The Mad King

Lustadt is a city trembling with rumors. Ten years have passed since the young King Leopold vanished into the grim Castle of Blentz, and the people have learned to endure the heavy taxes and cruel rule of his uncle, Regent Peter. Now a runaway horse has carried word that the boy‑king escaped into the wild mountains beyond the plain, stirring hope and fear alike. The streets buzz with whispered plans and the looming threat of the regime’s retaliation.

Peter, desperate to secure his grip on power, summons his dark‑visaged minister Coblich to organize a hunt for the fugitive. Coblich, ever the shrewd schemer, points to old von der Tann and the tangled web of spies that could betray the king’s trail. As soldiers are dispatched into the Old Forest, the chase becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse, with the kingdom’s fate hanging on whether Leopold can stay hidden long enough to rally his loyalists. Listeners will be drawn into the tense political intrigue and the raw wilderness that frames this early pursuit.