Golden

Hi. I got some positive feedback from this and I thought you would like to read it as well. This is something I did for my Creative Writing class on Halloween. We had to choose one fairy tale and rewrite it. I choose Rumplestiltskin because we don't have a lot of re-imagined or re-told versions of this story. The majority of people who read this in my class said they would've liked to have seen more of the relationships between the characters. If you enjoy reading this I hope it won't be a problem to ask you to share it with others. I'll be posting the short story I tried to get submitted soon, either on here or on my AuthorsDen page. Which would you prefer? While you think about that here's the version of Rumplestiltskin that I call Golden:

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Schifful a miller lived with his daughter. His wife had passed away shortly after naming her Linda. Their daughter was fairer than every maiden in the kingdom, yet no one in the village seemed to think much of her because she was the child of the miller. The miller had high hopes for Linda because his wife was capable of using magic. He tried to help his daughter discover the gift but every attempt ended in failure.

            “Father, I don’t think I have Mother’s gift.” Linda said one day.

            “Nonsense. You must be capable of using magic. You got more from her than you did me.” The miller said. “Why when she was around she’d make the dishes do themselves and turn flour into a feast fit for the king. Why, she could even spin straw into gold!” He exclaimed loudly.

            It was at that moment that the prince, Ronan by name, was passing by. He didn’t hear all of what was said but he did hear something about straw and gold. Peering into the window he saw Linda sitting at a spinning wheel and fell in love. He believed that she could spin straw into gold and once he mounted his horse he rushed to the castle to tell his father, King Ludwig, what he had heard and seen.

            King Ludwig pondered with great interest. He had a great storeroom of treasure and was always seeking ways to make it grow. He had laid many taxes on the people yet that wasn’t enough to satisfy his greed. If someone could spin straw into gold, then he would be the richest king in the world. He didn’t stop to wonder why the miller’s home was so poor because all he cared about was getting the girl with the great ability.

            That very night King Ludwig sent his guards to bring the miller’s daughter to him. They broke down the door of the house, killed the miller, and brought Linda to the castle.

            “I hear you can spin straw into gold.” King Ludwig said. “I have filled three rooms with straw and will give you three nights to prove your ability to me. If you succeed in turning every single straw into gold I will let you live. Fail and you shall join your father.”

            “This is why you brought me here? This is why you killed my father?” Linda screamed at King Ludwig.

            “An unfortunate tragedy. If you fail, then you can look forward to a reunion with him.” With that the king dismissed her and the guards dragged Linda to a room filled with straw it filled every corner except the area where there was a spinning wheel. The guards pushed her in and locked the door.

            Once she was alone Linda began to weep. Her family was now completely gone and she was being asked to do something that she knew was impossible for her. If she had her mother’s skills it would be easy. Yet she knew she had no gift and when the morning came she would die.

            “Why are you so sad?” A voice asked. Linda looked up to see a little man sitting at the window. She was surprised because there was no way to climb up on the outside and she was sure no one else had been in the room when she was thrown in. None of the straw had been disturbed so he couldn’t have been hiding in the stacks.

            “The king has asked me to do the impossible and spin all this straw into gold. If I fail then I shall…” Linda broke back into sobs as she remembered her father’s fate.

            “Fear not. I can do it for you.” The man said as he jumped beside her. “I’ll spin this straw for you and you will be able to keep your life.”

            “All three nights?”

            “All three nights.”

            Linda didn’t know what to think. She had never really trusted strangers and this strange little man just appearing out of nowhere and offering to help her seemed too good to be true.

            “Who are you?” She asked finally.

            “Someone who is willing to help you.” The man said.

            Linda wasn’t fooled. “What do you want in return?”

            “I’ll accept whatever you can give me.”

            Linda had very few things she could give. All she had was the necklace that she had made years ago, the ring that had belonged to her mother, and the clothes on her back. The necklace and ring were her prized possessions. Yet her father had always taught her that sometimes things happen for a reason. With great reluctance she took off the necklace and handed it to the little man. The man accepted the gift and got to work.

