Rampant Memory Of Klaus: Trading ships from off-continent are an incredibly rare occurrence on Terravest and thusly often ferry expensive, exquisite goods that are coveted by much of the inland people's.

Spices and tropical crops can only survive growing on Terravest with the power of magic so the few traders that manage to supply the land with these precious resources are well rewarded for their efforts. However, piracy is rampant in this part of the world and the mainlanders do not truly care enough about the merchants to protect them. In fact, most will buy what they want from the local pirates at a discount rather than barter with foreign traders.

The people of Terravest do not produce many merchants of their own, especially not the kind that travels the world to sell their goods, so while much wealth enters the continent, not much is able to leave it. This has caused several ultra-rich families to build their own city states at the inner coasts of the Worldwound mountain range.

Most view this assortment of merchant cities as a nation of their own and even the people reffer to themselves as the Woundians, but the reality of it is that each of these cities is a nation if it's own, governed by entirely different laws and entirely the same type of supremely opportunistic merchant dynasty.

When banded against a common enemy, they may be called a proto merchant republic, much the same way as medieval Venice or Ragusa, but with the many rulling merchant families being replaced with one dynasty and it's branches.

The following day... - Standard storytelling pov...

Much has changed in the kingdom of Exuperia during the last week. Since the death of the previous regent and the ascension of the former Prince Klaus as king.

Already, there are many, many rumors being spread around, both by the nobility as well as the peasants.

Rumors of Klaus' loss of memory has inspired many to action. While much of the kingdoms nobles are decidedly using this situation to greedily gleam more power for themselves, there are those who have risen to the occasion and already made their way to the castle in order to reform their vows to the Exuperius dynasty and form an alliance with their new, estranged king.

This has resulted in a major shifts in power throughout the nation, as Klaus' new persona perffers very different people from his previous self.

Despite his many perceived physical and mental faults, Klaus has found many allies with the so-called knights faction due to the stories told by Sebastian. The strength he showed, even if magical in nature, as he broke the errant knights foot and the mercy that came with healing this same wound has inspired a massive amount of loyalty within the honorbound, causing many to come and meet Klaus in person instead of believing rumors and tall tales.

Thankfully, after the seventh aspiring knight assaulted him for seemingly no reason, Klaus realised that it was little more than posturing and a show of dominance, causing him to only disable the Knights temporarily and not deal wounds requiring healing, though that did serve to expose some incredible wills as the young fighters ignored terrible suffering in an effort to prove themselves and gain prestige.

Though much of the nobility has chosen to consolidate personal power, that alone does not make them the new kings enemies and many have come together to form a neutrality faction, seeking to evade conflict with all sides as well protect their own interests during these uncertain times.

There are a few who tell tales of gathering armies in the south, of the lands bordering the Greymarch desert becoming hotspots of insurgents and rebel activity, though it is not yet known if the King has reacted to this in any way, shape or form.

The peasantry has been whipped up into an equavilent frenzy, due to these events providing equal strife and opportunity.

Generally, the people have been made to believe that the new King is a mad demon possessing the body of a human and that the real prince died during his awakening ritual, having been assassinated and replaced by the mages of the North. The seeming friendliness shown by the Grand Wizard and the King in recent days has only brought further credence to this rumor for the ignorant public.

However, a slew of recent administrative choices has made some believe that the king has a more stewardly mindset than his previous self, as many new laws have been enacted to ease the flow of trade throughout the nation,much to the immense dismay of the nobles in general as several venues of taxation have been destroyed by those same new laws.

Merchant guilds from all over the nation are scrambling together to find a good representative for themselves in their kings court, though news tell of many conflicting interests and the inability of these would-be aristocrats to arrive at any form of sensible, unanimous decision.

Regardless of all these groups and their spurs of sudden activity, the truth is that it is very difficult, if not outright impossible for the common man to discover and understand the truth of the matter. Because of this, a large number of the peasantry are traveling inland in the direction of the nation's capital in order to petition the king to address the nation as a whole and give them a speech to repel all of the potential misunderstandings and misconceptions.

Klaus, for his part, has been largely lethargic about the entire ordeal, decidedly shoving responsibility on others and forcing them to deal with his duties under the guise it being a kings duty to seek out the talented among his subjects, preffering instead to focus on the construction of his laboratory, the main sections of which already have their bare, skeleton frames in place.

In addition, the king has ordered the organisation of several diplomatic caravans or escorted envoys, to be assembled and sent to every corner of the continent, offering a rather ludicrous sum for the job, causing many people of all social strata to question his intentions but also buying Klaus much favor with the church of Rhothmir.

The news of this diplomatic mission has caused the church to come forward with an offer of aid, wishing to send it's own paladins and priests to aid the dignitaries. At first, Klaus denied this offer of help, but after some convincing from Truth, a promise of monetary aid and the proclamation of the mission to be divine in nature, he relented to the Avatars persuasive language.

Still, apart from the Church and some choice merchant guilds, there are not many who are all too pleased with these news. Slavery is popular and nearly ninety percent of other species within Exuperius are in chains, the bordering counties are rampant breeding grounds for xenophobia as marauding dwarves pillage the east, dark elven pirates rake the south and orcish raiding parties descend onto onto the northern plains with every change of the seasons.

Some hope that this mission will bring about change for good. Others see it as a prelude for total war on all sides. Either way, all eyes are on the dignitaries and the king, ensuring that should they succeed, legendary status will be theirs to claim.

Royal Throneroom - Klaus' Point Of View...

"And that concludes the weekly status report, your majesty." A minor count dressed in rich purple silks bowed before me, breaking me out of my musings.

Nodding towards him and biting back a sigh, I waved my hand to shoo him away.

