Sunday, October 15, 2006

An introduction and history, or what I wish you to know

Once upon a time... many stories begin with those 4 words, and this one is no different in that respect, though I suppose that as many stories that begin thus, end with 'happily ever after', and thus far, that is not the case in this story.

Once upon a time, a handsome young nobleman was riding his horse along the outskirts of his father's keep. He was a haughty lad, just 19 and feeling himself the greatest in the lands... at most anything. He was almost unrivaled in the lands when it came to fencing, riding a horse was as walking to him, natual and full of grace and fair of form and face, the delight of all the women who laid eyes upon him.

Haughty though he was, he was raised well, and taught the ways of the court. His father, being the Lord of the land, made sure he had the best tutors, much to his dismay. Many days were spent in study of the basics of the day, heraldry, fencing, jousting, the like. Most would think this an enjoyable existance, but the young man was not happy with it, he wanted more... he wanted independence. His father dictated when he would eat, sleep, train, and when he would study. He did find time to flirt with the maids, the servant girls, the local ladies but his father did not approve of such activity, so he sent him away to train at a monestary.

While he was on his way he came across a man, being beaten by 3 others. He, being raised as he was, jumped to help the man against the three large assailants, But the man who was being beaten, when the lad turned to glance at him, did not seem to be bleeding. He killed one of the assailants, disarmed another, and was about to run the other through when he felt a sharp blow to his head, and all went black.

He awoke in a cell, chained to a wall about a foot from the floor. He felt as if every part of his body was broken, and breathing was labored and extremely difficult and painful. bruises already covering a majority of his visible body. His fine clothes had been stripped from him, leaving him in only tattered leggings.

His captors would come to him each evening to ask how much his life would be worth to his father. He told them once that his life was nothing to his father... that he was the 9th of 11 children, and being sent into the priesthood. His captors scoffed at this and slapped him across the face so hard that his head banged into the stone wall from which he hung.

They said, "Your father sends you to the priesthood in silks, with 100 gold in your pouch, a sword made by the finsest craftsmen, and a horse worth more than more peasants could scrounge in a lifetime?"

He awoke the next morning, no longer chained against the wall... Instead in a cell without windows, black as night, and smelled of rotting flesh and food and ...other things. There he stayed for, as far as he could estimate, a three full months... the floor would get damp as the moon changed phases.

How could he ever stand it, you might ask, well, that is a good question.

Some claim that he began speaking with those that previously came to rest in his cell, others, say the gods themselves entertained him out of pity, others still say that he went insane in that cell. And yet another handful think he filled his head with thoughts of revenge and hatred for those who held him... who is to say who is correct, perhaps all of them hold a little truth.

The lad waited for yet another month, and one day, while the guards ate, devised a plan of escape. When the guard came to take his plate, he grabbed him and put both hands around the guards neck, He squeezed as hard as he could, pulling the guard close to the window. It is rumored he whispered to the guard, "It is regretful that your life must end like this, for you were a good man," as the man's last bit of life slipped out of him. He took the key from the guard's body, let himself out, and dispatched the other guard as well. Taking the uniform of one of the guards and putting it on, he put their bodies into his cell and locked the door.

Easily he left the castle, never once even being questioned, but then he turned back and entered the castle once again, made his way to the throne room, and killed the one sitting on each throne before they could scarcely call out for the guards, whhom he had relieved to go have a drink.
The lad then turned to leave, and standing before the door was a woman, tall and lovely. She said to the lad, "Evil was done to you, but returning evil for evil results in greater loss than you can imagine." She mumbled a few words and said once more to the lad, "Upon you this day has been laid a curse..." And she vanished.

You might be asking yourself, 'Why did the woman wait?' No one knows the answer to that question. Some say she was one of the fates, others a witch in service to the king, others yet a goddess herself...

The lad made his way home, and lived for 6 years with his father until he was killed... stabbed by a dagger in his sleep. No longer a lad, he became lord of the keep, and found one morning, at his gate, a 'gift' that bore the inscription, 'Death comes to all, takes to itself the masses, but while this stands, its image death passes.'

Cryptic and telling all at once, the man never again saw the changes that came with age, indeed, it seemed he would stay that age forever...

Years went by, then decades, the centuries. The man lived his life by striving after pleasures of
any kind, including the pursuit of knowledge.

As I said, not exactly happily ever after, though you do not have the whole story, I must keep some mystery to make me intriguing...