            As Linda watched the straw which the man spun turned to gold! She could hardly believe it. This man had to be magic if he could do the deed her father said her mother could. Her eyes grew heavy as the night dragged on and soon she fell asleep.

            She awoke when the guards entered the room the next morning with King Ludwig. He inspected the room to make sure not a strand of straw had been left. To everyone’s amazement every last piece of straw had been turned to gold. The king’s greed however was not satisfied. He had Linda taken to another room filled with even more straw as if he was trying to intimidate her. After the door had been shut Linda looked around as if contemplating where to begin.

            Prince Ronan visited her several times throughout the day. He brought her the meals himself and ate with her. He apologized for the events that had transpired last night and said he never would’ve said anything had he known that would happen. Linda didn’t answer him because she was still hurt. The kindness Ronan showed her healed some of the pain, but not all. She was reluctant to trust him, yet there was something about him that said he was nothing like his father.

            When night fell she looked around for the little man. She didn’t see him by the window this time. She wondered if it had been a dream and that she somehow spun the gold herself. However she soon saw the little man sitting over the door.

            “Night two. Do you have payment for my assistance?” The little man asked. Linda hesitated. Her mind went to her mother’s ring, yet it was all she had of her. As she thought, she felt that this was what the ring was meant for. With sorrow weighing down in her heart Linda took off the ring and gave it to the little man. Again the man spun the straw into gold, but Linda wasn’t interested this time. For some reason her thoughts kept going back to Ronan.

            When morning came every single straw had been spun to gold. King Ludwig only had his avarice grow more. He took Linda to the final room where it seemed to be completely made of straw. The only open areas were the window and the spot where the spinning wheel sat. Before King Ludwig left Prince Ronan entered the room and faced his father.

            “Father, what will become of Linda when she finishes spinning this straw into gold?” Ronan asked.

            “I said she would be allowed to keep her life.” Ludwig answered.

            “But what will become of her?” Ronan asked.

            “Why do you ask?”

            “Because I would love to take her as my wife.” Looking at Linda Ronan added “If she will have me.”

            “What? You marry her?” King Ludwig was astounded.

            “Yes. When she finishes the task you have given her.” Ronan said.

            King Ludwig thought about this for a moment, then agreed to let Ronan marry Linda if she succeeded in spinning all the straw into gold.  Ludwig forbad Ronan from coming anywhere near her until the straw had been spun into gold. He wanted it done by nightfall. When the door was shut Linda saw the little man sitting at the spinning wheel smiling.

            “You know how to get a good man’s eye.” He said.

            “You heard all that?” Linda asked.

            “Of course. And I can help you one more time by spinning all this straw into gold.”

            “But I have nothing left to give to you.”

            “Hmmm, that is a problem.” The little man thought about it.  Finally he said, “If you promise to give me your firstborn son then I will spin this straw into gold.”

            “My firstborn son? I…I can’t.” Linda said.

            “Just like you couldn’t give your necklace or your mother’s ring?” The man asked. “It’s just one child. You’ll have plenty more. You have nothing to lose yet everything to gain. Just one child.”

            Linda didn’t know what to think. There wasn’t much for her to lose, yet the idea of having to give her first son to this strange little man…it was too much. What would her father have done? After thinking for a minute Linda agreed. The man then spun the straw into gold while Linda sat worrying about what she had done.

            When night fell King Ludwig entered the room to see all the straw had been spun into gold. Prince Ronan, when he saw the gold, escorted her out of the room promising her that she would never have to spin straw into gold again. Their wedding was one of the grandest Schifful had ever seen. The months following Prince Ronan gave Linda the attention and dedication that she deserved. As time went on she opened her heart to her handsome husband and felt happy again.

            When their first son was born that happiness ended. Although all the kingdom had celebrated the birth of the new prince Linda mourned in her heart. She remembered the promise she had made to the man and dreaded seeing him again. Linda wanted to tell Ronan about all this, but she never could bring herself to do it.

