It has been two hundred years since the Bloodstar Cross appeared in the sky and the mysterious Calamity occurred, destroying the royal capitol and ending the 2,000 year reign of the Elrin dynasty. In it's place, Eden Belrase took the title of High King and reordered the country into his vision of a rational and scientific realm. Academies were built for education and re-education, the study of arcane arts was dismissed as charlantry and forbidden, the mages and alchemists were ridden down and murdered, any songs of religious or mythical nature were banned, and finally, the temples to the Seven and the Eight were torn down. In his new Ordered World, the Book of Proofs is the only scripture, the Archon who governs the Academies is its supreme priest, and the Belrase is the undisputed king. But nothing lasts forever.
Voslo finds an entertaining way to pass some time before his duel, and the youth of the Black Tower benefit from it.
Voslo and Kory get a noble invitation, and the master duelist must decide whether or not he wishes to accept an offer for a duel.
Voslo goes to Bradhall in the middle of the night to retrieve something that was stolen from Kory. He's a famous man though, and it's hard to travel without being recognized.
Voslo and Kory make it to an Inn just outside the walls of Bradhall, where they get some news of the broader world, and Kory gets in trouble.
The famous duelist Voslo Stettman finds himself far in the countryside, and with a corpse he doesn't know what to do with, when he meets a traveling merchant.