It was an utterly ordinary day on the Allen Continent.
Well, the "New Year" that the young, benevolent Lord had spoken of made today less ordinary. The way they were celebrating was a little strange, though. "Stay home and be ready to flee"? It sounded like something nobles would do.
Many residents grew restless because they couldn't work. To them, having work meant having food on the table. Besides, they hadn't watched The Mage Tower's Fall in ten hours.
Krian and his companions passed the time playing a card game said to be another of their Lord's inventions.
"If you can play all those cards, I'll eat the whole deck!" Krian challenged Luoxi, throwing down a card.
"Looks like Master Krian gets an extra meal today." Luoxi tossed down his cards with a mocking smile.
Krian kept his word. He grabbed the leather cards, stuffed them into his mouth, and tore into them. By the time Luoxi and the others tried to stop him, he had swallowed them whole.
"Krian never lies!"
"Well, Krian Who Never Lies, we don't have any cards now. What do you want to play next?" another man asked, pointing at the table.
"Miss Rose has some at her tavern," Luoxi said.
"Buy a sturdy deck!"
Early the next morning, Krian was sent out to buy cards.
In the distance, the new Town glowed with things their Lord called streetlights. Krian had heard from the Servants of a neighbor of a knight's squire that they were Magic Lamps. Even noble lords couldn't afford them, yet their Lord used them as pub... pub... public facilities. Anyway, that was what the baron had called them.
But the people here had more or less grown used to their Lord's extravagance and quirks. Lighting the streets with Magic Lamps was