The Front Lines

After the Warning

2016

No longer known as Zothaniel the Betrayer, Reth Caedus has now assumed the title of a Dark Lord. 
If the master, Reth Maloch, is the embodiment of evil, the apprentice, Reth Caedus, is his dark will. 

A New Threat Rises 

Our noble 75th Ranger Regiment, headed by the brave Captain Titus, fight
valiantly to preserve the lands where the light of the King still prevails. This comes at no
small price; the Rangers must pay with their blood. They have held a perimeter to keep the
Dröch at bay and those within safe, but many outlying settlements have been over run.
A steady stream of those displaced by the ravages of war have come knocking on the doors of
Arcātheos seeking refuge. While the benevolence of the King is unbounded and all those who
knock find rest, many are worried that Arcātheos can no longer accommodate such an influx
of persons. Perhaps this is how the Dark Lord will bring Arcātheos to its knees, by slowly
bleeding them from the inside 

After another rare apparitional visit from the King, Lord Valerian was graced with a powerful
new spiritual gift. This did not come without great cost, for it is rumoured that he first
suffered greatly at the King’s will, in order to be found ready for this special grace. He says it
came as a warning, done as a mercy, to show him the state of his own soul before the King.
His closest friends say that it left him unable to be consoled for three days. Then, as if a
great fog had lifted, he received a singular mercy and has been on fire with great purpose
ever since. As demonstrated during last winter’s mission, Lord Valerian is now able to see into
the very heart of those around him, able to discern their intentions. He has called this grace
the ‘Knowledge of Souls.’ Taking advantage of the refugee crisis, Reth Caedus sent his spies
into Arcātheos to reek havoc. What he did not know at the time, was the new gift Lord
Valerian had been granted. The deception was quickly seen for what it was, and the
perpetrators were arrested with no further harm. 

An Act of Mercy

The discovery of this deception did little to tame the ambition of the enemy, who challenged
Lord Valerian to a dual between realms. There they battled beyond time until they suddenly
returned, with a finishing stroke crippling Reth Caedus. What could have ended there, was
delayed when Lady Mara revealed to all her fall from grace. There, before the Tower of
Praedor, she protected the very evil that had manipulated and lied to her, thereby preventing
the King’s forces from reclaiming the tower. The campaign to restore Praedor was suspended
as an act of mercy, in hopes that her soul would one day return to friendship with the King. Of
course, this did little to protect the enemy Dröch who were quickly put in their place by the
brave soldiers of Arcātheos.