The fires of war had barely cooled when a new conflict began to kindle within Solandria's borders. As King Aldric aged and Queen Seraphine's illness deepened, unrest festered among the noble houses. Whispers of weakness and succession struggles filled the marble corridors of Solhaven.
Prince Leonhart, returning from the north weary but resolute, found himself not welcomed as a hero but as a pawn in the game of politics. Several lords, led by the ambitious Duke Malrec of Eastmarch, questioned Leonhart's growing alliance with the Elves and Dwarves.
"Solandria was built by human hands," Malrec spat in court, "not by foreign blades and forgotten oaths."
Leonhart's patience thinned. He had bled for this kingdom, yet now he was forced to defend his loyalty to it.
In the shadows of the court, spies and dissenters wove a silent rebellion.
While Leonhart battled politics, Princess Evelyne took on the mantle of leadership in the city. With Queen Seraphine confined to her chambers, Evelyne managed trade, defenses, and the welfare of the common folk. Her compassion won the hearts of the people, but painted a target on her back.
Assassination attempts, bribed officials, and manipulated markets crippled Solhaven from within. Evelyne knew these schemes bore the mark of someone cunning, someone working with external forces.
Suspecting demonic influence, Evelyne summoned Nyxara, whose knowledge of Netherhollow's dark politics could uncover the plot.
Nyxara, still an outsider in human courts, agreed reluctantly. "Demons love chaos. If Solandria tears itself apart, my father won't have to lift a finger."
As King Aldric's condition worsened, the question of succession burned hotter. Some nobles proposed Leonhart be crowned Regent, while others saw an opportunity to place their own puppet on the throne.
The realm teetered on the brink of civil war. Leonhart, refusing to abandon his honor, challenged Duke Malrec to an ancient rite of kingship, a trial by combat and wisdom known as the Trial of Sovereigns.
In the arena of Solhaven, before thousands, Leonhart faced Malrec in a duel of sword and wit. With steel and strategy, the prince defeated the duke, ending his claim.
But in the shadows, Malrec's surviving allies fled to Netherhollow, where Zevrak welcomed them with open arms, adding fuel to his next invasion.
Zevrak, having rebuilt his armies and absorbed the exiled traitors of Solandria, launched his most devastating campaign yet. Unlike before, this assault was not through border raids but through sorcery and subversion.
Demonic cultists rose in Solandria's heartlands, unleashing fires in the streets and summoning infernal beasts beneath the very walls of Solhaven.
Leonhart, Evelyne, and their allies fought tirelessly to suppress the uprising. But every battle won revealed another hidden hand moving against them.
It was Queen Lilithra, Zevrak's cunning consort, who orchestrated the shadow war from afar, weaving chaos as deftly as her husband wielded flame.
At the height of chaos, Solhaven itself came under siege. The walls that had stood for centuries trembled under the assault of demon war machines and traitorous human forces.
As fire rained from the skies, Queen Seraphine rose from her sickbed one final time. Clad in ceremonial armor, she led the last charge from the palace gates, inspiring her people with her sacrifice.
She fell beneath the banner of Solandria, her death rallying the defenders to drive the demons back.
When dawn broke, the city still stood, but Solandria had lost its queen.
In the aftermath, envoys from Sylvaran and Ironspine arrived, having seen the smoke from afar. Thalorien and Kaelen led elven healers and battlemages, while Durgan brought siege-breakers to reinforce the walls.
Even the demons were divided. Nyxara, torn between her heritage and her heart, challenged her father's rule. Secretly, she brokered a fragile ceasefire with disillusioned demon warlords who no longer wished to die for Zevrak's ambitions.
Against all odds, the four realms stood together once more. But beneath this unity, cracks remained.
Though Zevrak's forces retreated, he had tasted the vulnerability of Solandria. From his throne in Mal'Karash, he plotted his next move, not brute conquest, but the awakening of something far worse.
The Ebon Mirror, a forbidden relic that could tear the veil between realms, granting demons access to the spiritual world itself. With it, Zevrak planned to become more than a king, he sought to become a god.
Meanwhile, Prince Leonhart, crowned king in a somber ceremony, vowed to protect his people against all who threatened them. But in his heart, he knew the true battle was yet to come.