He was instantly replaced by another of my courtier's, a familiar dark elf by the name of Truth. "Your majesty." He addressed me with a bow, though it wasn't required of one of his status.

This wasn't done so much out of respect for me as it was in order to quell the hateful stares given to him by the rest of the court.

Unable to help myself, I grimaced visibly at his prone, bowing form. "Straighten your posture and speak, Truth. Though this is my court, you are an equal to me here, Avatar of Rhothmir."

The nobles turned their hatred towards me, allowing the poor elf some room to breathe. "Thank you for your concern, your majesty. Alas, I must refuse your offer."

He continued to bow as he spoke. "With that said, I've come to inform you that the enchantment for your crown has been decided and is well underway to its completion."

I nodded towards him and then towards Asmodeus. "I trust you have no problem with allowing the Grand Wizard to check the magics placed onto the crown before my coronation?"

Truth seemed to be displeased immensely by this, biting his lip in immediate frustration. "Could someone else do it instead, your majesty? We have nothing to hide, but I must admit that we of the church do not get along well with the mages of the north."

Humming loudly as I pondered this, I eventually figured that I could just have Vivian do it, so I nodded. "Very well. A personal retainer of mine is a decent enough magic user so she shall do so later today."

"She...?" Many voices muttered in confusion, Truth and Asmodeus included.

Aw, crap. Revealing a gender wasn't the right idea here. Then again, if rumors make it seem like I have a magical, secret mistress, it might work out in my favor.

Plus, Vivian herself is a potential candidate for becoming my Queen, though her current appearance and likely inability to give birth being her only current detriments.

"Yes, a she." I just chuckled at their antics and ignored their apparent concerns.

Katrin was the next to approach me. She seemed beaten up and had multiple wounds on her body as I felt a few pangs of guilt rush through my body. "Ugh... Your majesty." She bowed lightly, though it seemed to cause her great pain.

I rose my hand quickly. "Speak, Katrin."

She seemed to brighten up at the mention of her name, causing me to sigh as she instantly spoke with a lot more fervour than she should be capable of right how. "I come as a representative of the fallen marquis. The city of Hearkenhurst has been conquered by the Grand Wizards retainers, despite our best efforts to defend it. No foul play was detected by our side and all of the surviving knights have signed an admission of defeat and the marquis' family has been taken in by my father as a way to repent for having pushed the man into this conflict in the first place."

Asmodeus smirked as I turned towards him. "Then the city is yours to administer."

"And it shall be administered well, I assure you, your majesty!" His smirk did not falter as I felt an angry aura echoing from behind me.

As I turned my head, I noticed Katrins shaking, terrified form, with Sebastian staring her down menacingly. "... We would have never lost that city if I was part of the battle and not this bitch with a sword." He grimaced, offering a most hateful stare to his own sister.

"That may be true, Butcher Of The North. Thankfully, reality often does not work the way you would prefer!"

Butcher of the North? What a title.

The look on Sebastian's face is amazing too. He looks incredibly pleased.

Although, I suppose there's a good reason why he is here instead of his father to represent the Knights and stand on equal grounds with Asmodeus. "A fight between you two..." Trailing off with a smirk, I looked at the wizard and the knight before continuing. "Now that would be quite the spectacle, would it not?"

The two seemed to shake and shudder at the thought for a moment.

Asmodeus was the first to reply. "Normally, we always avoided fighting simply to preserve ourselves..."

"... but with your powers, you could heal our wounds and make the fight possible, fatso!" Sebastian finished for him with an ever more pleased expression.

But before I could reply, an immaculate tone of hate interrupted me, with Katrin staring at Sebastian with a gaze equavilently abhorrent as her brothers a few moments ago. "... Better if it was you?.. we would have won if it was you?..."

She charged forward, sending an enraged fist straight at her brother, which he blocked with his right palm. Hot steam seemed to be pouring out if the impact area as the two continued to state at each other in almost physical fury. "If you were to lead our knights... The people of the north would be impaled on spikes, prisoners castrated, women raped and children sold to the highest bidder! It is better to be a loser than to cause such abhorrent suffering!"

Her teeth were gritted and fists ready to pounce. "Better to be a loser...?"

Sebastian kicked her away from himself, causing her to drop onto the flood with reopened wounds.

"What you speak of, sister, are called spoils of war. Even the mages understand that much." Grimacing but nodding, Asmodeus seemed to agree with the knight, causing me to quirk an eyebrow.

Then he shook his head. "But to hear that it's better to be a loser than to win, from one of my own bloodline...." He turned towards me. "Your majesty. May I beg of you to restore my sister to full health? The duel with Asmodeus is very tempting..."

Then he turned towards his sister. "... How could I possibly attend him properly while my own family requires some good old fashioned culling?"

I hummed in thought. "Sure. So long as Katrin approves of the duel."

"I give my consent! Use whatever black magics you need, your majesty. Just give me enough strength back to slaughter this bafoon!" Her fury caused the entire room to shake as I raised an eyebrow at her.

Truly, they were quite the pair of siblings. Turning towards Asmodeus, I asked. "I'm afraid that my recent experiments have left me out of mana. Would you care to supply it for this endeavour?"

He smirked and nodded. "A chance to observe the powers of the Knights and your own, my king? Why, I would be against myself to refuse such a splendid gift!"

With an infusion spell already forming in his hands, Asmodeus quickly refilled my mana pool and with the insertion of a crimson tendril into Katrin, I began my work, much to the horror of the rest of the court.

Horror, brought about by the woman's rapidly self-sewing flesh, as well as her echoing screams.

One could almost say that Sebastian himself winced due to it all. Though, if I have to be honest, I am fairly certain that the reason for him wincing lies with the amount of decibels released by his sister's throat and nothing to do with the horrors, or the imagined pain of her healing, even if he is fully aware of what I can do~.