"Where were you headed next?"
With no evil dragon to slay, the Oskulas Mercenary Company had no reason to remain in the Broken Mountains.
Captain Reyne said, "There are still plenty of Evil Dragons causing trouble in Middle Earth."
Deputy Captain Skeeter looked like he wanted to say something, but held his tongue when Captain Reyne said no more. Annan noticed and remembered their mission to save their homeland. "Could you tell me about Oscuras?"
The situation was straightforward enough. Hundreds of small kingdoms and territories lay around the Lake of a Thousand Lakes, held together by the Lady of the Lake and the Holy Light Church. But then came the wretched Year of Turmoil. The gods fell silent, and the bond between kingdoms and territories vanished. With the Holy Grail Knights and Holy Knights staging protests, rulers long held in check by divine authority rose again and started wars for their own gain.
At first, the war was a private feud between two kingdoms. Then their allies joined in, followed by their allies' allies. Raids, assassinations, blockades, massacres... Within two short years, the entire Lake of a Thousand Lakes had descended into chaos.
Oscuras, the homeland of Captain Reyne and his companions, was one of those caught up in it.
It was both victim and aggressor.
The Holy Grail Knights and Holy Knights had it hardest.
The Lake of a Thousand Lakes was sacred to the Lady of the Lake and the Holy Light Church. Nearly a third of the Holy Knights on the Allen Continent had been born there, and many were locals.
Caught in the middle, they did not know whether to fight, much less what they would be fighting for.
At first, they tried to stop the wars. It helped a little, but not much. The