The Raven and the Dragon

Prologue

It is a fact of life that everything ends.

This is one of the few things the peoples of the world can agree on. All shall die; kingdoms shall fall; the world will one day end. Those who follow the old ways worship a deity devoted to this idea; those who follow the new live with the understanding that their judgment could come at any time. Knowing this does not mean that people are truly ready for their end to come. It almost inevitably catches them off-guard.

Here is an example.

His Majesty, King Regnant Robert Byrne of the Raven Isle, Dwarf-Friend and Master of the King's Peak was a man aware of his own morality. He tried to live with as few regrets as possible. He planned for the future of his kingdom and his family. He lived his life as though his end were just around the corner. But he did not expect to round that corner on the day of the Midsummer Festival. He woke up; he prepared for his day; he went out with his daughter, wife, and a few members of his court to be among his people.And, while he was out, he was shot through the eye with an arrow.

His death came almost instantly. He did not know the moment he was preparing for one way or another would come so swiftly, and leave so much chaos in its wake. The arrow that killed him, you see, was just the first of many—the first shot fired in a coup lead by Lord Reardon of the Green Isle. The palace was overrun; those members of the court who survived were forced to flee to the mountain stronghold of King's Peak. So well-organized was the coup that they found themselves trapped there, unable to flee even by means of magic. The Kingdom of the Raven Isle was taken. And it seemed that no help was coming.

After three days in the mountains, two lone figures risked the journey down its most treacherous slope to reach the shores of the island and take a small boat to the mainland. All they had to fuel them was the hope that they would find help on the other side, and the burning desire to avenge the death of a man who had cared for each of them in different ways.

But this is not where our story truly begins.

This is merely context; necessary, but not the beginning. Our story truly begins, as the best ones do, in a tavern: the Parliament of Griffins. It is here that Botan Dhyr, Mage of the Court of Ravens and a man in exile, is seeking a guide. But not just any guide; he is seeking the best guide in the High Kingdom, perhaps the best in all the land.

The answer to all of his prayers could be on the other side of the door. Or perhaps, his doom.

This is where we begin.