Empty Throne

For the last four centuries, the Staalvari Empire has been a powerful, if tyrannical, nation in the south of the continent of Karth. The line of emperors, descended from the hero-god Torval, ruled with absolute power never questioned by the commoners, with three noble families beneath him. But now his reign has ended. When a professional assassin is hired to kill the emperor in hopes of giving the message of advancing flexibility between social classes, turmoil erupts throughout the empire. The emperor's son, Arnon, will not accept his father's place, and the three noble families vie for control of the empty throne. In the midst of this conflict, an even greater threat approaches from the north, something that the people of Staalvar have been fearing since the founding of the empire.