Main plot

Introduction

The story centers around Einar Ranvirson, a young human man who lives amongst a group of Copper Dwarves. He was adopted by the dwarves in the aftermath of the War against Evil. Despite being raised amongst them, he has always felt out of place, despite his best intentions to fit in.

The Perfect Catch

It's a sweet summer morning when Einar and his only friend Thorlak Ospaksson are out fishing.

Secret Adventures

One night, Einar and his friends Sigvid Varinsson, Thorlak Ospaksson and Celyne Faewarin, sneak out of the dwarven village of Dulduram. Out of sheer youthful curiosity, they explore a Mysterious Cave, a place that is strictly forbidden. They stumble upon ancient ruins from before the Fall. In there, they see special creatures and witness magic unlike they had ever seen before.
Before they have a chance to investigate, however, they are caught by a group of Goblins. The goblins bring the group to their village, where the Shaman prepares to sacrifice them in a blood ritual. Luckily, a group of Night Hunters show up, just as the Shaman cuts of Thorlak's finger. These night hunters are able to use the Arcane, giving them super human abilities. They slaughter the entire goblin tribe and free the group of friends, who remained largely unscathed. As they introduce themselves, the night hunters explain that they were looking for Einar.

Night Hunters in Dulduram

The night hunters accompany the friend group back to Dulduram, where they rest and explain their proposition. The night hunters, who are part of the Order of the New Dawn, wish to take in Einar, as they suspect that he is one of the few like them who can use the Arcane. Einar initially refuses, as he considers himself a dwarf and he does not want to leave behind his home. The political tension and history between the United Dwarven Kingdom and the Alliance, which houses the Order of the New Dawn, are additional reasons for Einar to distrust these night hunters.
Einar is eventually persuaded to join the night hunters, by none other than the King of the Dwarves: Asbrand III. Asbrand wishes that Einar joins the Order, but as a dwarven spy, as to gather intel about the Order and the Alliance. As he cannot refuse the king, and as he is secretly interested in learning about the Arcane, he joins the group of night hunters. Together, they make the long travel to Vanbury.

Arrival in Vanbury

Once they arrive at Auroren, the headquarters of the night hunters, Einar has a lot of difficulties fitting in with the rest. In Dulduram, he was considered a human, and here he was considered a dwarf. People in Vanbury, especially the older generations, still had a dislike towards the dwarves. Regardless, Einar focusesses on studying the Arcane, and gradually learns to control it. He is asigned to a team of three other novice night hunters: TBD. Despite initial hesitations, they slowly learn to trust each other.
One of the older night hunters recognizes Einar's necklace. This necklace was the only thing Einar had from his biological mother. The older hunter had been a friend of both of his parents. He tells Einar about his real name, and that his parents both died during the war.

The scholar and the Spy

Einar also tries to learn more about the alliance and the order, such that he can send the information to king Asbrand. He regularly visits the great library of Auroren, a place that is off limits for those outside of the order. Here, he meets Raymond Hensley, a novice scholar and pupil of the famous professor Nathaniel Koch. Raymond is under the impressions that Einar is as obsessed with learning as he is, and he therefore regularly helps him with finding the right books and scrolls that he needs. The two quickly become friends; they both feel like outcasts, and that struggle creates a natural sense of brotherhood. All the while, Raymond does not know that Einar is actually a dwarven spy.
Many days go by, where Einar trains and learns more and more about the world. One fateful evening, Raymond brings Einar a book about the War against Evil, specifically, one that mentions his father Andrew Reid. As it turned out, his father had been an officer of the Alliance. The book describes the final siege of the evil army on Vanbury. When the need was greatest, the dwarves, who used to be part of the alliance, left. Millions were slaughtered in the aftermath. The reason for the desertion is unclear, as the dwarves, elves and humans all have a different perspective on these events. More importantly, however, Einar discovered that it was his father who was tasked with preventing the Dwarven army from deserting. The dwarves had shown no mercy, and slaughtered the entire company of soldiers, including Einar's father.
Confronted by these facts, Einar starts to doubt his allegiance to the Dwarves. They murdered his father, and by deserting left his mother to die in the siege as well. As Raymond tries to comfort him, Einar confesses that he was hired by the dwarven king to be a spy for the dwarven kingdom. Raymond feels betrayed, as though the entire friendship was founded on a lie. Einar asks for forgiveness, but Raymond leaves. Days go by and Einar and Raymond do not speak.

