Prologue: Twin curses

A man of great stature easily dwarfing the men around him in size and with was Marquis Nile ruler of the icy plains that made up the northern reaches of the Empire. He and his wife were of giant-kin blood and as such were the perfect rulers for this desolate region. He moved with an air of panic as he searched for something, anything that would save his unborn child. It was cursed with overwhelming heat and if not treated the child would die from burning itself. As he rushed into the forest he noticed a waning presence. Breaking the bush he saw a gravely injured lizard kin whelp. He noticed the broken egg and how undeveloped it was and was able to understand. It was a cursed one. Quickly he cast and orb around it and quickly tore through the bush and into the castle where his suffering wife lay. He only had one shot at this he quickly cut his and his wife's lifeblood veins and smeared it over the whelp and before the whelp could scream he quickly lay it on top of his wife's belly and with great satisfaction watched as it disappeared. The moment it disappeared there was some obvious shock among the room. The giants unborn child's condition seemingly vanished but the strangest thing was the feeling of another presence recognized beside it.

After the procedure the lady seemed unaffected by it with the only sign of it even occurring was the lack of searing heat radiating form her womb. As days turned to months the whole castle was in a flurry of movement. The child was coming and with it where the official pope of the kingdom. The Reisk Kingdom to prevent bastards from gaining top positions in government have procured an process that allowed for them to check if the soul of the child matched their parents. Children who didn't match were killed for being bastards or abandoned .