Plots Afoot

The very last day of the preliminaries, the Sacred Tree Empire had finally arrived at the Azuresnow Shrine. Word had already spread of Richard’s identity just the day before, making it widely known that the mage Mountainsea had chosen was back in Klandor to claim her and a more venerable warrior than any of them could ever have imagined.

The rear of the Azuresnow Shrine housed dozens upon dozens of beautiful stone houses that could accommodate nearly ten thousand people if needed, but many noteworthy names of Klandor that should have been present here were not. Balibali, Umur, Heisa, and Ramazoya had all abstained from coming to the sacred ceremony at all. The sixteen recommendations from the Council of Elders had already been revealed, but...