Hundreds of years ago, when Baghdad fell to the forces of Hulagu Kahn, the Caliph and the Librarians of Dar al-Hikma captured the sum total of knowledge of world culture contained within their tomes and instilled this information into ninety-nine gemstones which had been crafted to absorb the very light of reason.

Under great duress, they smuggled the Noor Stones out of Baghdad, taking them to Andalusia, where they were used as the centerpiece for a great, hidden, Fortress of Knowledge.

The Fortress was lost to a consuming fire when one of its caretakers, Rughal, tried to absorb all the information contained in the Noor Stones into himself. Rughal apparently died in the resulting explosion. The gemstones were removed from the destroyed fortress, scattered to the four corners of the world and subsequently lost to time and tide. Rumors of their existence persisted, and today… they have been found…