EQ2 Lore: Are you ready for Ethernere?

From EverQuest2.com:

EverQuest II’s ninth expansion, Chains of Eternity™, will be taking adventurers to a realm never intended for living souls: Ethernere. What waits for them there? And what will happen to Norrathians as they cross the barrier between the living and the dead, a barrier that some seers argue never should have been breached?

Those questions and more will be answered when the expansion goes live! To prepare, let’s take a look at the story that’s unfolded from the sixth expansion, Sentinel’s Fate, to now…

• Roehn Theer, the ultimate arbiter, was banished to the Void. The Twin Swords of Destiny, which Roehn Theer used to keep balance, fell to the mortal realm as the Claymore and the Soulfire, which were used to found Qeynos and Freeport.
• Kerafyrm (in disguise) worked with adventurers to perfect the technique of enervation. When the heroes of Norrath confronted and defeated Rohen Theer, Kerafyrm used the opportunity to steal the power of Theer from the Swords of Destiny. However, this was all part of Kerafyrm’s plan! He stole the energy from the mortals and disappeared, holding the energy within him. With the powers of Theer, Kerafyrm can challenge the very gods of Norrath themselves, as he seeks to usher in a new, and everlasting, Age of Scale across Norrath.
• The god of war, Rallos Zek, enacted a plan to confront Kerafyrm in the fabled land of Velious. His actions, however, imperiled all of Norrath, and the heroes of the world had to enlist the help of his children, Vallon, Tallon, and Sullon Zek in order to defeat him.
• With Rallos Zek defeated, the Heroes of Norrath once again focused on the threat of Kerafyrm. They traveled to the legendary city of the Claws of Veeshan, Skyshrine, only to find it invaded by The Awakened – loyal followers of Kerafyrm. The adventurers helped the Claws of Veeshan reclaim their city, and began to collect the final pieces needed to defeat Kerafyrm once and for all.

But now, something strange and frightening is happening across Norrath. The spirits of the living are being violently torn from their bodies, leaving behind only lifeless husks. Worse, it seems to be occurring with ever-increasing frequency, leaving priests, scholars, and sages wondering if anything can be done to stop it.

In EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity, adventurers will travel to the realm known as Ethernere in their quest to stop the siphoning of souls from Norrath. Here, the heroes will fight to save not only the mortals of their world, but to prevent the collapse of the spirit worlds, and in doing so must discover what has become of the one who watches over Ethernere – Drinal, the Silver Reaper. They may yet find the answer lies not in fortunes and portents, but deep in Norrath’s past.

The fate of the living and the dead are in your hands, heroes! Are you up to the challenge before you?