The word spread like wildfire through Eastmarch.
Count Casten Valtair the heretic. Traitor. Practitioner of forbidden magic.
In the marketplace, merchants who once bowed to him now spat at the mention of his name.
In the taverns, men who'd drunk his wine cursed him over their ale.
"He consorted with demons. Sold secrets to enemies. Defiled his own home with dark rituals."
The whispers grew with each retelling. Some said they'd always known something was wrong with House Valtair. Others claimed they'd seen strange lights in his windows at night.
The agreement was swift and absolute... Valtair wasn't merely a criminal.
He was damned.
In this world, faith was not a comfort, it was law.
The Church of the Creator, and the Divine Phoenix stood above even the crown.
Ashurael the Divine Phoenix, was one of the Creator's first beast, born to guard creation itself.
Where Ashurael's light touched, darkness burned. Where Its gaze fell, evil could not hide.
