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Fractured after the death of Emperor Elias Barbados, the Empire is nothing but a remnant of what it once was. Most of the former principalties of the Empire are happy to just be independent, while a few stay loyal to Empress Elisabetta Barbados, the Child Empress. However the principalties of Togarini, Remo and Bellafonte now openly oppose the Empire. Known today as the Azure Alliance, the tensions between them and the Empire have forced troops to move towards the border, and new members of the Order of Heavens are being moved throughout the Empire to maintain order, defend fortresses and fight bandits.
One such group is stationed on fort Balthus and led by captain Pracus, Knight of the Third Heaven. When Captain Prascus is called back to Arkangel, capital of the Empire, the group is left to fight the bandints in the vicinity. The Knights are Saresh, the last son of a noble man, Kautof, a swordsman from the eastern lands, Christoph, a young man expert in the arts of healing, Varion, a former mercenary from the continent of Eurakia, and Hix, a mysterious man gifted with dark magic.
After defending the valley from bandits and meeting Rooster and Captain Federico, a bizarre duo that lived in the mountains, a young Knight of the Third Heaven arrives to the valley. She is Kya Frey, their new commander, sent from Arkangel. She arrives just as Rooster and Federico discover that the bandits' weapons had been supplied by House Daorland, the ruling house of the Principalty of Galgados, one of the few principalties that remained loyal to the Empress. Not only that, but a letter reveals that the bandits were going to meet their leader on a valley leading to Galgados.
The Knights march north, to find out who the bandit leader is, and why an Imperial family is supplying them with weapons. Under the orders of Commander Kya Frey, the arrive to the valley of Tronitrua, where the bandits were going to meet their leader. There they found that the leader of the rebels was a man known as Lambrose. Joined by Klasha, a bandit whose friends had been killed by Lambrose and his men, and by Seraphim, a wizard of ancient times whose soul was now trapped inside a suit of armor and who had just awoken in Castle Tronitrua, they forced Lambrose to flee.
It was only after the battle ended that Seraphim realized he had been sleeping for over seven hundred years, and that his soul had been trapped into an armor. Only after seeing that the armor had truly been a gift from Zhorne Giovanni, founder of the Empire, did the Knights believe his story. And just as this was happening, Aura and Salvador, two of Marina Daorland's most trusted men, met the group. They had been going after Lambrose too, and they were met with some dark news.
Searching the bandit's bodies, they found that they were actually soldiers of the Azure Alliance. This could only meant that a war against the Alliance was near. Advised by Rooster and Federico, Kya decides to take his group north, to Galgados. From there, they would send a message to Arkangel. They also had to find out why the Daorlands had been giving weapons to soldiers of the Azure Alliance. At least one of the Daorlands was a traitor. And they had to find out which one.
The group moved to Hecate, Galgados' capital. There they met Marcial, a member of the Fifth Heaven. With his help and the help of Marina Daorland, they uncovered the plot of the Alliance. Frederick Daorland, the youngest of the Daorlands, had allied with the Alliance.. In return for giving him the throne of Galgados, he would support the Alliance in his war against the Empire. Marina Daorland, his sister, had suspected this, and offered her help to the Knights.
In order to organize a meeting with Frederick, they took advantage of Kya's status. Unknown to her comrades, Kya Frey was, through her mother, cousin to both the Empress and the last member of the Giovanni family, Prince Lucanor of Lucrecio. As neither of them have any children, she is their heiress. Using her high status, they forced Frederick to organize a reception in her honor. Although the reception was an obvious trap, the Knights were planning on finding something on Frederick's house that would show his treason.
They didn't need much, though, for they were shown that he had killed his own brother and reanimated him using dark sorceries and he had allied with the Alliance. In fact, Matthew Gaul, the de facto leader of the Alliance, had sent one of his most trusted men, Arbiter Aizen, to help Frederick. Frederick and Aizen fled Hecate, and a third party was revealed when some mysterious men came out of nowhere to help Marina and disappeared just as quickly when there was no danger.
It was then when the group met the Knight of the Seventh Heaven Lilith, one of the Empress' Praetorians. She spoke with Kya of the grim future that the Empire faced now. Even though the Empire's armies where greater than those of the Alliance, the Empire forces were spread thin, and they had no chance. At least not alone. Kya would have to travel the world in search of allies for the Empire. Saya Fenrich, a Knight that had helped Lilith arrive to Hecate, as well as some of Kya's men and women, volunteered to go with her.
They are, in their own way, the last hope of the Empire. May God and the Empress' blessing be with them.
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Topic: Knights of the Empire (FEF IC) Chapter III: More than meets the eye (Read 27811 times)