            As she sat trying to figure out a way to tell Ronan the truth the little man appeared.

            “I have come for the child.” He said.

            “Please, don’t take my son.” Linda begged. “I didn’t know what I was thinking then when I promised you I’d give him to you. I’ll give you anything else, all the treasure in the kingdom if you’ll just let me keep him.”

            “Now now, that won’t do. You agreed that if I spun the straw for you he would be mine. You owe me your life and your happiness!”

            “Please don’t take him. I’ll do anything if you will let me keep him. Please be reasonable, Mr.…” Linda then realized she never learned the man’s name.

            The man opened his mouth as he was preparing to tell her his name but then stopped. His eyes widened as if he had just realized something.  Smiling he said, “If you can guess my name within three days you may keep the child. Fail and he’s mine.”

            Linda agreed and began listing every name that came to her mind. None of them was his name. The next day she sent out servants to every inch of the kingdom to gather names to try. When the second night came she listed all the names. None of them were right. Throughout the third day Linda mourned greatly. She did not know how she was going to be able to find out the man’s name before he came. How was she going to explain to Ronan when he came in to find their child gone?

            She felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up she saw Ronan standing beside her. She turned away not wanting to give him the bad news.

            “I know the man’s name.” He said. Linda was surprised. Before she could ask he explained, “Two nights ago I heard you talking with that man. I’ve sent out men to every corner of the land searching for names.”

            “But why? Don’t you know that I’m a fraud? A sham?” She asked.

            “It has nothing to do with the gold.” Ronan answered. “When I first saw you I felt like I had seen an angel. I knew you were the person I wanted to spend my life with and I have done all that I could to make you feel like a queen of heaven.”

            Linda hugged Ronan. She felt peace in her heart. Her father was right. She did not understand why she had been brought here. Now she knew it was so she could marry this wonderful man. “What did you find out?” She asked.

            “One of my men was on his way back last night when he saw a strange sight in the woods. It was a little man dancing around a fire singing a song to himself. He was worried that this man might’ve been doing some sort of black magic yet he stayed and listened to the song. He heard the man say a name that might be useful to remember.” Ronan then whispered the name into her ear.

            That evening the little man came as usual. Linda listed off a long list of names to the man. Every single one of them was denied. However Linda was not worried because she was saving the best for last.

            “Is your name Rumplestilskin?” She finally asked.

            “How did you find out?” Rumplestilskin demanded. “There was no way you could’ve found out my name!”

            “Well since your name has been revealed I think our business here is concluded.” Linda said as she held her son close.

            Defeated, Rumplestilskin said “Very well. You may keep your son, but soon you shall learn that only more pain and suffering will befall you than had you given him to me!” With those words Rumplestilskin vanished.

            Sure enough trouble did follow. King Ludwig arrested Linda on the accusation that she was a witch and locked her in the dungeon to await execution. The baby was taken from her and Ronan, and King Ludwig forbade Prince Ronan to visit his wife or to have his child. He ordered his son to go away and not come back for a month. Ronan refused and King Ludwig banished his son saying that if he ever returned he would die.

            With his horse, sword, and the servant who had learned the name Ronan left the castle and all that he had loved. They wandered the forest avoiding the patrols who treated them like vagabonds and criminals. There seemed to be no light left in the world for Ronan.

            However after traveling for quite some time the servant pointed out to Ronan the place where he had seen Rumplestilskin. Ronan had energy return to him with the thought of exacting revenge on the little man. Looking into the clearing he saw Rumplestilskin there packing as if he was going to leave soon. Sword drawn, Ronan charged into the clearing and seized the little man.

            “Why did you curse my family? Why did you bring this misery upon us? Answer me!” Ronan said as he held his sword to Rumplestilskin’s neck.

            “I didn’t do anything. I only said bad things would happen because the child stayed with you.” Rumplestilskin replied.

            “What difference does it make if my son stayed with us or not?” Ronan asked.

