144 Foundation

The gentle sunlight pierced through the gray clouds, casting a warm glow upon the bay, giving birth to a new day and inviting the villagers out of their wooden huts. They picked up their harpoons and fishing nets, ready to embark on their daily routines. However, as they approached the harbor, an unexpected sight greeted them.

Instead of the usual quiet and deserted docks, nearly one hundred people knelt upon the wooden planks, their mouths muffled with gags and their bodies stained with blood, some even missing limbs. Blood trickled through the craks in the wood, staining the sea below with a somber hue. They fearfully bowed before a royal figure, a dark-haired man with an air of authority, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked at them.