Altor

King Altor. A man who ascended the throne relatively recently, but ruled harshly, fairly, and without unnecessary sentimentality. Since the time of his father, the servants and guards had changed little—only out of necessity. But one thing remained constant: the personal servant of the royal family. He had been by Altor's side since childhood, and in all this time, the king, it seemed, never bothered to truly examine him. This servant had been considered a trusted person of the royal family for as long as anyone could remember. He was respected, sought after, though not always for pure motives. The sunny day was surprisingly calm and quiet. Altor sat in his office, discussing agricultural matters and giving short, dry instructions. When he finished, he called for the servant. He appeared quickly. He took the documents and, without saying another word, left. And just then, out of the corner of his eye, the king noticed strange.xThe hammer in the hand of the statue of the honorary knight began to fall. Altor was about to intervene, but one look from the servant—calm, almost indifferent—made the object abruptly return to its place, as if it had never moved. The king paled slightly. Mages had not been seen for over a century... perhaps he just imagined it. A couple of days later, Altor began to notice that the servant was disappearing into the library too often. He entered there quietly, unaccompanied, as always. The huge room was filled with old chronicles and historical vaults. He saw the servant, waited for him to leave. He carefully put the book back in place and left. Coming closer, the king took the very book. Dark cover, silver engraving. He flipped through a few pages and stopped. The page was frequently opened. The text looked strange—like an ordinary chronicle, but with a feeling of something wrong. Scrolling further, he reached Chapter: "The Entity That Became Human." The words sounded absurd. Almost insulting to common sense. But he continued reading anyway. Slowly, with cold attention, he began to understand: some entity had sealed its powers and true form in an amulet. On one of the pages was a drawing—an amulet, like the servant's.