News of the catastrophe at Drakensmar spread like wildfire across the kingdom.
At first, few believed it. An entire city swallowed by water, drowned in a deluge of destruction? It was the stuff of myths, apocalyptic tales meant to scare children into obedience.
But as the official newspapers ran the headlines, complete with photographs of the ruined city and grim-faced soldiers pulling survivors from the wreckage, denial crumbled into horrified acceptance.
Public reaction varied wildly. Some were gripped by fear, uncertain of what force could so thoroughly annihilate a city.
Those who had family in the old capital were devastated, desperately searching lists of survivors published by the authorities, hoping for a familiar name.
Others, detached from the tragedy, merely acknowledged the horror before moving on, deeming it irrelevant so long as it did not touch their own lives.
