Chapter One
In an age erased from human memory—an age never recorded in books, yet still alive in hearts and minds—great civilizations once flourished. Of them, only faint echoes remain. They reached astonishing heights of knowledge, then vanished as though they had never existed.
Among those lost civilizations, the Kingdom of Salimar rose above the rest.
Salimar was a land of knowledge and enlightenment. Its scholars excelled in physics, chemistry, and mathematics, surpassing even modern nations in certain fields. Yet their greatest secret was neither calculation nor matter.
It was magic.
The scholars of Salimar discovered that the world was not ruled by chaos, as many believed. Behind every phenomenon stood a conscious force. The sun had a sovereign. The sea had a master. The mountains had a ruler. Even small hills and quiet lakes were governed by lesser entities.
These forces were not gods, as some assumed. They were ancient beings, and the people came to call them the Lords.
In time, the scholars were no longer satisfied with studying these entities—they sought to tame them.
At first, the experiments were limited. Small rituals, confined within sealed laboratories. But curiosity turned into greed, and greed into a frantic race for control. Some sorcerers attempted to summon greater Lords, breaking boundaries that should never have been crossed.
The chronicles say that one night the sky turned red—and before dawn, an entire city vanished. Nothing remained but a black crater where nothing would ever grow again.
Magic spread beyond Salimar through merchants who traveled in and out of the kingdom. Rituals, books, and secrets leaked into other realms. Once magic escaped the scholars' grasp, it became a weapon in the hands of the ambitious.
Wars erupted. Sacrifices were offered. Blood was spilled in the name of power.
Then a mysterious faction appeared.
They called themselves the Court of Silence.
No one knew their origin, nor how they acquired the wealth, authority, and influence that elevated them to the summit of the world in such a short time. They moved quietly—but their decisions were absolute. They established a political entity known as the Union of Kingdoms, uniting the eighteen realms under a single banner.
Their first decree was clear and merciless:
Magic was forbidden. Absolutely.
Books were burned. Sorcerers were executed. The possession of any magical artifact became a crime punished without mercy.
Years later, Salimar witnessed its first public judgment against magic.
In the city square stood a sorcerer, his hands bound, surrounded by a silent crowd. The sky above them leaned unnaturally toward red.
A man in a black cloak stepped forward and spoke calmly:
"In the name of the Court of Silence, magic is outlawed. You are sentenced to burn."
The platform ignited beneath the sorcerer's feet.
But he did not scream.
Instead, he looked at the sky and whispered:
"You are too late."
The ground trembled lightly—just enough for all to feel it.
And that night, people began to understand that the war against magic was not the end of something.
It was the beginning of something else.
In Salimar, the balance of power shifted—but authority remained in the hands of the great noble families.
The Ruling Families of Salimar
The House of Jams
Rulers of the south, where fertile lands and vast fields stretched endlessly. Their wealth came from agriculture, and their lord was known for wisdom and foresight, balancing firmness with justice.
The House of Kars
The backbone of commerce in the kingdom. They controlled markets and trade routes, their caravans traveling across continents, carrying goods and news alike.
The House of Krio
Masters of ports and seas. They possessed a massive fleet and dominated fishing and maritime trade, granting them both economic and military power.
The House of Novera
The most enigmatic of them all. Long associated with dark magic in ancient times, whispers claimed they secretly targeted corrupt elites, stripping them of their wealth through methods unknown. They embodied both prestige and fear, and few could trace their threads.
The Council of the Eternal Dawn
A branch of the Normadia Empire within Salimar. They managed official records and documentation, oversaw state affairs, and supervised weapon production. They did not appear powerful—but their influence seeped into the finest details of governance.
The House of Veradis
Among the strongest—and most unsettling—families. Known for destruction, traps, and defensive barriers, they also maintained a secret network trading magical tools on the black market. Their power was rarely declared openly, yet it always lingered in the shadows.
On the surface, it seemed that magic had vanished from the world.
But what is buried in darkness does not die.