Untitled as of Yet
an excerpt

Prologue - Enter The Realm

There was, a long time ago, a man many considered a wise guy. And indeed, he was wise; so wise, in fact, it became part of his name. He hated it, and insisted that nobody call him Villam the Wise to his face; he was born without honorifics, and could live just fine without them, thank you very much.

But he was wise. Considered ahead of his time, his philosophies and prophesies changed the very nature of the world around him. People started to view things in a whole new light, after Villam had the sense to shine that light on what they were viewing. Because he was the source of these reality-altering observations, people started to come to him frequently for advice and insight into everything.

And I do mean everything. Villam the Wise became more than tired of it; it was downright intrusive. How, he mused to one of his close friends, do these people expect help when all they did was clutter his brain?

Finally, he had an idea. He would lay down one last prophecy, then he would 'die', disappearing from the world at large to finally have some peace and quiet, and time to ponder on things, like the nature of life, and the reason for the existence of fingernails, which was a matter that fascinated him greatly.

The prophesy was simple, and dramatically given to the world. He climbed the tallest tower of the capital city of Harabec, the widely acknowledged center of the Known Kingdoms, and (after a great deal of puffing and panting; the tower really was tall) stood upon the edge in a most dramatic fashion. He flung his arms wide, as if to embrace all beneath him, and proclaimed:

"Peoples of the Known Kingdoms! In one-hundred and seventy-five years, a great darkness will come from the Unknown, and envelop this land in a time of pain and suffering. But fear not! This darkness's arrival will signal the birth of a baby boy, who in twenty-five years time will rise and strike down this menace, bringing harmony and light back to all who support him. He will be your new king, and you will follow him, for he will know what is right and just!"

Nobody thought to ask for specifics on where to find the boy, or what he would look like; they were too concerned with the fact that immediately after proclaiming this, Villam dove off the tower in a graceful manner, straight into the stones below. Literally, into; his hands held before him, he channeled a magical force that turned his point of impact into a portal to a cave he had scouted beforehand. Here, he would spend the rest of his days with nobody around, save for his fingernails, whom at this point Villam firmly believed were sentient and the source of his talents.

His prophecy was truth, as were all others he put forth; exactly one-hundred and seventy-five years later, a wild and dangerous band came from the Unknown Lands, calling themselves the Dragon Clan. Riding fierce, fire-breathing beasts the likes of which had only been described in fable, they swiftly invaded Harabec, and slew the entire Royal Family; they then proclaimed themselves rulers of the land, and replaced all loyal Guardsmen of the Realm with their own servants and lackeys.

Harsh laws replaced fair ones; steep taxes replaced generous. The land spiraled into darkness and misery, and the leader of the Dragon Clan, a dangerous, powerful Dark magician named K'tul, personally slew every baby boy born in the year of their takeover. But only the ones born in Harabec; those born in smaller, outlying villages survived the Siege, and with them survived hope.

Now, twenty-five years have passed. A daring group believes they have found their prophesied hero, and has invested much time into his training and into readying him for his inevitable battle with K'tul.

Unfortunately, we come into this fable in the moments after he has choked to death on a rather tough bit of meat.