At first, the people of Latvia thought the rebellion was simple. They believed they were rising up against a cruel empire—the Bernard Empire—that had invaded their homeland, destroyed their villages, and murdered their families. The anger they felt seemed justified. The pain was real.
But behind it all, there was something else.
It wasn't the Bernard Empire that started the violence.
It was a secret group known only as the Shadows, or the Shadow Cult.
A secret society older than most nations, they had no banners, no borders, no loyalty to crown or god. What they possessed was far more dangerous: belief, weaponized into zealotry. And in Latvia, they now saw a fertile ground. A wounded kingdom, recently conquered, still bitter from defeat. Its people were tired, angry, humiliated. The perfect kindling.
