In the Beginning...

In the Beginning…

In the beginning, there were only the stars. From beyond the stars fled the King and Queen, the Queen heavy with children. Here, they found a vast emptiness, a safe place. The King used his power to declare this his realm, so that they would be safe. The queen looked to the King and said “My love, this place is quiet and safe, but it is no place to raise my children. Please, create a cradle for them to sleep.”

The king nodded, "You are right my love, I will build a place for our children, for them to live and frolic and play." and using his magic, created a great land of rocks and stones and water and air for the children to live. He stayed by his queen as she gave birth, and from her, flowed all living things, including The Children, the first sentient. But as with all mothers with many children, the Queen could not watch over them all.

“I need help my love, I cannot watch all the living creatures at once, and though your power is great you cannot either. Combine your magic with mine, and let us create aides like our children, but not like them.”

The King agreed and they set to work, for his love for his queen was as boundless as the infinite, and he bent reality for her happiness.

From the cold of the first winter's snow, the Knight was created to guard the gods and their creation from all threats, empowered to fight even the things from beyond the stars.

From the stone plans written by the King the Scribe was created, to watch over all and keep track of the comings and goings of the court.

From the swift rushing streams the Page boy was created to ease communication between the court and the Knight.

From the first oak tree, the Captain was created, to manage and control the spirits and angels that would guard alongside the Knight.

From a pool of quicksilver, the Physician was created to see to oversee all of the living creatures of the realm.

From voice of the winds the Vizier was created to advise all the gods, and to give them new ways to think and rule.

From the first ray of dawn they created the HandMaiden, to spread light and joy, and to join the Queen in the creation of all things.

From the darkness between the stars and the shadows cast upon the ground, she whose name is lost to the past, who is now only known as the Poisoner, whose purpose was to shield them with her cloak of night from the things beyond the stars.

From the first twilight, they created the Cup-Bearer to bear the starlight cup to the King from the well of life.

To each of these, the queen breathed life into the new guardians of their world, and the king and queen welcomed them as members of their court.

For a time, all was good in the world. The children grew and progressed, and misbehaved in awful ways. But they were children of the gods, and their parents loved them. The gods where not perfect, but did their best for their King and Queen who was as Mother and Father to them.

But the Poisoner grew envious of the King and Queen. She wanted the King, and desired him, and soon her thoughts grew to hate the Queen, believing that she kept the king from her. So she went to counsel with the Vizier, and from his advice, devised a plan. From the Physician, she requested a brew of madness. He, uncaring for what it might be used for, but only concerned with the possibility to learn its power, concocted the brew. She then went to the Captain, and spoke dark secrets into his ear of power and glory, that he would supplement the Knight as the favored soldier in her court, should he only ignore her machinations.

Now the King drew his power from a well of starlight, which had to be purified and carried to him each day by the Cup Bearer. To her sister, the youngest and the Cup Bearer, the Poisoner offered much wine and drink, and poisoned her sister with things that drove her wild with desire for them so that she neglected her duty, only wanting to feast more, and such neglected her duty to attend to her Mistress and Master's care. The Poisoner then took the cup to the King herself, claiming that her sister was sick and unable to do so. As he drank from the poisoned cup, his mind became addled and she spoke dark whispers into his ear, telling him that the Queen was unfaithful, had lied to him, that the Knight and the Queen co-conspired to dispose of him. There was some truth to this, for the greatest lies have seeds of truth in them, for the Knight did love the Queen, and she him, but her love for the King was greater still. The Knight had not acted upon his love, sworn to duty, but his glance and his stare had not been hidden from the Queen.

Quickly enraged, the King took up his sword, the sword of the stars, strode into the Queen's bedchamber, and attempted to kill her while she slept. However, the Handmaiden, who's curiosity knew no bounds, had followed the King. Upon seeing him attempt to strike her mother, she dove in the path of the blade, waking the Queen and allowing her to defend herself. The Page Boy, having been following the Handmaiden in turn ran to summon the Knight from his quest. The Page then brought the Knight to them, who immediately attacked the mad King. The battle raged through the court's castle, to the lands beyond, crushing mountains, razing them, cutting canyons, and much more. Finally, exhausted from his attack on the Queen and his mind addled from the poison in his veins, the King unleashed an attack that used all his power, but was deflected to the ground by the Knight. The great cut split the world in two, and the King could not defend himself from the Knight's powerful counter attack, which drove him far back before slitting his throat, his body falling to the ground as his blood spilled out and poisoned the land.

The Knight returned to the castle, weak but alive, the Scribe waiting for him. The Scribe offered the Knight and the Queen his book, which contained all the Poisoner's deeds. While his nature kept him silent as the plot unfolded, now that the deed was done the record was undeniable. The Knight, in his anger, but lacking the power to destroy them, banished the Vizier, the Captain, and the Poisoner to the land where the King's body lay. Though the Cupbearer and the Physician where spared the Knight's wrath, they both decided to leave as well. The Physician believed that he would be restrained to a point that he could not work for fear of further conflict by the others. "You would blame my creations for other's evils" he proclaimed and left, though he promised that he could be called upon for his remedies and creations as always.

The Cupbearer, taking the shame of the incident upon herself despite reassurances by the others, took her leave. She wandered the land, sipping the poison and miasma from the land and purifying it, an eternal penance for her dereliction of her duty.

Her sister, the Handmaiden, lived throug the attack but with her once perfect beauty now marred by a ragged scar on her stomach, though the handmaiden was not ashamed. "It is simply another decoration on my body that proves my life and love!" she extolled, decorating her body with ink to tell the stories where she went, and never to hide the scar she earned by saving her queen.

The page, pure of heart was shattered at the events he played part in, even if he took no blame, and he swore that delivering messages was all that he would do, since it was the only way he could be sure he was doing the right thing.

The Knight looked upon the destroyed castle and decimated land, and the looming threat of the banished trinity with their dead King. Though he wished to declare his love for the Queen, he could not risk them striking during his distraction, as he believed his love blinded him to this first attempt. To that end, he pulled his heart from his chest and gave it to the Queen in a box, his body becoming as cold as the ice and snow from whence he came, and swore that he would not take back his heart until the trinity of darkness had been destroyed.