(Prologue) Banners in a Forest

You wake up groggy and dazed on soft dirt; the last few moments are a blur. You don’t know where you are or how you got here. You pull yourself up and find yourself in a forest at night. Your eyes may be playing tricks on you, but even with the unusually bright moonlight, the forest has no color outside shades of grey, from the trees to their leaves to the grass beneath your bare feet. The air around you is cold, and you realize you have no clothes. You hear crickets chirp, and it somehow echoes with a hollow tone. With no better direction to go than forward, you walk forward, clutching your shoulders to keep yourself warm, but this chill seems to seep into your bones.

Eventually, you find a campfire—finally, warmth. You approach the fire to find a clearing, and you notice banners at the edges of the clearing. Banners of various colors with depictions of animals on them. Royal crests, you think. Each of them is a banner of royalty.

“The banner you choose to warm yourself under.” comes a voice in your head, as if a memory from something you read once. “Tells the story of the life you had, the power you wield, and the path you shall take.”

You look around and feel one of the banners is calling to you, but which one is it?