November 13th, 1336 DR, Moon Festival.
This was the last major festival before the year's end, and it also marked Winter's approach.
Under normal circumstances, this should have been the day when the people of Cormyr paid tribute to their ancestors and the departed.
Graves would be blessed, ceremonial rites held, and people would speak of the deeds of those who had passed on deep into the night.
Regrettably, however, ever since the undead plague began erupting along the shores of the Sea of Fallen Stars over a decade ago, the Moon Festival had largely been set aside.
The reason was simple. To guard against the worsening disaster, King Azoun III had taken the lead by digging up and cremating the graves of his own ancestor, Ondeth, and Faerlthann, the founding emperor.
Holding a Moon Festival after that would be like rubbing salt into someone's wound.
Even Li Wei, upon first hearing of it, had to admire Altais's old man for being ruthless.
But perhaps only such a decisive king could lead his people through the storms and keep them standing until now in the face of a calamity that had swept across half the continent.
In an age where everyone was competing to be less bad, that was already no small feat.
But a "good" king also meant he would certainly be a troublesome and greedy opponent at the negotiating table.
A king who did not strive to maximize his nation's interests was not a qualified king.
Over a month ago, when Li Wei and his group had just entered Suzail, they received an enthusiastic and grand welcome from this ancient kingdom.
Once he learned during the meeting that Li Wei had come for the half-elves, the elderly king shamelessly switched into full extortion mode.
Zelandia's favorable export taxes,