CHAPTER #1: O M E N S - I N - T H E - S K I E S
      THE RIFTING HAS BEGUNâŠ
                         And Miwor Town was its first VICTIM.
After a long, exhausting battle, the dawn has come. The Wardensâ Netherwalkers directed the burning energies from their runes and blasted the Rift. It was a desperate and united effort to end the nightmare, and eventually the Rift subsided in a flashing crash of magical light.
The sun rose, burning away the fog to reveal a trampled, broken town in its wake. A third of the town had been swallowed by the Riftâs dark, swirling clutches. The entire northern parts of the town are eerily missing, as if they never existed at all, and the surviving townspeople avoid looking in its direction as it only brings a fresh wave of despair.
But the people of Miwor Town are resilient. They have begun the task of healing their hurts. They counted their dead and laid them in the central hallâs crumbling walls. Over a quarter of Miworâs population was lost in the Netherworldâs attack. Each body was covered with a snowy, white sheet and a single, wildflower â handpicked from the Miwor Fields â rested on each frame.
After the initial shock, the peopleâs grief turned into fury. How could their High King laugh at their plight and call the Rifting a childrenâs tale? The Hand of Light had foreseen such destruction but Highwing had done nothing to prepare its people from certain disaster. If the Wardens had not been there to close the Rift, Miwor Town would have vanished from memory and sight into the Netherworldâs grips. A cold, smouldering fury started to circulate throughout the town. The people demanded justice and some even whispered ideas of rebellion.
Braus Derry, Mayor of the Miwor Town, lost his beloved wife â Sally â in the Rifting. He echoes his peopleâs anger at the High King and had the audacity to label Miwor Town a âneutral territoryâ from that day onwards. It was a bold move; it would be welcomed by the north, who have been eager to escape from Highwingâs influence and become independent, but it would undoubtedly be received with fury from the High King.
A frenzied focus has enveloped the town. The people are eager to rebuild and to survive. They are flocking around the Wardens â who have quickly become their new leaders, in their eyes â for safety and for the chance of having a future.
However, the Wardens know that the Rifting has only begun. More Rifts will gradually awaken across Eldris and their Netherwalkers will need to be protected as they stop the Netherworldâs invasions. With the Miwor people rejecting the High Kingâs power and allying themselves under the Wardens, it is only a matter of time until civil war and political disaster strikes allâŠ
