I'll be setting the campaign in a 'generic' multiverse.. or at least as generic as Epic gets.. with one interesting twist..
All Epic Characters are actually starting OUTSIDE of the Prime Material Plane, as there is currently a "Legend Ban" on all things "Epic" on the Prime. This ban was imposed centuries ago by the people themselves. Epic powers were tearing the world apart and preventing the common populace from living their lives, so after a long argument spanning multiple debates, multiple planes, and several large-scale battles, a powerful group of Epic individuals and demigods managed to expel all Legendary powered beings, and all Outsiders from the plane. The only exceptions were the Greatest of Dragons(Wyrms and Great Wyrms), who stayed to watch over the plane, and went to sleep, never heard from again.
The shutting out of all this power had a seperate effect, though.. it cut the prime off from the gods, preventing prayers and worship from reaching them and preventing them from reaching the mortals. It also prevented Souls from leaving the Prime, causing a horrid rise in the number and power of the undead. Eventually it was discovered that there WAS a way into the plane, available only through a special demiplane created by the ones who initiated the "Legend Ban". This Demiplane, known as "The Observatory", has since become a central figure in planar politics and economics. Although the Observatory is completely under the control of the "Gatekeepers" as they call themselves, they do allow some things through. Money, trinkets, non-epic beings, Souls, prayers and worship, and most importantly Information flow freely.
Recent information however has been very disturbing. There have been tales of people roaming the world.. people who have power only heard of in Legends. The Gatekeepers hired the most poweful Prime Plane adventurers (6 lvl 18-20 characters) to discover what was going on. They found a single one of these people, a half-red dragon who introduced herself as "The Disciple", and then proceded to cleave them in to several small pieces before dispelling the Gatekeeper's Scrying. The entire encounter including her introduction lasted 20 seconds. Witnesses to the scrying described her fighting style as a combination of 3 powerful, ancient styles, all of which were only able to be mastered by 'legendary' figures.
A week later, the Great Dragons awoke. Seemingly not of their own free will, the dragons began raiding and destroying villages randomly. The largest Red, Gold, Silver, and Black dragons each were witnessed bearing Riders.. 2 powerful mages, a man who seemed to breath dragonsfire more powerful than any of the dragons, and a black-plate clad Warrior.
In further investigations over the next few months, the Gatekeepers and Observers discovered a 6th 'legend', an unstoppable planeswalker who could exit the Prime and reenter at will. THEN, they found out about the 7th...
Two days ago, A signal for help was sent from the Observatory demiplane that seperates the prime. By the time help arrived, the gatekeepers were all dead, from various means. Shredded, burnt, beheaded, dismembered, electrocuted, disintegrated, some dead from old age... Any possible way death could happen had happened on that demiplane. THAT, in the end, was the only break they got though, because one of the members died of slow bleeding, and before he went, managed to inscribe a message telling what had happened. They had finally managed to track down the 7th man, discovering who he was, what their plan was, and finally.. how to stop them. Unfortunately, the 7th discovered them and slaughtered them.
Here was the final message from the Observatory, recorded in a memory crystal (Magical equivalent of a dvd that can record a message then play it back using illusions):
"I haven't much time, I'll be dead in a few minutes. We've found out a lot.. it's worse than we thought. They've broken the Ban, they had help.. we dont know who, but it was one of the greater gods. maybe more than one.. They're destroying the balance in there, looking for something, some obelisk they think will grant them untold powers. Our archives show that this obelisk is the reason legendary power first happened on the Prime, and the reason the original Gatekeepers locked it away from Legendary powers. Nothing else is known of it nor was it's location recorded. We believe this 7th man, the 'Master', has managed to harness some of it's power without even finding it.. He seems to be able to make anything he says happen without even channeling magic. He looked at Edward, said "Die", and Edward did. No magic gathered, no spell cast, Edwards wards didn't protect him a damn. This man ransacked all of our information, and then shouted "Die a thousand different ways", and people started dropping.. Guess I'm ....the lucky ..... one." The man stops and his head falls backwards.. a few seconds later he coughs and struggles back up, lifting the memory crystal closer so you can hear his weak words. "There's still a chance. We found... information to... stop them... I destroyed it so he wouldn't know. There's a Foretelling of heroes bearing Marks on their wrist. They can enter the Prime. There's an old man there, he'll find you, he'll.... he'll know what to.." At this point, the man slumps back, dead. Beside him, drawn in his blood, was a picture... a mark. The same mark that appears on each of the PC's Wrists. It appears to be a written symbol in an ancient language, though no magic or linguist has ever been able to decipher it. It has appeared seemingly at random on people since the Ban.. never more than a dozen at a time, and they all seemed to gain power exponentially until dieing of seemingly freak accidents.
Other Epic's have allready tried to get through the gate, but it seems even without the Gatekeepers the ban is holding them out. This hasn't stopped hundreds of demons and devils and would be.. 'entrepreneurs' from swarming the place, though, attempting to reenter the material plane. An Interplanar comitee of Demigods, Legends, Dragons, and Angels has invited you all to the Observatory, told you everything outlined here, and are now asking for your help. There are currently several 'marked' individuals in the room. Some of you know each other personally, all of you know 'of' each other, because the Marked are like celebrity's.
