In the elven lands of Raguinia lies the great kingdom of Ríocht. It is a time of mourning as the beloved king was recently found dead in his royal chambers. His grieving wife has taken the throne and, as she has always been a public figure and obviously instrumental in her late husband's ruling over the kingdom, the people have easily embraced her as their sovereign queen.

Approximately a month before the king's sudden death, an ambassador from the kingdom of Noxstern, a place full of dark magic that controls an army of the dead, visited Ríocht. The queen maintains that the ambassador's attempts to form an alliance with Ríocht were, as always, vehemently rejected by the king.

However, despite being told by the king to return to his own kingdom at once, the ambassador seemed to linger in Ríocht and was even seen outside of the royal castle several times afterwards. A month later the king was dead.

The queen claims that Noxstern had him assassinated for rejecting their plans for the last time, however, the prince believes that the queen actually made a deal with the ambassador in secret before his departure and allowed her husband to be murdered to fulfill an alliance agreement between the two most powerful kingdoms in the land.

The queen is aware of her son's suspicions and while some of her advisors have reacted with outrage, the queen has asked that no action be taken against her son, who she believes is suffering from the tragic loss of his dear father. She has also told her advisors that she believes that once the prince's anger subsides and he sorts his feelings and realises that she could never have hurt her beloved husband, then he will forget his suspicions and return to his duties as heir to the throne.

She has requested that the search for her eldest children's future spouses continue and that the kingdom try to return to some sense of normalcy. She has also decreed that a large statue be erected in the town square in honour of her late husband.

Without proof of his mother's plans, the young prince is wary of seeking support to overthrow her, and has instead been attempting to seek out documentation that proves that his mother actually had no right to take the throne in the first place. No such documentation has yet been found.

With the king's death, the threat of Noxstern dominating the land has grown and some believe that it may only be a matter of time before the kingdom is lost to the growing darkness.

The king is dead.
Long live the queen.