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THE LIAR KING CHAPTER 0

The World, the Game, and the Lie

I. The Divided Crown

Veritas is a continent of contradiction. It sings of unity, yet thrives on fracture. Truth is praised in law but buried in action. Twenty sovereign states stand like pieces on a board, each claiming peace while sharpening blades beneath the table.

They smile. They shake hands.

They lie.

The balance holds—barely—by treaties inked in falsehood, by spies cloaked in silks, and by masks worn more faithfully than crowns.

The Twenty States of Veritas:

1. Virelia

2. Nytherra

3. Dauvalen

4. Kael'thros

5. Elarin

6. Zhurak

7. Iskareth

8. Quessan

9. Valmere

10. Cindralis

11. Thergund

12. Myrrenhal

13. Ossaria

14. Brailith

15. Fenmaris

16. Kaf

17. Drakenthor

18. Sol'Vera

19. Noctherrin

20. Kyverna

II. The Birth of the Game

The Liar Games began in Kyverna, or so the myth says. What started as covert training for elite deceivers became something more—a ritual, a competition, a hidden war.

Now, the Game is everywhere and nowhere.

It crowns rulers. It buries kings.

And to join is not a choice. It is a calling.

Winners rise as legends.

Losers vanish without name.

Some say the Game controls Veritas.

Others whisper: it is Veritas.

III. Masks and Meaning

In Veritas, a mask is not something to be taken lightly, it is law, identity, a weapon.

To walk unmasked is an act of war.

To remove a rival's mask is a kill greater than murder.

Nobles do not duel with blades, but with implication, rumor, and perfectly timed silence.

Masks can be silver or wood, painted or plain—but the true mask is the self you wear.

Children learn to lie before they learn to write.

Loyalty is fluid. Memory is suspect.

Even truth is camouflaged until it is useful.

IV. The Lie Eater & the Liar King

In every age, the Game whispers of two mythic figures—never seen, never proven, but always feared.

The Liar King: a crowned deceiver who will win the Game so completely that truth itself becomes irrelevant. A ruler shaped by perfect manipulation.

The Lie Eater: a shadow who will unravel the Game, exposing every mask, breaking every falsehood until nothing remains but naked truth.

They are myths, not history.

Icons in stories.

Threats passed down like warnings.

Yet the world watches—

because one day, they may become real.

V. The Present Tension

This cycle of the Game is different.

Something festers beneath the surface—alliances shift faster than ever, old houses fall in days, and rumors speak of an heir born with no mask, and no allegiance.

Some say the Lie Eater walks.

Others say the Liar King is rising.

But no one knows the truth.

They only know what they're told.

And in Veritas, what you're told is almost always a lie.

VI. The First Rule

The Game is not fair.

The Game is not kind.

The Game is Veritas.

And in Veritas, truth is a blade—

But only a lie knows where to strike.

They'll tell you this world is broken.

They'll say the masks were once unnecessary.

That the Lie Eater is coming. That the Liar King already reigns.

That you can still choose a side, and reality is as you perceive, reliable and untainted.

But if I were a liar—

This is exactly what I'd want you to believe.

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