘lorded’ it over the other nations - now they came top join in the slaughter and take some of the rich pickings for them selves. The entryways to the Paths of the Dead were closed down, the civilisation fell, and strange beasts and monsters claimed the land.
Now, centuries later, people are back in the land of Gilar. Settlers have built a new village, and Wee Jas is making them welcome. She has sent one of her priestesses into the village, who makes it easy for the settlers to return from death; after all dead settlers are no good to Wee Jas. However, each return does include a donation to the cause of Wee Jas, and the level of donation increases each time the person dies. Gradually Wee Jas is claiming a small portion of everyone who returns to life by walking the Paths of the Dead .
Wee Jas has also sent another one of her followers to assist the settlers. This one practices the old magic (also known as Blood Magic), and can help characters create powerful magical item. However, the character needs to use their own blood to bind the magic to the weapon, and in the process some of that blood is sacrificed to Wee Jas.
Now Wee Jas has the infrastructure in place, she has become more proactive. She has bound a number of her servant spirits to books, and distributed them into the world. Each book is to search out an adventurer, and lead him (or her) to the land of Gilar. Once there the spirit of the book will guide the adventurer towards eternal life and power by showing them the secrets of life and death. There are pitfalls of course. While the road to eternal life shown by the books works – it doesn’t work for every one, and those who fail will probably be damned for eternity. Unless, of course, they agree to serve Wee Jas.
