Halpum wants nothing to do with ruling the Talenta Plains as a whole; he had the chance to become a great king after the signing of the Treaty of Thronehold and rejected it. Now, he looks at the chaos besetting Khorvaire and wonders if he made the proper decision. Halpum believes with all his heart that the Last War has merely gone quiescent, that it must erupt again and again until one power holds dominance. He fears the same is true of the halfling tribes, because the tentative peace and unification inspired by the war have already begun to fray around the edges. Egged on by others of his tribe—many of whom see an Abramam king as a tool to advance their own ambitions and settle old feuds—Halpum might soon be forced into an impossible choice: Risk losing the support and respect he currently enjoys, or make use of it and the military might of his tribe to carve out a throne he doesn’t want.