The Gift of Inara

Inara shone as a beacon of light.

It shone in the dawn from its sunbeams bright;

it shone all aglow from magical might;

it shone from the armor of ranks of knights;

it shone with the flight of a thousand living lights.

Its truly was a gift from the heavens.

Then the heavens dropped a gift on Inara.

It was a gift a match for a city, and Inara met its maker. Fire and flame incinerated the living, and shockwaves flattened all the rest. Inara was gone, and its people dead.

The king was dead. So was the prince and heir apparent and the rest of the royal family. So was anyone else of great power. The only people of power left were the nobles scattered throughout the country, and none of them had enough power to usurp the entire empire. They couldn't even usurp the crown and throne of Inara, because there was no crown or throne left of Inara. Nothing was left. All that was left was a crater half a mile deep and half a dozen miles wide. Half the country fell into tumult, and they were the ones who knew what was coming. For who knew what was coming? No one knew, and that meant that war was coming.

War... War always changes. War always changes everything. And with the fall of Inara and the rise of competing factions sweeping across the land, you know it will come and change you too. And yet you embrace the change, for with change comes opportunity, and with opportunities come choice. And so you chose to embrace your destiny. For what is destiny but choices made and opportunities embraced?

-- by Yunzhong Hou