Few Months Before the Alodis Banquet

Persiphus had worked many long, tiring years to become the Head Kitchen Assistant to Cook Bristwater. He had scrubbed his share of nasty, food laden dishes, he learned how to strongarm people into following orders, and he learned how to swallow his pride while being in the magnanimous presence of one, Head Cook Lara Bristwater. He had done all of this and more while completing his time at the School of Agriculture. While Persiphus was far from wealthy, he was able to attend due to the fact that the Kallondonan Ruling Knowledge Council financed anyone who was smart enough to be thought as Alodis-blessed. It was a double-edged sword in a way. Yes, Persiphus could attend a school to get secondary education without any cost to him or his family, but the price was the loss of privacy and freedom. The Kallondonan government kept a tight watch on any citizens suspected of representing their beloved wisdom goddess and the funding of tuition allowed them to draw tight reins on many of its inhabitants, especially those who dwelled in the capital city of Eden.

But it wasn't all bad, Persiphus still enjoyed living in Eden despite its tight surveillance. Eden was a city like no other and nothing in all of Kallondona or the rest of the continent could compare to it. Eden had a very bright side like the sunrise that peaks over a hill. It could be full of glamorous merchants, magic users versed in the arts of knowledge, towering architectual pieces of magic, magnificent libraries and bubbling fountains. It was also home to the infamous midnight blue and ash grey castle that the Kallondonan king inhabited and his ruling council. This castle was widely known for its lunar-shaped windows and awe-worthy statues of Alodis that praised the mother of the moon and all her wisdom. It was said that touching the crest of Alodis' forehead would grant the person with the wisdom they needed to face the new year.

But like how every coin has two sides, Eden had a much darker nature attached to its name. This dark side was like the dawn, inescapable, resplendent, and utterly fruitless to forget. Eden, at night, went from a monarchy to rings of thief lords. Each part of Eden, the northeast, the southeast, the southwest, and the northwest was divided into sectors known by their lunar directions and ruled by a different thief lord. The northeast was known as the Waning Gibbous sector and was ruled by the insurmountable thief lord, Glynn Wieren. The southeast sector was known as the Waxing Gibbous and was mastered by the thief lord, Oaklend Gyver. The southwest side of Eden was the Waxing Crescent and it was managed by the venerable Iris Laynfield, a seafarer in her own right and the master of one of the biggest rings of thieves in Kallondona. Finally, the northwest was called the Waning Crescent and it was run by none other than Thyin Morlock, Kallondonan's most notable and wealthy thief lord.

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In the center of the four sectors was something fondly spoken as no man's land or as its proper title, Full Moon. This place beyond the boundaries and reach of the thief lords was where Kallondona's ruling seat of power dwelled and where the castle's stones began to surface. This is where Persiphus worked as the royal kitchens were housed at the bottom of the castle in the heart of Full Moon. This is where he found his first job and went from being a squealy little mutt to being a respected staff member in his Sovereign's household. Persiphus was proud of where he was, and he was glad that he had an employer he respected who was capable of beating to him to a pulp and whipping together some gravy for a roast at the same time.

Head Cook Lara Bristwater was a light in the dark in Persiphus' life and he couldn't imagine not having a mentor like her.

Persiphus after quitting his fond recollections began to sit up in his bed in the servants' wing. If an intruder had peered into his small bedroom, they would see a picture of a content, handsome young man with bed rumpled blonde hair getting ready to go about his day into the service of his Sovereign.

Persiphus tied his long blonde hair with a piece of tassel and began to don his garb for the kitchen. After dressing, he began his usual morning routine with a faint smile knowing that his day would be like any other day, and he felt a certain kind of peace in knowing that. When Persiphus made sure he would meet Cook Bristwater's high, firm expectations, he traipsed outside his room and down the stone corridor that would exit out of the servants' wing and would open up to the kitchen.

Once inside his beloved workplace, he sat down at the thick, long oak table that inhabited much of the kitchen's open space. At the helm of the table was none other than his captain, Cook Bristwater, and she definitely was ready to begin the tasks that would run this place like a tight ship.

Little did Persiphus know that in a few months preceding this normal piece of life, the whole country would be up in arms and he and his infamous head cook, Lara Bristwater, would be the only ones capable of relaying the events that happened on the fateful eve of the Alodis Banquet.