Darkness Draws Darkness

The sudden upheaval and coup in the Kingdom of Cormyr drew the attention of all Faerun.

In particular, word of Dark Prince Grea's birth—and the spectacular sight of him devouring the Prince of Lies, Cyric's avatar, alive—spread through the streets within days.

Some bards even wrote songs and stories about it and performed them in taverns and inns.

Most importantly, after Alusair put down the rebellion in the capital, Suzail, with bloodshed on a massive scale, she officially announced that the young king Ahsan V had been killed by the rebels. The queen dowager, Filfaeril, came forward to confirm it.

That meant Alusair, as Azoun IV's last surviving child, would inherit the throne and become the new queen of Cormyr.

And her son Grea would automatically become the sole heir.

The Dark Prince had already set out from Suzail to campaign against the rebels. He led fifty guards, three hundred reorganized soldiers of the Purple Dragon Legion, and a regular force of roughly two thousand men selected from captured noble retainers.

In just three days, he easily took Marsember, the kingdom's second-largest city, ruled by the Scoril Family. Its lord, Beldrin, was blasted into mutilated chunks by a spell during the defense.

The speed of his victory was largely because the two cities were so close together.

By sea, the trip might not even have taken half a day.

After retaking this vital transport hub, Grea used the river network to launch a full campaign across the kingdom's southern regions.

He accepted no noble's surrender. Wherever he went, he uprooted ancient families that had endured for centuries, even millennia. Every member of their direct bloodlines was executed, regardless of age or sex, and bureaucrats from the Imperium were installed to rebuild the administrative and tax systems.

At first, many commoners