Galan: I ran here so fast, my tattoos disappeared!
Zehir: You look tired. Come, let’s get some rest and food first.
Galan: No time for food. This is urgent. I’ve been sent by Tieru and Findan to bring you the latest news!
Narxes: Tieru? Amateur…
Zehir: Ignore Narxes. He’s bitter I was promoted to a higher position whilst not having done any extra work. Now tell us what’s on your mind.
Galan: Here’s everything I know… Tieru… Queen Isabel… Kha-Beleth… Demon Messiah… the scroll… etc.
Zehir: This all makes sense to me. But what I’m sensing is that Markal’s armies are currently stretched too thin. How can he simultaneously hold three kingdoms and not expect a little opposition? Call the battle mages, Narxes! It’s time to take back the Silver Cities!
Narxes: Umm… there are no such units as battle mages.
Zehir: Oh, maybe a future expansion then.
Galan: What about me? What should I do now?
Zehir: I dunno. Fade into obscurity?
Orson: I sense a wizard uprising. We should be prepared, dark mistress.
Lucretia: Guard the cities. We must not allow them to be retaken at any cost after what happened in Irollan.
Orson: What of Al Safir? Markal was unable to curse the city properly, so we must contend with wizard troops of significantly decreased morale.
Lucretia: Arm yourself with spectral dragons. We’ll make this one battle the wizards shall not soon forget.
Zehir: I think I’ll free all the cities, even the boring ones. And then I’ll upgrade the mage guilds to their highest levels so that I may understand every spell.
Narxes: Unbelievable. How do you not know every spell already? I learned this stuff years ago!
Zehir: Narxes, are you still going on about that?
Orson: Ah, the invasion begins.
Zehir: Do you like my elephant?
Orson: Luckily, Markal left more than enough troops to crush your rag-tag team of gremlins and gargoyles.
Zehir: Oh right. How about this?
Phoenix: *flame flame*
Orson: I was tricked! Nooooooooo…
Lucretia: This does not bode well for the necromancers. Funny how some chapters can chronicle the rise and fall of an entire kingdom while others involve nothing more than putting down a peasant rebellion or traveling through a tunnel.
Zehir: Oh hi! I have a phoenix.
Phoenix: *flame flame*
Lucretia: Tell my sister I love her… *immolates*
Zehir: And so, all the cities have been retaken. Only the second chapter and I’ve already undone half of Markal’s evil deeds.
Narxes: How shall we turn these gothic spires and gravestones back into floating domes and pavilions? Our contractor is going to charge us a fortune.
Zehir: We’re wizards. Isn’t there a spell for that kind of thing?
Narxes: And what shall we do with Lorekeep? Your father dismantled it decades ago, but Markal restored it in recent days.
Zehir: I’ll leave that up to you. But we should definitely change its name to something that’s less obviously a hub of forbidden knowledge.
