Interlude 1

Of all the lands in the world known as Paragon, it is said that The Old Orient was the first one to be created. And it was created, no less, than by the hand of the divine. Or claws if one wants to be strictly accurate of the details.

Each of the Seven Celestial Dragons contributed to the creation of The Old Orient. The Celestial Emerald Dragon—Ebastimet—created the land and filled it with forests and different forms of life. Aiyondel—the Celestial Sapphire Dragon created the different seasons and developed the weather system and then made the air breathable and able to sustain life. The Celestial Pearl Dragon—Sahalirilla—created the different bodies of water and made it as abundant in aquatic life as it is on land. Thorobandon—the mighty Celestial Ruby Dragon, made sure that energy is available on land, on sea or on air for those who will inhabit The Old Orient.

It is then said that these four Celestial Dragons each blessed a family who will be able to lead their people to prosperity. These families—as the tale goes—became the ruling dragon clans of each of the four kingdoms.

Kel-Bastor—the Celestial Amethyst Dragon was inspired by these first four clans that he taught them how to study the world around them and use this knowledge to improve their way of life. He then chose a family to bless in order to lead the people in the eastern part of the continent. This family became the ruling dragon clan. Once the five dragon clans have been established and culture has started to develop, Paragon, the Celestial Platinum Dragon, taught Man how to be noble and good. He taught them that a life lived in honor and the seeking of what is good for all always leads to the most fruitful life. The people cherished Paragon's teachings and decided to name the young world after him.

However, when Discord, the Celestial Shadow Dragon heard about the founding of The Old Orient and how magnificent the lands and its people have become, he feared that the world of Paragon that is merely located in the Core Mortal Plane would eventually become more magnificent than his own world in the Outer Celestial Plane. Thus, he visited the world of Paragon in secret and created races dark and foul that will always seek to feed on the flesh of Man and of his suffering. These races would always be jealous of the achievements of Man's civilizations and will always seek to destroy them. Before he returned to his own world, he took one of Paragon's three moons and turned it into the Underworld and sank it deep under the crust of Paragon. It was to be the place where his most vile creations are to multiply to eventually wreak havoc on the lands of Man.

When Kel-Bastor heard about what Discord has done, he returned to the world of Paragon and taught his people how to defend themselves against the evil races that Discord has created. He then taught them how to build fortifications and how to turn their bodies into a weapon through martial arts. He then placed them in charge of teaching the rest of mankind these knowledges, especially the knowledge of martial arts.

However, Paladin knew that teaching Man the ways of battle would become too much of a burden of responsibility for them that could easily be abused. If not properly used, it could cause the downfall of Man's civilizations. He then decided to choose a family and bless it in order to rule over the Five Kingdoms of the Old Orient. This family—as the legend goes—became the Imperial Family of Paragon. The Imperial Family's most important duty is to maintain peace between the Five Kingdoms, each of which has started to accumulate military might. Even though the initial objective of the Five Kingdoms was to prepare their respective kingdoms against the creations of Discord, over time, they started to become untrusting of each other as they see the military growth of the other kingdoms.

Fortunately, the Imperial Family was able to maintain a fragile peace between the five kingdoms and have managed to unite the kingdoms whenever the forces of Discord attacked The Old Orient.

Since the last war against the Races of Discord, peace has reigned across the empire for more than one thousand years.

But that fragile peace was threatened once more when Discord learned that it would be easier to destroy the dominions of Man if he would use Man himself to destroy it.

Twenty-three years ago, mere minutes before the start of the Council of Kings.

Mud, rock, and earth flew to the air as a heavy mustagor battle horse raced across the fields towards the Imperial Road. It is dark even with both Niminia and Astaris out on the skies for dark gray clouds block the light of Paragon's moons. However, despite the darkness, it did not take long before horse and rider reached the Imperial Road. They are both unarmored that allowed the mustagor to run as fast as a horse that was bred specifically for speed—and with the horse's endurance, they can run all night before it would tire and require some rest.

The Imperial Road is paved with granite bricks and this made their travel faster. The hooves of the heavily muscled mustagor sounded like rumbling thunder against the Imperial Road that traveled towards the Imperial Palace. Soon, the black-clad rider and his horse came within sight of the Imperial Gate. A small army was assembled in front. An army of Imperial Guards, highly trained men and women that belong to the Celestial Clan—the clan of the Celestial Emperor. They were armed with the best weapons and armors that can be found in the lands of The Old Orient.

At around the same time; inside the Imperial Palace.

