Keepers of Lore/Regions/High Toprak/Scroll One
“The Pride of Man Never Fades Even Though It Should, But, Youth and Inexperience Always Return Despite My Stories”
In one such realm, Donghai, there ruled a brutish and ignorant King. This King, I believe his name was Avel, it may have been Carsso, never listened to his subjects and instead ruled to his own whims. Some days he demanded that all in his visible presence wear yellow, other days he killed those wearing yellow on sight. Some nights he bedded his own species, others those invited from farms. When he gathered the Lords to his Court he would speak for hours rambling and irritating the ears of everyone present. I remember one time he was mid sentence on the subject of how many spokes a wagon wheel should have when he abruptly changed to the length of hair each of us were allowed to have at Court. As soon as he made a decree on the appropriate length he had barbers rush in and cut off all of our hairs! The worst part was that he had specifications for each side of our heads to be different lengths. Those were terrible times for the Donghai people. Many tried to tolerate him and be patient with his inconsistent rule. Inevitably, gossip and conspiring led to the birth of political factions. One faction said that the King must remain King until his death, for he is the King and his Crown was absolute despite the inadequacies of the Man. Another group urged the people to replace the King with someone sensible, reasonable, and peaceable. They said that it was not enough for a Man to wear a Crown, but he must behave appropriately too. A third group said that instead of discussing politics and the fate of the King, the Court should begin planning the Charming Salamander Festival, where the young flowering boys and girls would dance and sing and prove to their progenitors that they deserved to reach adulthood. This Festival was always a favourite time of year. It occurred in the Spring I believe, perhaps Summer. For sure not in the Winter. The youths whom did not earn permission to continue living were eaten by their parents. Ironic, no? Remember that the next time you disobey your father.
Anyway, this is where I have to lower my tone of voice because we enter the sad violent portion of the scroll. An argument broke out between the two political factions, they ignored the increasingly loud voices of the third party, and it erupted into a fight. At first, duels of single combat sparked across the little realm. Then, the lords who lost said they wanted more duels between more duelists. For this, they raised whole groups of duelists to fight other groups of duelists on an open field. The rebel Lords sent their soldiers to fight in the regal civil war. I should mention that the King knew absolutely nothing about all of this. Everyone involved kept their disagreements secret when they were around the King and he knew nothing of the vicious battles that took place in his territory. The people killed each other over the decision to retain or recall the King. The rebels demanded the King replaced, the loyalists demanded the King left alone. For seventy years this war waged on. In fact, the war outlived the very King they were fighting over. The second and third generation of soldiers fought for feuds long past. The King was not replaced during this period.
In the end, the rebels won and a Queen was installed. She was a beautiful chubby woman with almond eyes and dark hair. Her name was Alicia. No, it was Mirabella. Queen Penelope was beloved by all her people. She meant a fresh start and a new hope for the future of the realm. In the beginning, she promised to be committed and responsible. These things, she said, were lacking in her predecessor and caused the serious strife of their land. Eventually, she too succumbed to laziness and dull apathy, but by then the original disgruntled Lords were long dead and their replacements worshipped her as their absolute monarch. That is until she began to decree absurd rules and then late at night, between bouts of drinking and gorging on food, her nobles discussed whether or not she was fit to wear the Crown of Donghai. So you see young noble, everything ended exactly the way it started.
This, we learn to be our Destiny.
