Chapter 1: Princess with Promise
Dancing fills the streets, laughter and music, joy and wonder and happiness. Kids and teens from all walks of life, from all over the Continent, dance joyously through ribbons of color that shimmer and glow all the colors of the rainbow and more. People sing and hum and dance and play all throughout the city.
The city of Ebonmyr is always a bustling place, a kingdom in its own right, ruled by a King and Queen who love it and its people with all their hearts. They rule with love and kindness for all, and when the streets are full of life and happiness, like today, it seems like nothing can stop them and their way of life.
But as the night wears on, and as more people fill the streets, the bustling groups begin to partake in wines and other spirits they have strewn about in stalls and other booths for the adults. But as time wears on, and the hours pass, people come together in the square and the King and Queen take the stage. The whole royal family is here, and people are excited to hear the announcements the royal family is going to give them.
"Welcome, citizens of Ebonmyr," the Queen says into the speakers. "Welcome one and all, my dear friends. Tonight, we celebrate the founding of Ebonmyr, the founding of one of the biggest city-kingdoms in the world."
The crowd cheers and people clap. People dance in place as the King and Queen prepare their speeches for the people of Ebonmyr. But down on the streets, someone is slinking dangerously close to the stage upon which the royal family stands. They step closer to where the kids are, the Princesses and Princes of Ebonmyr.
".... and on this day, seven hundred and fifty years ago, things changed for everyone when the Dark Years started. Millions of people died and thousands more went to war over what was left of the world. But now, things are better. Because of the efforts of the people living in what is now Ebonmyr. Because of your ancestors."
Cheers erupt again, drowning out the sound of the Queen's words. The person down in the crowd slips by the closest of the guards around them. They move like a shadow as they approach the dias where the Princess who will one day be Queen stands, her back to the person after her.
"The world will change, and because of that, people will want to resist that. But we are better than that. Because we are Ebonmyr-born. We are happy and we are safe, and others may envy us for that. But don't worry, because we will soon be able to show them all how wonderful this world we are building is."
Then, they strike.
And then, everything explodes.
Down on the streets, fire explodes out and all around them. Fire burns so hot it's golden, and screams fill the air. Flames leap high, devouring buildings and clawing at the sky, and all around, people are dying. People scream and cry, and flames lick at everything within reach.
People run, screaming, stampeding over one another in an effort to get out, to get away from from fire. But it just builds and grows, it blossoms into something unstoppable, a force of nature that cannot be quenched.
Screams fill the streets where there were once laughter and happiness. The ribbons children were playing with in the city of Ebonmyr now burn. Blue flames, green, pink, purple, and gold mix together into an unknown color scheme that blankets the entire city of Ebonmyr. The flames build and build, growing more out of control, and as the people of the city struggle to stop it, it only gets worse and worse.
And as people run and run from the growing flames, and more people fall to the fires, and the gases and smoke that emanate from them, it seems as though the world itself is ablaze. No one knows what is happening or how it happened. No one knows what they can do to stop it as the flames consume everything.
Ebonmyr, once a proud city-kingdom, is now ablaze. And nothing and no one can stop it.
Not even the beloved Queen and King.
