Unlike Evenere and Duren, where the sovereign had almost absolute power, the Kingdom of Katolis was characterized by a complex system of powers, which had its fullest expression in the High Council-later evolved into the Upper Katolean Chamber of the present day.

Not even a king with strong authority, such as Harrow II, could leave the approval of the High Council on war and budget. Not surprisingly, the first weeks of Ezran's reign were spent reforming this important government body. First, the titles of General in Chief and High Priest were reconfirmed to their previous possessors, General Amaya and Opeli of Lorne. The title of High Mage was granted, despite criticism due to his youth, to Callum, the King's brother.

Having covered his back with people of absolute and proven trust, Ezran had to find substitutes for the roles of Master of the Law and High Treasurer. Indeed, Lord Saleer and Lord Brega had actively supported Viren's coup, and had therefore been arrested for high treason after the Battle of the Storm Spire (although Lord Brega had managed to avoid capture by disappearing). Now, given the balancing nature of the royal power that the High Council held, such a move, eliminating any direct opposition, would undoubtedly have caused discontent among the nobility. Therefore it was decided to grant such titles to persons who were not directly related to the ruling house-while carefully avoiding any name that could be associated with Viren's policies.

As Master of the Laws, the elderly Nissem was chosen, as wise in law as he was old, and therefore harmless. Choosing a replacement for Lord Saleer proved more difficult: he, however disloyal, had been an administrator of proven ability. In addition, the royal coffers were completely empty due to war expenses and repairs that Ezran had insisted at all costs to grant to the Elves of Lux Aurea. He needed a man who could heal this crisis, and he was found in the person of Vrigel of Dragontail, an incredibly rich merchant who had made his fortune by smuggling goods between the human realms and Xadia. Of course, King Ezran firmly opposed the appointment of a man of such dubious morality, but he had to give in to political necessities. The choice would have been happy: as Lord Vrigel was aware of both human customs tariffs and elven markets, he would have been indispensable for the creation of the first intercontinental trade treaties in the following years.

Thus, having stabilized the governing bodies, King Ezran could begin to draw up the first laws of what would later become the Corpus Ezranicus, a set of dozens of reforms that would greatly modify the Kingdom from multiple points of view. In the last months of his first year of reign, however, one was the law that was approved by the Council: only one, but of great importance. The so-called Lex Elphica.

It established three fundamental principles: the definitive cessation of hostilities on the eastern border pending a real peace agreement; the freedom for every elf of Xadia to enter the Kingdom freely, with special tax incentives to encourage elven magicians to move to Katolis; finally, complete freedom of worship for the Elves of Xadia-and consequently also for humans of other faiths. To us moderns these laws may seem obvious, but we must not forget the historical context in which they were proposed. In particular, the drafting of the third article caused a real rift in the Council, because of the opposition of the religious faction led by Lady Opeli, which instead proposed a plan of religious conversion of the elven immigrants.

The High Mage Callum maintained a very close correspondence with Rayla and then with the Storm Spire (some of his letters have survived to this day), so he knew that such a decision would affect any possible migration of magicians, also because elf magic was by definition closely related to the mystical-religious aspect. It was he, therefore, who insisted with Lady Opeli, who finally gave in exchange for the promise of the construction of a large temple in the central square of the capital, dedicated to the Justice Protector of the Kings – temple which is still visible today, although altered in later times.

Now, King Ezran probably wanted to impose even more radical reforms, such as the ban on dark magic. However, with the support of his able advisers, he was able to patiently rebuild the Kingdom without undermining the stability of the traditional nobility. We will see in the next chapter how the other human kingdoms handled those same issues differently, and how the foundations of what would later become known as the Great Western War were laid.