Lord Sebastian took charge as the new mayor of Aranor with Aurelia at his side as his chief aide. The town was now firmly under Lord Sebastian’s command, but he still could not make any major civil or military decisions without the support of the three noble houses.After the Great Rebellion, during which the commoners sought to overthrow the landed gentry, the king was compelled to make several changes to the administrative setup. The old feudal system of government with the king as the head and the nobles under this command had worked fairly well for over five centuries. But now, Valaria had adopted a pseudo-democratic form of government. Even though the nobles retained their positions, the administrative officials were now chosen through elections.However, since the nobility still held on to their lands and titles, they exercised considerable power over the cities and towns, and not even the mayors and ministers had the authority to pass new regulations and decrees without consult
Magaravia, the capital of the Valaria, was six hundred miles away from Aranor, and the only way anyone could get any messages delivered from that far was by using teleportation portals or avian familiars. The Red-tailed Falcon which had brought them the scroll with the royal seal was also one such familiar spirit summoned by the court mage. After delivering the message, the bird disappeared into a wisp of red smoke, leaving behind a tuft of spotted red feathers.Lord Sebastian split the seal with a paper-knife and unfurled the scroll. It contained a message straight from the Chief Gunner of Magaravia.With quick and impatient eyes, Lord Sebastian read the note, and as he reached the end, his brow furrowed, and beads of sweat gathered on his forehead. “What does it say?” Lord Wilhelm enquired.Handing the scroll to Aurelia, Lord Sebastian replied, “The mining villages near the capital were attacked by wyverns last night. Fifty people have been killed and thirty injured. The Imperial M
The alarming news from the Capital put everyone on their toes. The appearance of a Fell Dragon was a sign of the changing times and the terrible things to come.So far, Lord Sebastian had not received any new reports from Count Gressil, which meant that his forces had either not found anything interesting at the ruined shrine of Zepheroth or their attack had been thwarted by the cultists.The undead threat had become too great to ignore after the Dewdale infestation. And things became even more distressful after the wyvern sighting over Ashgrove.Everyone was now looking up to Lord Sebastian to decide what approach Aranor would adopt to deal with the undead threat.“Now that Magaravia’s concerns have been addressed, we should focus on our own town,” Lord Wilhelm said, breaking the tense silence in the room.Lord Sebastian nodded. “Since Jasenki and Iraka spotted an Undead Wyvern flying over Ashgrove, it is enough reason to believe the undead forces are growing stronger by the minute, a
The town guards were split into two groups. The crossbowmen were tasked with guarding the walls and manning the watch towers while the ones armed with swords and spears were sent on patrol duty.As the night drew its dark blanket over the skies of Aranor, the moon disappeared behind a veil of oppressive gray clouds, and the stars dimmed like dying fireflies.Lester was initially averse to the idea of sending his adventurers out at this late hour, but on Lord Wilhelm’s request, he made an exception, allowing the new recruits to carry out the task.The amateur adventurers had joined the guild with high hopes, but apart from participating in a few dungeon raids, they had never been permitted to do anything worth commending. Thus, when Lester ordered them to go on a scouting mission, they accepted without hesitation.The southern borders of Aranor were protected by the lofty green mountains, and the town’s eastern borders were guarded by the Soreta River. This left only the western and nor
The loud pealing of the brass bells warned the townsfolk and alerted all the Gunners and patrolling guards. People shut themselves up inside their homes, closing off all doors and windows.The merfolk followed their natural instincts and dived into the river to seek refuge in its murky depths. They deemed hiding inside the river a much safer option than cowering inside their shoddy bamboo huts.Meanwhile, the dwarves retreated deep inside the coal mines and barred the entrance with wooden planks. Ivan had already been preparing for such a situation for months by building underground tunnels through which they might escape in the event of an attack.Hearing the bells, Lord Sebastian ordered the Gunners to reinforce the northern and western gates. Aurelia climbed down from the watch tower and reported to her father at once.“What are your orders?” she asked.“We should focus purely on defense for now,” Lord Sebastian replied. “The walls of Aranor will hold against a few skeletons and ne
Lord Sebastian inhaled sharply and held his breath. He waited for the Slasher leading the charge to get close, and as soon as it was within range, he fired his weapon.Crack! Shriek!A plume of red smoke escaped from the enchanted musket’s muzzle as a burning phoenix screeched out of the gun and struck the Slasher, setting it ablaze. As the flames ravaged its body, it burned down to a lumpy mass of flesh and bones.“Mark! Pick your targets!” Lord Sebastian yelled out his command before reloading his rifle.Jasenki and Iraka obeyed at once, pulling back their triggers.Bang! Bang!The two enchanted bullets fired from their blunderbuss rifles struck the ground, exploding upon impact. Each blast took out over a dozen ghouls, ripping them to pieces and scattering their bloody limbs all over the road.Lord Sebastian noticed two more Slashers advancing down the road and quickly reloaded his gun with a different enchanted bullet. This time, he flew even higher into the sky before aiming for
Ezra could not believe what he was hearing. He knew that Ramel detested him with all his soul, but he never expected him to join hands with the Lord of Decay. “You look like you have seen a ghost, brother,” Ramel quipped, his voice dreary and cold. “You are a Romanov. How could you join the cultists,” Ezra retorted. “The people of Aranor think of you as a hero. You are the knight everyone used to look up to.”Ramel heaved a long sigh and looked up at the dark sky. “All those praises mean nothing to me. I now bask in the glory of the Lord of Decay. His light has freed me from my human limitations and exalted me to a new level.”“What about father? Do you think he will accept you into the family after he finds out what you have become?” Ezra asked.Ramel smiled at this remark. “Which father are you talking about? The one who threw me out of our house? Or is it the weak man who always prefers to bow his head to solve disputes? Perhaps you speak of that man who raised a pathetic orphan a
The situation looked dire for Ezra, but he wasn’t the same boy Ramel had tried to kill inside the training dungeon. He was a D-level Gunner now and had plenty of tricks up his sleeves.“Kill him!” Ramel commanded, pointing at Ezra.The Corrupted Spiderlings scampered across the road, but Ezra held his ground.“Let’s hope crafting you was worth the trouble.” Ezra pointed his weapon’s nozzle toward the enemy and pulled the trigger. The dragon’s eyes lit up as Ezra held the trigger down. Then suddenly, a torrent of searing red flames gushed out of the steel nozzle and flooded the road, setting the spiderlings ablaze.“I think I am in love with you!” Ezra moved forward, pushing the enemy back. The spiderlings tried to flank him from the sides, but he quickly turned his weapon around, re-directing the flame to cleanse his path.Ramel’s eyes widened in disbelief as he watched Ezra exterminate the swarm of Corrupted Spiderlings. It was all too easy for him since the cleansing flames spread a