Attack on the Order

On a particularly misty night, Einar is awoken by loud explosions. He runs to the courtyard to see the great library in flames. Through the mists, he sees wyverns flying through the air. People around him mumble about a terrorist attack by a group of Rebels. He quickly runs to the library, as this is where Raymond sleeps as well. When he arrives, he sees raymond on his knees in front of the flaming building. Fortunately, he was unharmed, but his mentor and the library went up in flames. Raymond tells Einar that he was ready to forgive him, but Einar must promise to help him find out who committed this attack.
The Attack on the Order claimed the lives of six people and the destruction of the great library and the main food storage underneath the library. The deaths consisted of three cooks, whose quarters were near the food storage, two night hunters that happened to be in the library, and Nathaniel Koch.

Investigating the Attack

The next day, Einar and Raymond start their own investigation into the matter. They read an article in The Peregrine that mentions something suspicious. They go to the Peregrine's office, where they set up a plan to uncover the source of the story. The journalists refuse to forfeit their source, and Einar and Raymond are swiftly kicked out. By enhancing his hearing, Einar is able to eavesdrop on the journalist, who mention the name of the source and the Black Tulip, a tavern in the slums of Vanbury. They go to the tavern later that day, where they meet a man who goes by the name of Wildcard. Einar recognizes him to be an Ilanthril, of the same tribe as his friend Celyne Faewarin. Because of this shared connection, Wildcard offers to help Einar and Raymond, but only if they can beat him in a game of Dryads. Despite Wildcard's cheating, Einar manages to beat him in the last game by using the Arcane.
Wildcard honors his agreement, and with his vouching, they are able to get more information.

Previous versions

Show spoiler

Einar Ranvirson, a Humans boy, is adopted and raised by Copper Dwarves. Copper Dwarves, as opposed to Gold Dwarves or Silver Dwarves, are not as sophisticated in their metallurgy, but make up for their lack of elegance through raw strength and dedication. As a Humans, Einar is not as strong as his dwarven ‘brethren’, but he manages to find a place for himself within dwarven society.

A group of Night Hunters shows up and comes to reclaim the boy. They claim that he has special abilities (The Magic System). Einar knew that he had a special ability, but because it was weak he did not think much of it. Despite his interest in developing his ability, Einar considers himself a dwarf and doesn’t want to leave. He is summoned by King of the Dwarves, who asks Einar to go along with the adventurers, such that he may investigate and advance the political agenda of the dwarves. He reluctantly agrees and joins the group as a dwarven spy.
He travels with these adventurers to Capital city where there are more people like him with special abilities. Almost all of these are part of an organization called The Order in service to the emperor. Einar learns that the adventurers are a team of Night Hunters; professionals that combat dark forces using their magical abilities. The boy joins the Order as well, where he trains and learns to use his abilities. During his training, he secretly investigates the Order, as requested by the King of the Dwarves. At one point during his investigation, he stumbles upon hard evidence that point towards Dwarven war crimes of the past. This information contradicts everything that he has learned while growing up and indicates that the dwarves were at fault, rather than the other party. Main Character slowly begins to question his loyalty to the dwarves as he is adopted into The Order and learns about events from the past.
Einar passes his exams and officially becomes a Night Hunters. During one of his first missions, his team is ambushed by a group of Rebels , killing two of his team members and capturing Einar. The Rebels oppose and fight against The Order, to stop its ever-expanding power. Einar slowly learns that there is more to The Order than he initially thought: Night Hunters and other members of The Order are often given a carte blanche in the name of protecting the world against the dark forces, a power that they abuse often. After witnessing the brutal actions of The Order first hand, Einar grows sympathetic to the cause of these Rebels . He now finds himself stuck between three groups: the Dwarves , the The Order and the Rebels , and must learn to find the truth and determine where his loyalties lay.