Author Note: This is an experimental Quest story I have wanted to try for a while. Unlike Adventures in Syrada this quest will have strategy elements: Gathering resources, creating an army (or multiple armies), gaining control over territories, etc. Though the strategy elements won't come up until after the first few chapters.

The world of Karladia is one of many worlds in the universe. In that world there's just one continent, also called Karladia. No one is sure if the world is named after the continent, or if the continent is named after the world.

In addition to the continent there are multiple islands, some small and some large, but even together the islands are a fraction of the continent's size.

On Karladia there were three major powers, usually called "The Three Empires": The Graam Empire in the north, the Empire of Nilvea in the south-west, and the Empire of Alteria in the south-east.

Graam was inhabited by Beastmen - people that looked like a cross between a human and a beast. Sometimes those beasts would be mundane, such as a bear or an wolf, other times they would be a bit more unusual, such as a unicorn or a thunderbird.

Nilvea was inhabited by multiple races: Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Ogres, Gnomes, Dwarves, Undead, and more. It was led by the Lich Emperor, also called the Eternal Emperor - an ancient lich of incredible power. Though most of the decisions in the empire were taken by the Council, with the emperor getting involved only if they could not reach an agreement. The Council consisted from one representative of each race.

Last, but not least, Alteria was inhabited by a race that looked like a cross between humans and elves. In many worlds they would be considered half-elves. Perhaps they are half-elves and have merely forgotten, or perhaps they only look that way.

For centuries the empires existed in peace, but no more. Graam's increasing population led to insufficient food and to people starving. The Emperor and Empress that were ruling the empire at the time decided to solve the issue by taking some of the lands that belonged to Nilvea and Alteria. So they started a war... and it ended badly for them. The rulers of Graam had vastly underestimated their neighbours, and within just five years Graam had lost two-thirds of its territory. The war ended when both the Emperor and Empress were killed. Their only son took the throne and became known as the Boy-Emperor of Graam.

For the next few years there was peace, with all three empires slowly recovering from the heavy losses they suffered during the Graam War. During that time the surviving Graam nobles never forgot their crushing defeat, and kept looking for the means to take back what they had lost. Finally they found a way...

The Boy-Emperor and his closest advisors joined forces in an unprecedented summoning ritual. A ritual meant to summon a creature far more powerful than anything previously summoned. Alas, they succeeded...

The creature they summoned was none other than the Demon King Xa'arg'ho'tra, a being far beyond anything they could have imagined - and he was not amused. In the blink of an eye the capital of Graam was reduced to ruins, all of the people living there - dead. Using the power obtained from all the lives he had just taken Xa'arg'ho'tra created a permanent portal leading to his domain, and through that portal his demonic hordes spilled forth. Within a day the remaining Graam territory was overrun and the demons invaded the other two empires. Both Nilvea and Alteria were caught unprepared and suffered heavy losses, including the loss of their capitals. No one knows for sure if the Lich Emperor of Nilvea and the Empress of Alteria survived or were killed along with many others.

Alteria has been reduced to less than a third of its original territory from before the Graam War and the demons advance each day, taking more and more. In the south-east of part of the former empire there is a young woman preparing to leave home and flee Karladia . What will become of her? Will she become a great summoner in the service of a great ruler? Or will she become a ruler herself? Will she spend the rest of her life in some world she didn't even know existed, or will she come back and, against all odds, defeat the demons? Or will she become someone's favorite slave? Or even just another woman buried in a nameless grave? No one knows yet, for this is her story...