The Aurean Empire, once the dominating force at the heart of Calthia, is crumbling. Those who have been waiting for their chance at greatness will seize power at any cost. As political chaos erupts across the continent, four unlikely companions come together with a humble goal: helping a mysterious young girl named Kaja find her way home. But when it comes to light that Kaja’s lost people have the ability to turn the tide in the power struggle gripping Calthia, suddenly all eyes—friend and foe alike—are turned towards her. Content warnings: violence and blood (no excessive gore); character death; dealing with grief, loss, and trauma; topics including imperialism, genocide, and slavery The Party:The Wizard: Sakrattars Mistwood, the fourth son in a prominent Imperial family (that he no longer speaks with), cringefail loser, in it for the fame and academic redemption, has a useless toad named Bartholomew as a familiar The Barbarian: Jo, former elite warrior turned lone wolf, de facto leader of the group, dotes on Kaja and is highly protective of her, can shapeshift into a giant sabercat The Sorcerer: Kaja, lost child, traumatized, has some connection to dragons, kinda ditzy, very gentle... until you threaten her friends, low-key the strongest one in the party The Fighter: Leif Hjalmarsson, mercenary who loves wine women and song, enamored with heroism and glory but kinda sucks at fighting (maybe due to all the wine?) The Ranger: Amale Inyoni, the party's dog (literally), strong silent type but his wagging tail gives away his game, hates violence loves sticks What to expect:~A slow-burn, epic fantasy~World building you can sink your teeth into~Based on a Pathfinder game played at the table*~Dungeon crawls and other TTRPG elements baked into the narrative~Dice rolls affected certain actions and outcomes (can you guess where?)~Special "end of arc" art posts showing character level, class, and stats at that point in the story*Though based on a game, the characters in the story are not playing a game so there's no references to stats, level progression, etc. in the text Current Progress: Arc 1 - Ordo Draconis: 10 of 10 chapters uploaded, ~60,000 words Arc 2 - Iron and Ice: 10 of 10 chapters uploaded, ~67,600 words Arc 3 - Echoes of the Past: *begins November 29th* **updates every 2-3 weeks**