Book excerpt: A dark plot unfolds in the western lands of the Kingdom of Swordbane with the formation of an unholy alliance, deliberate spread of a deadly affliction, and a newly conspired war looming on the horizon after the Kingdom of Swordbane has just emerged victorious from a bitter twenty-year-long war with its eastern rival neighbor. Masterminding this dark plot built on social malaise from corruption and an espoused propaganda of revisionism, a former vassal of the kingdom emerges who seeks to claim the status of the ultimate dark lord and chosen vessel. In seeking to receive special divine powers, this aspiring dark lord will pave a bloody path of death and destruction in order to ultimately create a new prosperous social and political order inspired from the ashes of the once-great Lupercalian Empire. Only a group of unlikely but personally connected heroes seek to stand in the way and fight back to preserve what is left of the kingdom. Throughout their trials and hardships, both the heroes and this ambitious dark lord will reflect upon their past life events while seeking to move forward with the challenges they face ahead in the ultimate war of perceived good versus evil. Whoever wins in this struggle, one thing is certain among all of them: life will never be the same.