Ember sighed. After the battle, the cultists had overtaken the then empty castle. Nobody quite understood why the zombies kept crawling out of a picture, especially as there was nothing weird about it, but they used it as their primary siege engine for the next years, placing it wherever a war was about to break out, while the new order of paladins used them as training dummies.
The undead professors spend their entire day teaching lessons, juggling three courses each, and preparing everyone to become a mage in Ragnars service.
Overtaking the country had been difficult at first, until the overwhelming military power and extensive charity programs. Long-standing noble families had been tasked with creating jobs for everyone else, ensuring that goods were delivered, and their secrets were passed down to the paladins, the people who were adamant about death being the purest way to achieve immortality.
Every tenth day, the two priests held a sermon near the site of the last battle, the previous headmaster trying night and day to make people listen to him, and those who did died the moment they entered the circle, as they would mutate, before the old man would cleanly decapitate them.
It was a horrifying sight whenever it happened, to the point that soon, no one dared to listen to him anymore.
Ember himself prepared the great resurrection by reverse engineering the runes around the area his best friend had dueled.
Shade had gone to organize the criminals of the city, thievery becoming less and less profitable, as yearning for some sort of immortality was more important than normal wealth.
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Poets and writers sprung up all over the country, smaller cults formed everywhere, revering different aspects of Ragnar, but everyone read the tenets imposed upon the highest members, and followed them rigorously.
After the Capital, and shortly after that all of Greencrest, had been stabilized, the Theocracy expanded into snowborn territory, the few remaining tribes were overrun and quickly integrated, mining operations began finding gold, and quickly, that place became the core of the budding empires wealth.
When the Elves heard of this, they were quick to negotiate a truce, Sine being the diplomat dedicated to overseeing this alliance.
Other empires tried to destabilize the empire, but any time a spy was detected, the Theocracy send out an envoy of equality, who would teach the masses to embrace the simple fact of no one being born better than others, and that success should be earned, which quickly brought up a collection of rebellions, and usually ended with the people requesting assistance, in which case the theocracy turned them into vassals.
Religion was a weapon only one other nation wielded, and yet, the country blessed by the gods themselves did not act, no heroes answering the call, despite the ritual being the same.
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Hannibal spent every day next to the place his master disappeared, dreaming of him and transferring his every thought to the person he loved most, yet he felt lonely, and his sleep took longer and longer, until he became a statue through the meditation, preserving his self until Luce would return to walk the earth.
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Nemo spend her time studying runes and supporting Ember and Shade in their efforts to stabilize the country. But despite everything, the loss of Luce hurt, and a silent resentment against everyone who disobeyed became a storm, as she led them to the circle and pushed them inside, happy to watch the old man inside become more and more hopeless.
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Everyone knew that Ragnar was with them, the faint reassurance and pull to the capital whenever they prayed, he was not dead, and one day, he would return.
At least, that is what I hope, he was a hero to me, and when he sent me his notes, I knew I had been chosen to spread his Requiem.
This work is published to spread his name. When you are in trouble, remember this journey you and him undertook together, and when everything feels hopeless, remember that he relies on you to return. Your thoughts will return to this book, and when they do, his return will be a bit closer.