Desiderata -

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Résumé :
An empire, in the iron grasp of a tyrant, falters alongside a neighboring country on the continent known as Gracyr. Hydropower systems, once reliable and sustainable here, are failing. A different energy source is needed to bring civilization back from the brink. And great powers do rise to try and fulfill that need. The keys to one possible solution are held by four unlikely companions. This motley team embarks on an adventure together, and they find themselves entangled in pursuits ranging from bartending to privateering and bounty hunting. Gerrard, the eldest, is wise and worldly. An aged father and swordsman, he is a well-known champion skilled with the blade. He is wealthy and accomplished, but he yearns for something more than his life has afforded him... so far. Andromeda is a natural born swordfighter, with talent to rival Gerrard's. She is drawn from her home to new territory, where she leans on her aptitude for forging connections with others. In these new places, she seeks an answer many years have taught her does not exist. At least not where she came from. Younger Regina is educated, adaptive, and persistent: driven to play a role in resolving the energy crisis. It's a battle she's fought in before, but back then it was just with her knowledge, not with the sword and shield she carries now. Hector is a darker and less sociable fighter, a tormented young man that has endured his share of hardship. He is a guarded individual, but he is no less a critical piece of the greater design coming together. And he is likewise spurred on by far more than just himself. Armando is the tyrant, a colossus of a man who towers over an empire. He possesses formidable allies, some even that have forsaken their humanity to wield shadow magic and summon dragons. This iron-fisted leader harbors ambitions of drawing from a new energy source. He turns to an otherworldly material from a spacecraft that crashed from the stars long ago. The ship that carried it came with more than just this strange new substance, but such things are secondary to Armando's primary objective. Contained herein is the story of four ragtag companions who go up against a mountain that can't be defeated. They face off with this monstrous titan that has always been victorious. But in so doing, they may harmonize a dissonance of the heart and mind that echoes in you, just as profoundly as it does in them. ...

Sommaire:
A world hangs in the balance. And no one has a chance at saving it. Not alone. On the faltering, hydropowered continent of Gracyr, Armando is a tyrannical emperor ever seeking greater control. And a new energy source from a sunken alien spacecraft creates his best opportunity yet to achieve it. But the very hunger for power that consumes him, that has made him such a titan of his day, may well prove the catalyst to his undoing. Still, it'll take more than that to end his longstanding, oppressive reign. Enter the fate-defying, sword-wielding team of Gerrard, Andromeda, Regina, and Hector. The intersecting life paths of these four unlikely companions might just suffice to seal the emperor's fate, and turn the tide against his campaign for power and control. The journeys of these four converge, and they're set on a collision course with the freedom-crushing emperor. On their adventure, they'll have to leverage strength built from fighting the battles of their pasts. They'll have to defeat the shadow magic Armando's underlings command and unravel ancient mysteries that've eluded their modern world. And they'll have to harness relics long forgotten, and unleash the true potential of the magic they already possess....