Episode 16: King’s Insight

Etheria and Lyre were once warring nations. My grandfather and my father rarely looked each other in the eye. They never agreed on the war. Father wanted to change the way Lyre was viewed by the world. It took him many years to undo what grandfather had basically inscribed upon the land, that Lyre was a powerful nation that none could oppose. Those years were the worst of our time. It is, perhaps, fitting that the Lightbringers rose to power. We used dark magic for our own purposes. Grandfather was a dark mage with a lot of influence. He used this to put all dark magic above others. Unlike the church he wanted to enslave and control. It was his decree that Etheria would be the first to fall into his rule. Father opposed him as he could by keeping a majority of the people loyal to him safe from harm. Grandfather fell in battle, but the legacy remained. As I mentioned before, father had to spend years upon years establishing reforms, new laws and extending his hand to help rebuild Etheria. I was resentful when he died. Some unknown soldier, who had a deep seated hatred for Lyre, killed him when he was returning from a diplomatic journey. It eventually fell to me to complete his work. In time my own ideas, as well as many that I discussed with him and mother, were implemented. Peace was achieved and trade quickly established. When it was my time to ascend to the throne, after mother’s passing Lyre was a stronger nation, even more than when grandfather was the leader. I reminisce on the past, looking at the current events. Before me is the signed treaty between Lyre and Etheria. An alliance of the two strongest nations of the world, to face off against the forces of what we believe is a madman.

We settled on building a small fleet to move our troops across the Vadal Ocean. First we eradicate the Lightbringers here, whose numbers grow smaller by the day. Our combined efforts would surely bring an end to those accursed battalions that have affected the peace we worked so hard to establish. Meanwhile, I have ordered Balthazar and his group to take the first ships to Daltrith. I trust that he can bring an end to the war. In order to help in that regard I have instructed the royal guard to take with them one of our treasures. A scepter that my grandfather kept hidden and would have been his way to ascend further had he not met his fate when he did. I have tried to study the item in question, but to no avail.

Repairs on the city have already begun. Our seers are keeping a close watch on the Lightbringers and the very Ether. Balthazar’s expertise on the this energy has proven to be extremely helpful in tracking the Lightbringers. He is worried about how the flows have changed. His last report on the Ether tower was not encouraging. I worry that our crops will fail, that the streams will run dry and that the winds will stop carrying rainclouds. Our lives are tied to the Ether, this much I am aware of. I just hope they can find a solution to those magical problems or we will find ourselves in a problem far worse than the Cyrithian Church.