[center][b]Otocres, The Kingdom of Osentia[/b][/center]

“Any response yet?” Kerwyn Glas asked as he gazed towards the port city his ships were currently near.

“Not yet Cap’n” One of his crew answered. They had used flags to communicate their intent to enter port a few minutes ago and were eager to unload their goods. Kerwyn had been concerned that they wouldn’t be granted access on account of being unknown to these lands or that they would use the wrong signals. That seemed unlikely given the source of his info however. After a moment the crewman stated “There’s their response. We’ve been given permission.”

“Alright then. Put her into port.” On his order the three hulks Kerwyn commanded gilded towards the port. The crews of the three ships were already offloading their cargo before the port officials approached.

“Gentlemen!” Kerwyn said as the Osentian officials approached his ship. “How can I help you?”

“Just a routine inspection.” One of the Osentian officials stated. 

“Of course. Feel free to check any of the cargo we’ve unloaded.” Kerwyn responded.

“Where are you from?” Another official asked. “I don’t recognize your flag.”

“We hail from Yattunys. Its… far in the east.” Kerwyn answered. The official raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment further.

“What’s your cargo?”

“Food. Mostly fruits and vegetables, but also some meat.”

“Fruits and vegetables? Where’d you bring them from?”

“Why” Kerwyn answered, “Yattunys of course.”

“You trying to sell us rotten food?!” The official demanded.

“Of course not!” Kerwyn looked and sounded truly offended. “We ship only the freshest food!”

“How could they possibly be fresh if they came all the way from the East?” The officially pressed.

“Ah.” Kerwyn said. “I forgot that Askor was… backwards. We have very skilled mages who have come up with ways of preserving food. Now I’ve got three ships here with holds full of food and another five following shortly behind. It is my clients’ intent to open a permanent trade route with Askor, either in your country or somewhere else. I don’t suppose there would be a market for food, both mundane and exotic, here?”

[center][b]Somewhere near the Southern Border, Utrye[/b][/center]

The ground shuddered as if a Primordial had gripped Askor and was shaking it with all of its might. Colum yelped in fear and curled up into a ball as nearby trees toppled and great tears opened into the ground. It seemed like the Primordial’s fury would never cease. But then it did. Colum remained on the ground for an hour after the shaking had ceased, fearing it would begin again the moment he stood up. Finally he gathered the courage to rise to his feet and survey his surroundings. It almost looked like he was in a different place entirely.

Great rifts in the ground formed miniature canyons and what looked like half of the trees in the forest he had been in had toppled over. The area was utterly silent, all the animals having fled or still in hiding. And strangest of all… all of the smaller plants in the area were dead. It looked almost as if they had been dead for tendays, yet just an hour ago the area had been full of life.

And then Colum heard a ringing sound. He looked around, trying to find the sound. He didn’t immediately see anything that could make the sound, so after a few minutes began wandering around to see if he could trace it back to its source. The sound led him to one of the newly formed rifts in the ground.

He looked down into the rift and saw… something. Was that a shrine? He couldn’t tell. And for some reason simply looking at it gave him a headache and filled him with dread. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his bones. He… needed to go. Now.

The snapping of a twig behind him had him spinning around and what he saw made him scream.

[center][b]Levine, The Argentum Knights[/b][/center]

“We must prepare for the coming war!”

Lord Champion Niephaus let out a long sigh as he listened to the same debate for what felt like the thousandth time that day. Why did people insist on saying the same things over and over again? Perhaps it was time for him to step in.

“What makes you think a war is coming?” Niephaus asked the man who had spoken earlier. He kept forgetting the man’s name and only remembered him as being a priest from Lynnfaire. Lynnfairen Argenists taking part in the General Chapter were rare, but certainly not unheard of.

“The Prophetess used her last words to warn us about an inevitable invasion from the East!” The Lynnfairen priest answered.

“I’m afraid that is incorrect.” Neiphaus said. “She used her last words not to warn us of an invasion, but to implore us to treat those who are to save the continent like the heroes they will be.” The Lynnfairen opened his mouth to speak, but Neiphaus continued on. “And I quote: [i]Askor shall suffer through two decades of war before the East brings an even greater conflict. I pray that the heroes that rise in that distant future to save the continent are not subjected to the same terrible treatment as I.[/i]” He paused for a moment before continuing “She stated that the East would bring a greater conflict, but she said nothing about an invasion.”

“What could she have been talking about if not an invasion?” The Lynnfairen asked.

“Perhaps she meant that a disease would spread from the East. Maybe some sort of cultural change from the East is destined to cause widespread strife in our lands. I do not know. What I do know is she did not definitively state an invasion would occur, thus we can not assume that is what she meant.”

“My lords and ladies” Neiphaus looked at each person present in turn. “We must be prepared for anything. Already we can see how fragile the countries of Askor have become. Look at Lynnfaire and Osetina: one in the middle of a bloody civil war and the other suffering from famines. We must be prepared for similar things to occur around the continent. And we must be prepared.”

“It's a pity the Prophetess was… imprecise about the exact timing of this conflict. For all we know it could be another decade before it begins.” One of the local priests said.

“Indeed.” Neiphaus nodded. “We can only speculate on why the Prophetess did not give us an exact date and tell us exactly what form this conflict would take. But I believe that she is testing the people of Askor and we all know she would never give us a test we were incapable of passing.”

[hider][@Monkeypants][@Crispy Octopus] Alright you two are the ones hit by the most recent events. These will be more involved for my part. We can do a few back and forth posts and a collab, whichever works for you.[/hider]