Several ages ago, mankind stumbled across something. They managed to slice a way into another world. Once they had learned this trick, they repeated it. They managed to connect Earth to several other worlds. These worlds held wonders previously unseen, and new races of beings. For generations mankind walked between these worlds, and the races interacted. These times are the source of much of humanities mythology and folklore. Elves, Dwarves, dragons and a magical field all existed around man.

There were troubles.

The troubles are documented elsewhere. Mankind never had much power in these worlds but they were incessantly curious, they prodded and poked around everywhere. Not all the races got on with each other, their cultures were very different.

Mankind poked the wrong thing though, evil was awoken, and it spread through the linked worlds, destroying and laying waste everywhere it went. It took the combined efforts of all the races to banish this plague and close it off from the rest of the universe.

The last, desperate, act of this enemy was to block mankind's link to the field. The gateways were shut, and the races were cut off from each other.

Mankind continued to develop on their own, alone on earth, their link to the field blocked. The knowledge of the time spent linked with other planets was destroyed, but the mind plays tricks and the information leaked back in the form of stories and myths.

Now mankind has a new form of gateway, the portal network. And they have been noticed.

Edit!

Q8 = haily (I mades a typo)

Q2P1 hint sluicing is a word

Hour and a half left!!!! Q3P2 I fudged. What should be one word is two :)