"Alright. What am I doing, and how do I start?"

In reply to Jacob (msg # 11):

The king nods, and Sir Raive bows to him, very deeply.

"My king. My oldest friend."

"One last service, Raive. One last."

Sir Raive takes off the circlet, and puts it on your head.

And with it, you feel a presence of something massive and slow.

"I abdicate." Javan says, and you see him die.  Instantly, you feel health and strength flow into you.

"My king." Sir Raive says, and bows to you.

I solemnly bow my head for a while, mourning the death of the old king. I start to panic on the inside as I realise that I am now the king. "What's the plan?"

In reply to Jacob (msg # 13):

Sir Raive blinks.

"I am the King's right hand, his bodyservant. Command me."

He looks a bit frightened.  It seems he thought you'd know what to do.

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 14):
"I don't know what to do. I woke up here, and just saw a man die in front of me. Do we go to war with Duke Brendt? Or figure out another way to get information?"

In reply to Jacob (msg # 15):

"My king, that is your decision." And you find yourself remembering Truman's famous sign 'the buck stops here', and the saying 'lonely lies the head that wears the crown.'

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 16):

"We need to call a meeting between ourselves and Duke Brendt. But keep the men prepared for war."

In reply to Jacob (msg # 17):

"Do you want to meet him in  your private sitting room or in the throne room?"

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 18):


"The throne room. I don't trust the man, and I'd rather not be dead because of his antics."

In reply to Jacob (msg # 19):

You're sitting in the throne room.  Its forty feet long, and twenty feet wide.  In the right and left corners next to your dark wooden throne (which is uncomfortable) are standing screens.  Behind each is a crossbowman with a loaded crossbow.

The wooden doors at the end open, and the Doorman speaks loudly.

"Duke Brendt, Ruler of the Southern Wastes, and liege to his Majesty King Javan."

A short, stocky man with black hair, and green velvet vest and leggings trimmed with gold bustles in.  He walks right up to a point ten feet from you, and stops on the only white stone in the gray stone floor.

"Your Majesty, what means this summoning, and could it not have waited until the next day?  And what are these clothes you wear?"  He openly sneers at your Earth clothing.

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 20):

"With all due respect, today has been a... weird day. I was somehow pulled from my world into here, and saw the old king pass away in front of me mere minutes later. Now, before he passed, I was told about an armor piece you gave Javan. I heard from him that he was ill the night he put on the armor. What did you do to the armor?"

In reply to Jacob (msg # 21):

"Are you mad? You are King Javan?"

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 22):

"Am I mad? No. Right now, a lot of crazy things have happened. The king died in front of me and said I was the king now that he has died. I need answers, and I need them now."

In reply to Jacob (msg # 23):

"You look like him." He says cautiously.  And then he considers what else you said.  "I gave no armor to King Javan.  Why should I? I despised the man, as you should well know.  Why would I give him a gift?" He pauses.  "And you say the king, if you are not lying for some obscure reason now, became sick after he had this armor?  My armor maker left me a note four days past saying he was going to  visit his sick father."

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 24):

I frown as I hear him claim he didn't give Javan the armor. "I am not lying, my lord. I need the name of this armorsmith and I need to know where he is, now."

In reply to Jacob (msg # 25):

"Master Blaise, and he should be in South-on-Ward village where his father lives or on the raised causeway between which passes through Rear-on-Ward and Declas-on-Temp and then comes to my mount, Brendt Mountain.  I can send my men to fetch him if you like."  You notice he does not say 'my king'.

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 26):

I solemnly nod as he explains where to find the man. "No. I will seek him myself. I will head out as soon as possible."

In reply to Jacob (msg # 27):

Sir Raive gets you outfitted with chainmail, a gold washed helmet, demi-rhinoceros leather gloves, a two handed great sword, and a main gauche, demi-rhinoceros pants, and thigh high leviathan hide boots.  And then he drapes over this a tunic of blue with golden sea waves in four lines decorating it.

Eerily enough, it fits perfectly.

And the crown fits into the open faced helmet.

"Now, no one, except the King's own mother would know you were not the King." Sir Raive says.

He then takes you out to a red haired horse, a stallion, which seems skittish of you.

Now, you can see the outside.  You're on a rocky hill, a thousand feet high.  To your left are black ragged cliffs and the crashing cold sea.  To your right is a line of hills becoming mountains the further away they go.  In front of you is a descending field of a hundred feet which comes to a twenty foot tall stone wall, and then going down that is a medieval city, and beyond that is another wall.  And then farms, and in the distance a village, and then green haze, and a hill standing out of it.

"That is Mount Brendt.  The Duke rules a wasteland of water and trees in the water, connected by causeways.  Our fish and our medicines and our rice comes from his lands.  And he also offers quite a deal of resistance to southern intruders from the Matriarchy of Tamos who look with desire upon your lands, my king." Sir Raive says as he gives you a warm drink.  Its a cool and gusty land.

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 28):

I nod. "Shall we be off, then?"

In reply to Jacob (msg # 29):

The horse ride with Sir Raive is a test of endurance.  He does his best to make it as easy as possible for you, but for him, with his elegant riding style, and utter familiarity with horses, he has the time as you struggle onward.

The trip is across sheep pastures, and then on to a causeway through a chilly swamp.  Night is spent at a castle where you spot an unusual amount of Tanakian gold coin in the hands of the locals.

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 30):

I quietly take note of the gold - in all of the classes I had taken and books I had read I assumed that peasants and servants would never have this much gold. Something to look into.

With that I head to sleep, getting ready for the next morning. I wince as I wake up, sore from the ride before.

In reply to Jacob (msg # 31):

You travel down to another hillock with a village, and then on to another causeway for an hour.  And then up ahead, you see a slumped but standing green skinned figure clothed in wet reeds.  He's standing, facing you two on the causeway.  He has a crooked staff in his hand.

"Swamp goblin." Sir Raive says as he looks to the right and to the left amongst the cold waters of the swamp on both sides of the causeway.  "My lord, this is strange.  They are not friendly to Man, but seldom would they challenge an armed knight."

"Shall we kill him? Or do we negotiate out, even though we are enemies?"

In reply to Jacob (msg # 33):

"There are likely some more with him, hidden in the swamps to our right and left.  If we can get by without a fight, it would be good.  But we are both bigger and stronger and clad in armor with steel swords..."

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 34):

"I guess we should go and try to get by, then."