The First Six Cursed
	As the story goes, there were six heroes from a land far away who,
in their ultimate grandeur managed to best the strongest demon there ever
was.  But as the demon laid its last breath upon their gloating faces, he
cursed them all to a land which never sees light, and is plagued with
creatures more fearsome than himself.  The curse brought the six heroes,
renowned for their courage, to a place more wild than a jungle.  The curse
brought them into the depths known as Dungeon World.  In the transfer
between the two worlds, the heroes changed.  An immense hero, a true giant
by human standards, stood little under seven feet.  He was greatly known
for his strength and physical prowess.  But in the transfer, he grew even
taller and stronger than he was before; stronger than any man in his former
land.  Unfortunately, he also developed a short temper, and seemed much
less intelligent than he was before.  He was the first to settle somewhere,
and he settled in the only caves that would permit him to enter.  These
caves were much bigger than his new twelve foot form and housed much open
space.
	The second man, a stout and hardy man, known for his ability to
forge weapons of excellent quality, as well for his ability to crawl through
caverns unscathed.  He was transformed into what is now called a dwarf.  He
became much stouter, fatter; he even grew a long beard of coarse untrimmed
hair.  His temper also became noticeably shorter, as his taste for beer and
mead visibly grew.  His dungeon crawling ability seemed to heighten as did
his ability to fashion weapons.  Indeed this was the time he created his
most formidable pieces of art.  In order to practice his newly refined
ability, he settled in a batch of caves furthest down among the chosen
caves, where abundant veins of iron, copper, and gold were located.
	The third was an evil man, bent on the conquest of the world he
used to live.  He kept this self hidden beneath a very strong cloak, but it
was still there.  The transformation made the hidden self come out, however,
and he quickly lost his friends to an evil ambition.  He slowly receded into
the caves below, bent on getting back at his former friends.  Only slightly
above the dwarf below him, he decided that the dwarf would be the first to
suffer his wrath.
	The three remaining heroes were women, who were married to the men
mentioned above.  In the transformation, they stayed with their mates,
changed like them in the same ways, and bore them children.  These first
six settlers of Dungeon World were the Adams and Eves of The Free Cities,
The Mixed Cities, and Stronghome of today.

The Last Six Cursed
	There was a period of time to pass before the next six were cursed
to that place of no light.  After the very beginnings of the Free Cities,
the Mixed Cities, and Stronghome, the next six were brought beneath and
changed in somewhat similar ways.
	The first two was hideous deformations of humans, and were likewise
transformed into creatures only bent for their own selves, and thus created
the goblinoids of the Goblin Cities, reproducing at horrifying rates that
no one could imagine.
	The second pair, was kind hearted royalty, and were inclined to
start their own place.  Little did they know that they were surrounded by
two very untrustworthy states, the Free Cities, and the Mixed Cities.  But
they were quick to befriend the dwarves of Stronghome, and were likewise
quick to build up an adequate defensive wall of sorts.  This was the
slowest growing civilization but it was well formed and expanded as it
needed to, very cautiously whenever it did.
	The last pair was a couple of horrifying people as well.  Not
human to begin with, these were separated on their transformation and
procreated through an uncertain and lost magical rite.  Thus formed the
Imperium of Salt and below them the Illithids of the Cratien Reapers.
They were constantly warring with each other, but eventually, over the
course of several millennia, they calmed down and settled into their
places, building up substantial standing armies.

The Beholder Wars
	Not too long after first settling the caves and caverns of the new
Dungeon World, the twelve cursed found what they feared most.  Just below
the Illithids of the Cratien Reapers, a startlingly complex network of
caverns formed a virtual maze.  The illithids explored as much as they
could, but were soon confronted by a number of the horrifying beholders.
Apparently caught in the midst of an intense battle, the illithids were
barely able to escape with their skins because another faction of beholders
came to oppose the first group.
	Although no one is quite sure how many different beholder clans
reside below the "civilized" areas, there have been several dozens of
different species catalogued by the illithids.  This information has
traveled in the form of rumors up into the main areas of the Dungeon, but
no one from above has managed to prove or disprove the existence of the
floating eyes.  Knowing the way the illithid mind works, most people are
skeptical to believe any rumors started by them.