Prologue

Matthias Juventus, honoured Regent of the Great Northern Kingdom was not what you would call a kind man. Many would tell you that he was a fantastic leader, indeed he was known as the best general in all of Terra Lucis, having won many a battle for the glory of the Great Northern Kingdom.

In his youth he trained to be a knight at the great city of Atlantea and very quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with. After his official knighthood he set off for the Barren Wastes, a desolate region to the west of the Northern Kingdom inhabited only by giants and feral dragons. Two years after he left to prove himself in the wastes Sir Matthias returned to the Northern Kingdom a hardened warrior. While most men would return from the Wastes broken and gnarled, Sir Matthias returned even stronger than before he had left. The desolate wastes had hardened his already tough heart and made him into a ruthless warrior with fantastic instincts and amazing insight.

Following his return to Atlantea and the Kings service, Sir Matthias quickly rose through the ranks of knights and became known as the best general in the entire land as he led armies to victory time and again. After saving the life of King Darcy XII and routing an army which outnumbered his own five to one, Sir Matthias Juventus became Regent Matthias and personal advisor to the King.

Barely five years after Sit Matthias saves his life, King Darcy had fallen deathly ill and for several months the Kingdom wavered on the precipice of revolution and outright war as the masses awaited the inevitable news of their Kings death. The rest of the world watched eagerly as the Great Northern Kingdom fell bit by bit into anarchy as Lords abandoned their duties across the Kingdom. The Southern Empire, the traditional enemy of the Northern Kingdom began to gear up for war and started raiding the Northern trade routes. Without a proper assurance of Royal approval generals and Lords across the Kingdom refused to strike back against the Southern Kingdom.

As the Kings health deteriorated bit by bit, power plays began behind closed doors. Alliances made and old debts called in, the relatives of the King began preparing for their bid to the throne. Due to the lack of heir it appeared that anyone in the large royal family could claim the throne. Barely days before the Kings death confirmation came that the Kings illness was unnatural. The healers claimed that it was the work of death magic and an attempt upon the Kings life. The Mages, Wizards and Priests did their best to prolong the Kings life and it seemed as if a recovery was even possible when one dark night five assassins crept into the Palace under the dark of night and sought to kill the King. Almost all of the Kings guard fell that night to the blades of the assassins.

Alerted in time, Sir Matthias rushed to the Kings sickbed and fought and killed three of the assassins by himself while the Palace guard now alerted to the attempt on the Kings life killed another and captured the last. Unfortunately the King had taken a knife blade straight to his stomach and even as his guard and loyal Knight and advisor defended him he began to bleed to death. With his last breath King Darcy XII named Sir Matthias Juventus his heir and extracted an oath from the man to avenge his death.

Chapter 1 »