2
The queen woke to find the king quite ill.
She prayed for the aid of the gods, as no others could cure the affliction.
She prayed for the aid of the gods, as no others could cure the affliction.
If you choose Mercury
to answer her prayers, go to Page 2. |
If you choose Vulcan
to answer her prayers, go to Page 3. |
Page 2
Mercury took the form of a butterfly, flitting through the castle’s garden towards the somber queen.
In her mind he said: far to the north, high in the mountains, awaits an ogre in the seventh cave; return with one of its gilded feathers and your kingdom will be saved The queen made haste with a legion of brave retainers. There were knights and bards and wizards and rogues and sorcerers and swashbucklers and lawyers and doctors and bakers and brewers and farmers and cobblers and sailors and servants and nobles and merchants. The quest to the ogre’s cave took four years, and despite the ogre devouring all of the queen’s men, she succeeded, plucking a feather from the ogre and escaping. Alas, with her regiments gone, the voyage home took six years. In that time the king had grown weaker and weaker, but yet lived. With hope, the queen placed the feather in the hands of the king, but the moment they touched, the king died. The royal vizier called for the king’s will at once but it could not be found. They searched and searched but no one could find it anywhere. Being late in the evening, and overcome with grief, the vizier suggested everyone get a good night’s rest and look again tomorrow. As the kingdom slept, the gilded feather, quilled a new will, in the king’s hand no less, leaving the reign to the queen. |
Page 3
Vulcan took the form of a crab, scuttling into the deepest depths of the ocean.
Unnoticed by the lord of the sea’s servants, he took a pinch of the fine sand that lay there and traversed back to his volcanic forge. As-the-crab-walks, this took four year’s time. Knowing that any problem could be solved with things, he set to work molding the sand into the form of a ring, and then lowered it into the volcano. After six years, he pulled a translucent ring of glass filigree from the lava, and had it delivered to the queen. The king had just died and the grieving queen accepted the anonymous gift graciously. The moment she put it on, the king’s will turned to glass, transparent and unreadable. How was the royal court to decide who would take the king’s place? Now, in the time since the king became ill, the queen had taken care of the kingdom’s finances, and created many new social programs, including the training of new regiments after the mysterious disappearance of the kingdom’s knights and bards and wizards and rogues and sorcerers and swashbucklers and lawyers and doctors and bakers and brewers and farmers and cobblers and sailors and servants and nobles and merchants. It seemed only logical, given the state of the king’s will, to give the responsibility of rule formally to the queen, as she had been doing this entire time. |