Each of the rulers of the Five Kingdoms slowly walked into the meeting chamber where the Council of Kings is held every five years. It is one of the most important meetings that the Emperor has enacted to ensure the peace of The Old Orient. The meeting allowed the kings to express their grievances against anyone in attendance or against anyone under the rulership of the kings that are present. The Celestial Emperor would then address these grievances. Once the Celestial Emperor resolves the dispute or grievance, both parties would agree to forget about the grievance and its existence struck off from all official records of the Five Kingdoms. The meeting has been successful in keeping the peace for more than a thousand years in The Old Orient without forcibly putting the Five Kingdoms under strict Imperial Rulership. This would force the abolishment of the ruling clans from each of the Five Kingdoms and would likely result in endless rivalry within each kingdom—each clan going after the downfall of the other clans in order to ensure their place as the ruling clan. The Council of Kings ensures that the existing system is upheld and strengthened while addressing any problems that might arise between the kingdoms. Problems that could lead to an open war.

The Imperial Meeting Hall has six adjacent waiting rooms that are big enough for forty people to sit or walk around comfortably. When the Council of Kings was originally established, each of the kings—known in The Old Orient as the Omono-Ryu—would wait inside the adjoining room with their female escort, the Dragon Grandmaster of their kingdom, and one or two advisers. The kings of each clan are never allowed to get married or to have children. This system ensures that rulership would come from the worthiest in the clan—a clan that is normally composed of different houses or families—and not from a single entitled family only. The position of the Dragon Grandmaster follows a similar system although they are allowed to marry while they serve as the Dragon Grandmaster and eventually have children once they have decided to step down from that position.

As the decades went on, the number of people that traveled with the Omono-Ryu to attend the Council of Kings have increased dramatically. Nowadays, even non-essential positions in each of the kingdoms travel with their Omono-Ryu to the meeting. The number of people who travel to these meetings seems to make the people who actually need to attend the meeting feel more important because there were more people from their kingdom who would remember what they said and did during the meeting. The conversations that would follow after the meetings that would raise the status of those who attended the meeting became more important than the meeting itself. This created a secondary historical record by word of mouth. Sometimes completely different from the official written history. Unfortunately, for the kashin of the Five Kingdoms, history by word of mouth become more accessible for them. Thus, they had no choice but to believe what they hear.

Each of the Omono-Ryu and their entourage is announced as they enter the Imperial Meeting Hall. The Imperial Meeting Hall had to be expanded twice to install audience wings with comfortable seats. Adjacent private kitchens for the entourage of each of the kings were later installed as well for use of the Omono-Ryu, their entourage as well as the personal servants of the members of the entourage. The meeting table remained at the center of the Imperial Meeting Hall with the audience wings surrounding the main meeting area that extend to all directions and upward from the table itself. In time, a decree was made to limit the entourage of each king to thirty and the personal servants to thirty as well.

Incense was lit in the Imperial Meeting Hall and it made the atmosphere within fragrant. Lanterns were then lit up that made the entire hall bright as the early morning. Eight members of the Imperial Guards entered the hall and announced the names of the guests of each of the kingdom one by one and waited for them to be seated—be it in the Audience Wings or at the table at the center of the Imperial Meeting Hall.

After all the members of the entourage of each of the kings have been announced and seated, the Omono-Ryu themselves were announced and they were seated at their appointed seats at the table near where the Celestial Emperor would be seated. The kings walked majestically into the meeting hall and walked around the table towards their appointed seat. The entire entrance ceremony of each of the five Omono-Ryu looked more like a beauty contest where they featured a procession of kings wearing the latest fashion. That the Omono-Ryu walked to the most important peacekeeping meeting every five years became secondary.

Once all the Omono-Ryu and guests were seated. Several imperial guards entered the Audience Wings and positioned themselves at strategic positions. Additional imperial guards entered the meeting hall itself and positioned themselves near the seat of the Celestial Emperor. They scanned and studied the area as they stood guard—looking for signs of possible threats to the safety of the emperor. Once they were satisfied that there were no imminent threats, the one closest to the door where they came from tapped the wall adjacent to the door with a gloved hand and the official crier announced the name of the Celestial Emperor. His voice rang louder than the first crier and marble walls of the Imperial Meeting Hall carried across the large room and into those who were present. The echo of the crier's voice reverberated loudly that it seemed like the life size statues were calling the name of the emperor themselves.

At the Imperial Highway; close to the front gates to the Imperial Palace.

The dark rider never slowed down as he approached the assembled army. Banners of different colors that bear different emblems representing the different clans of the Five Kingdoms fly in the walls that surround the lands of the Imperial Palace under the light of the twin moons. The army moved slightly as the dark rider came into view. A finely armored individual clad in an armor that is lacquered in platinum with trimmings of blue steel positioned himself and his battle charger in front of the assembled army. His heavily muscled horse was as magnificently armored as he was.

The dark rider stopped abruptly a few feet of the armed imperial soldier in front of the army. The imperial soldier in the lead did not blink nor move even though the black rider stopped too close to his position. There was a light of recognition in his eyes as he stared at the unarmored rider who wore plain black clothing that fitted his physical body perfectly.

"Azra of House Kojima of the Shibafu Clan; what are you doing back here? Your Imperial Escort duty has ended hours ago," the lead royal guard asked as he watched Azra salute him.

"I am here to ensure the safety of the Emperor, Captain Garuma! The meeting must be canceled right away!!"