Act I – All Hail the Liberation

The Republic of Arcos has stood firm in unifying the many scattered peoples of the subcontinent for almost 150 years now, ever since the death of the Sorcerer King and all his family – and the accompanying end of magic in the world – toppled the ancient kingdom which had preceded it. As the Republic enters year 151, on the surface it seems stronger and more united than it has ever been, with an unbroken hold over all the lands of Arcos from the icy peaks of the Rim in the south to the wastes of the White Desert in the north.

But this seeming golden age is a mirage.

Barbarian raiders from the inhospitable and far-flung desert kingdom of Dasianus cross over Arcos’ borders regularly from the north, pillaging what they can before disappearing back into the burning sands.

On the great isles of Katal, uprisings of the unlanded have become a seeming matter of course, and though they have till now easily been put down, hints of a wider revolt threaten from the shadows.

Deep in the prosperous heartlands, partisan bickering between the landed elite has crossed the line from words to daggers in the dark, and none knows how far it might escalate.

And then, of course, there is you.

You have discovered within yourself, quite by accident and with no notion how this has happened, the capacity for the Magic so long thought dead in the world. The Republic fears this burgeoning power almost as much as it desires to possess it, and so has heaped honors upon you. You have been given an officer’s commission in the Model Army, and a minor command in the northern province of Dasos where you might do the most good – or at least be kept the most under thumb.

Whether or not you wanted such honors is entirely beside the point. It is, of course, every citizen’s duty to serve his Republic.

Your future has never seemed more uncertain. What do your powers mean? How far will they grow? And will you survive long enough to learn any of the answers?