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Long ago, there existed a kingdom called Val’Noria. It was a place of inexplicable beauty and harmony. The people there lived long, healthy, and prosperous lives, and were ruled by a benevolent queen and a prince. It was said that Val’Noria was the closest that mankind would ever come to heaven.

Surrounding the mighty royal castle was a gorgeous courtyard filled with exotic plants and animals found nowhere else. Among these creatures was the one that was believed to be responsible for the seemingly endless rein of peace: the Ruby Peacock. It was a bird of beauty beyond words, with feathers even more fair and vibrant than the jewel it was named after. It was said that as long as this bird lived, no harm would ever come to Val’Noria or its people, and this was likely true, for the bird had lived for over one thousand years and in that time there had been no storms, plagues, wars, famines, or anything to trouble the people aside from a rainy day.

The Ruby Peacock was not the only creature to inhabit Val’Noria’s courtyard, however; gruesome and terrible beasts also prowled the groves. The seemed to be docile, but none would dare to provoke them. Most of the creatures went unnamed, but two were so mighty and terrible that they stood out even among beasts.

One was simply called “Lizard.” It had a grey, scaled body as long as a river, and short, but powerful legs ending in ravenous claws. But fearsome as Lizard was, he was no match for the dreaded “Rhinok.” He stood a thirty feet looking down on all with the face of an irate Rhino. Its thick, grey hide was a natural suit of armor and no weapon -- not that any weapons existed in Val’Noria -- known to man could pierce it. At it’s side it carried a massive stone slab with a handle sticking out of it. It would be Rhinok who would bring about the fall of Val’Noria.

One day, a sorcerer from a far away kingdom came to this peaceful kingdom with the intention of harnessing the power of the beasts in Val’Noria’s courtyard. To do this, however, he would need to Usurp the thrown. With a simple spell, the sorcerer disguised himself as the queen and traveled around the kingdom, gaining the support of others either through trickery, or through hypnotism.

Soon, the queen would be forgotten, and the sorcerer’s most foul spell would kick in: as the people’s memory of her faded, so would her humanity and she would before all as a shaggy dog, thus leaving the palace, and the courtyard, open to this sorcerer. There was one who could see through the spell, however: the queen’s only son, the prince.

Desperate to save his mother, the prince devised a plan to counter the spell; it was based on memory and popularity, so all he needed to do was make the people forget about the sorcerer. To do this, however, the prince would have to do something amazing; he would have to slay one of the dreaded creatures of the courtyard.

So, with no course of action left, the prince made his way to the balcony, planning on how to kill the dreaded Rhinok. The beast, however, seemed to know the prince’s plan, and lumbered out into the open. With a grunt, it drew a gargantuan sword out of the stone slab and brought it down, not on the prince, but on the innocent Ruby Peacock. The bird fell limp.

There was a moment of silence, then the ground began to quake. All the creatures of the Courtyard surged forward, slaughtering everything in their path. Leading these creatures was Lizard, bathing the castle in a torrid stream of fire. Rhinok, however, did not move. He had punished the kingdom for its insolence and now it would crumble, just as the bird fell before his blade.

The prince was forced to flee for his life, however, only he only managed to escape with one of his closest friends. His mother, his entire family, his kingdom were all destroyed. With a heavy heart, the prince left his smoldering kingdom and escaped to the other side of the world before chaos engulfed him.

While the prince’s friend managed to assimilate into the foreign cultures, the prince never found happiness. He even became envious of his friend, and they became very distant from one another. The prince wandered many foreign lands, never knowing what to do or even where to sleep, and eventually stumbled across the ruins of Val’Noria. This was his only home, and it would be his grave…