Frogster made a big announcement for Runes of Magic fans at E3 today: "Chapter II — The Elven Prophecy" will launch in September. The new chapter will introduce elves as a playable race, add two new character classes, raise the level cap to 55, integrate a new pet system, and include a completely new soundtrack.

You actually don't have to wait until September to start enjoying the new content. In August, Frogster will begin integrating content packages from "The Elven Prophecy" into the game, which will add the new "Weeping Coast" region and raise the level cap to 52.

Since Runes of Magic is a free-to-play game, you'll be able to download Chapter II for free. Check out the new screenshots and trailer for "The Elven Prophecy" on the game's official Web site. More information can be found in the press release after the jump.

Berlin, 4.06.2009: Under the name of ‘The Elven Prophecy’, Frogster is to turn over a new leaf with Chapter II of Runes of Magic scheduled for launch in September 2009. The publisher has announced this today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) currently being held in Los Angeles. At the exhibition, Frogster is already showing some new content from Chapter II like the new game region “Weeping Coast”.

As the name already suggests, the core element of ‘Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy’ is the integration of the elven folk as a playable race. A widely branching background story entwines about the elves with lots of new challenges with the new pieces of lore being told by means of a multitude of new quests and epic quest series. Continuing ‘Chapter I – Rise of the Demon Lord’ the second chapter leads players into new game regions, steeped in elven history. It’s the eponymous elves who stand by mankind in their epic conflict against the demon’s menace.

According to the legends, demons of human origin – having degenerated into underworld beings under the influence of the runes – forged an alliance with the nagas in ancient times. Together, these evil forces brought war and devastation to the world of Taborea. An alliance of elves and humans succeeded in banishing the demons into the void and drove back the nagas behind a magical wall. However, when elven prince Sig’aylas removed the holy sword ‘Arclight’ from the wall to defend his human truelove, the wall perished and the naga threat flared up once again.

Together with the elves, ‘Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy’ introduces two new character classes into the world of Runes of Magic. They complement the palette of selection possibilities within the tactically interesting dual class system, creating further combinations to choose from. Advanced players will look forward to new challenges in the form of new demanding dungeons, raid instances and new PvP modes. As a consequence of the copious new game content, ‘Chapter II – the Elven Prophecy’ raises the level cap for all characters in Runes of Magic to 55.

Along with the expansion Frogster is also integrating a new pet system in the Taborea game world. Players will then have the opportunity to actively train their companions, so that they can mature and fulfil valuable supporting roles in combat situations. On top of all this, the game atmosphere in Runes of Magic will receive a thorough general overhaul. The new game regions will really shine, thanks to improved graphics with new effects and hand-drawn textures. Moreover, the renowned sound-studio Dynamedion is recording a completely new soundtrack for the launch of Chapter II. Just as with the base version of Runes of Magic and all of the subsequent updates, Frogster will offer ‘Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy’ as a free download.

Already in August, Frogster is going to integrate first content packages of ‘The Elven Prophecy’ like the new region “Weeping Coast” and raise the level cap to 52. The climax of Chapter II will follow with the official launch in September. “With the comprehensive Chapter II we will seamlessly linking in with our previous policy of regular content expansions for the Runes of Magic game world. And we will still be implementing regular content updates right up until we launch The Elven Prophecy,” Daniel Ullrich, Frogster’s Director Product Management, commented discussing the expansion plans.