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It was a peaceful day.
Aaron Salian, Viscount of the Sunset Lands, The Last Salian, one of the Arabel Five Heroes, Champion Knight of Obarskyr, honored servant of Cormyr, Lord Chamberlain of the Purple Dragons, author of Salian's Nine Books, the Fairy Princess's Flower Knight, and Chosen of Selûne, the Lady of Silver, sat behind his desk, reviewing documents.
Outside, the autumn wind swept through bare treetops. Red leaves blanketed the rolling hills of Hulek Forest, while countless boats raced across distant Wyvernwater.
Several months had flown by in a blink. It was now October of 1362 Dalereckoning.
According to the reports his subordinates had delivered, Aaron learned that the Realms had finally begun to recover from the Time of Troubles. The unrest of earlier years was gradually subsiding, the major churches had regained some of their strength, and the situation was moving toward stability.
Mortals who had seized opportunities during the Time of Troubles had often risen overnight to become local elites or high-level adventurers. Those who had missed their chance could only remain at the bottom of the hierarchy, lying low and waiting for another opportunity.
Interestingly, once these newly risen elites became rulers, lords, or high-level spellcasters, the first thing they did was consolidate their positions. Good or evil, it was an instinctive reaction.
The churches of the major deities generally tacitly accepted these changes. Even the churches of good deities had no choice but to acknowledge the accomplished facts.
The chaos brought by the Time of Troubles had been too devastating. No deity wanted the Realms to descend into turmoil again. They would rather preserve the existing order, allowing a certain degree of exploitation and oppression, than see more unrest.
Aaron set down the report and