Shadows of Empire: Being the Third Tale of the Gateway Wars

The story picks up where Portraits ended. Anklar Orange Flame Stone sees LincolnCrow's globe being constructed at the entrance to the Orchard Palace and demands the destruction of the abomination. When the ambassador's complaints are ignored, he sends his wizards to destroy the globe, the palace, and the emperor of the Randar Empire. The attack on the palace comes just after Wilfred receives news that his empress has been wounded during the assassination of the Crown Princess of Pergamum, an allied nation to the north of his empire. LincolnCrow, Ephanie, Elizabeth, Phillip, Captain Hart and Captain Gascon take point in defense of the palace and defeat of the attacking wizards. Furious to learn that his wizards failed to destroy the palace and kill Wilfred, Anklar orders another attack just three days later and this one is aimed at Archbishop Nate Castor. Phillip thwarts this second assassination attempt with help from Captain Hart and Gascon. Loranian soldiers attempting to create distractions are forced to scatter across the city to escape Randar soldiers. Outside the city, Captain Hart and Captain Gascon rescue Healer Lane from one of the Loranian soldiers but are pulled into a short battle with another Loranian wizard, who loses his life when he turns his back on Healer Ephanie Lane. More Loranians are taken prisoner and sent to the Tower of Bersa to be imprisoned and questioned. Healers and wizards are summoned to the countryside to disperse the corrupted soul of the dead Loranian wizard. When Loranians try to kill Phillip in the underground streets of the old city, a bit of his true nature is revealed as he kills two Loranians and then enchants Keslar to forget what he has seen. The artist returns to the Loranian Embassy to finish the three portraits and receives rewards from Keslar and Anklar that will smooth his introduction to the Loranian capital of Constandria. Queen Margaretha consults with newly-promoted Major Hart and Major Gascon concerning the upcoming trip into the Loranian Hegemony just days before Healer Ephanie Lane and Major William Gascon wed in the Cathedral of Tears. In the far-away capital of the Hodd Empire, the Great Hodd meets with DarrkOwl, the elven wizard who offers to teach monks how to use some of the creatures in the swamps and forests to blunt the next attack by the Loranian Hegemony.