Aetelval, king of the Elven Forest, stood before the throne. His moonsilver armor was shining bright. He wore it whenever he could, a custom not shared by his predecessors.

"I hope you know why I called you here."

The King of Kings spoke through thoughts, something nobody could ever get used to: you heard his words appear in your head. To be fair, that was the only way he could talk, given the fact that he was physically a literal rock and therefore had no mouth.

The current King of Kings on the throne [https://images.nightcafe.studio/ik-seo/jobs/EQjCSRxMCDzjuT4UPyff/EQjCSRxMCDzjuT4UPyff--0--jyxz1/rock-king-of-kings.jpg?tr=w-1080,c-at_max]

Above: the official royal portrait.

"Of course I know. It's about the army officials, isn't it?"

"Yes. The time of their vanishing is rapidly approaching. The thelepatical devices that were used to win the War of the First Moon, many ages ago, were designed to become part of their users, instead it was the users who became part of the devices. This was not seen as a real problem at the time, since it was the only way to win the conflict. However, the energy infused into the devices is about to be ultimately depleted and there is no way to charge them back. It will mean that our precious officials will have the same fate. You know what it means."

"Tell me."

There was a moment of silence. It was so deep that you could hear the late spring in the air.

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"You are not a stupid man, Aetelval. What do you think will happen to this kingdom when its core is left defenceless? When it is known, because trust me: this is no secret at all, that it has lost all of its high army officials at once? They have served well and for far longer than what was expected of them, thanks to the devices that turned them into some sort of... machines. But soon it will all be over. We have relied too heavily on their limitless experience and skill. In fact, one might even say that it is they who should wear a moonsilver armor."

"Careful..."

"Cool your blood, king of the Elven Forest, there will be enough rage over all of The Lands in no time. The realm will be unmanageable after the capital loses its effective control power. 33 kingdoms are far too much... we overextended ourselves. The orcs in the South-West have been wanting to march on the obsidian dragons for centuries. The jungle tribes in the East are fighting each other and we do not even know what is going on in there. North of their shores, pirates have been gaining more power and men. The Underwater Crater has been growing isolationist sentiments. The Northern Bears have been neglecting their army and focusing on exploration, while to their South, and West of the orcs, the Blue Desert's influence over us grows exponentially, much like their trade routes. The elven conquerors thought they could keep The Lands together with sheer force... how foolish. Everyone who believed this was the right path to follow was nothing but a fool. It is nothing but a sand castle built on low tide"

"Everything is not lost yet." King Aetelval spoke slowly and with a sombre expression. "We still have our army, we still have me and my strategic knowledge proceeding directly from the officials, we still have technological advance and we also have faithful allies like the First Moon Republic of the White Mice, which we helped establish."

Another moment of silence filled the room. Aetelval truly felt as if he had said something very silly. He couldn't shake off the feeling that in confront to king Rockledouv he was nothing but a child playing war games.

"Do not misunderstand me, Aetelval: I never said this would be a short war."