            “Because of your father. Long ago he found a family who could spin straw into gold and demanded that they serve him. They refused and he killed them all. Or so he thought. There were two survivors, a brother and a sister. They separated to keep the king from finding them. I thought my sister had been safe but because of this ring which I got from your wife I learned her fate.”

            “But what does this all have to do with my family?”

            “When the king heard of your wife’s gift he thought he could get the gift. That’s what he wants. The ability to spin straw into gold. He was going to use Linda’s failure as an excuse to get the power for himself. He knew that she did not know how to do it, so I stepped in to save her.”

            “So why take payment?” Ronan asked.

            “She insisted.” Rumplestilskin answered.

            Ronan pondered all this. “You give a good story Rumplestilskin,” Ronan finally said, “But none of this explains why you wanted our child.”

            “I did explain. King Ludwig wants the gift. He thought he could get it from Linda but knows that she doesn’t have it. However your son does. He could learn how to use it if given time. The king won’t give him time though. He’s going to use dark magic to transfer your son’s gift to himself. I only asked for the baby to keep that from happening. If the gift is mixed with dark magic it’ll become tainted and bring unspeakable evil upon the world.” Rumplestilskin answered.

            “Now it makes sense.” Ronan said. “That’s why he locked Linda up and sent me away, so we couldn’t stop him from seizing the gift.”

            “And to prevent you from seeing what will become of your child.” Rumplestilskin added. “If he succeeds in taking the gift from your son, the cost will be the life of the infant.”

            Ronan dropped Rumplestilskin and rushed his horse back to the kingdom. If what Rumplestilskin said was true then he had to go back. It didn’t matter whether or not he died afterwards. His son was in danger and he had to get him to safety. Ronan didn’t know how it happened, but he found the journey back to the kingdom faster than the departure.

            Many guards tried to impede his progress. However Ronan fought through them all. His skill with the sword was unmatched in the kingdom. He fought his way through the castle and rescued his wife from burning at the stake. Together they fought their way to King Ludwig who was just about to perform the ceremony.

            “Why have you returned? I banished you from the kingdom forever!” King Ludwig shouted.

            “I know why you did that. You’re trying to get the power to spin straw into gold for yourself!” Prince Ronan accused.

            “Not just that. With the gift of your wife’s family I can do more. I can change entire forests into soldiers that never tire or need food. I can dry up rivers and lakes. That gift will make me the ruler of the world!” King Ludwig explained.

            “You’re mad.” Linda said. “And I will not let you do that to my son!”

            “Then face me in battle.” With that the king drew his sword and began fighting them. Ronan had taught Linda some skills with the sword some time ago and she still had them. King Ludwig was good, but he was no match for either of them. So calling on his dark powers he transformed himself into a massive cockatrice.

            As a cockatrice King Ludwig was a force to be reckoned with. Their swords glanced off his feathers and the wind from his wings made it difficult to keep standing. Linda tried to crawl to the baby to get him to safety but with one swipe of his tale King Ludwig kept her away. Soon they were overshadowed by the monster that prepared to devour them.

            “Excuse me your highness,” called Rumplestilskin from the other side of the room. “Don’t you want him?” He asked as he held up the baby.

            King Ludwig roared in rage and turned to face the little man. Rumplestilskin leapt away and ran down the corridor with the child. The cockatrice that had been King Ludwig was not far behind him. Struggling to their feet Prince Ronan and Linda followed after them.

The size of the cockatrice kept him from going too fast in the narrow corridors yet he gained on Rumplestilskin. Prince Ronan and Linda could see him gaining on the little man and their child. However Linda recognized the corridors as leading to the rooms where she had been told to spin the straw into gold. She opened one of the doors to find the spinning wheel had not been moved. She and Ronan moved it out into the corridor and close to King Ludwig. Once the tail got close enough she tried to grab it. However it was too strong and smashed the spinning wheel.

The cockatrice roared as the corridor began to widen. In no time it snatched up Rumplestilskin and the baby. Linda and Ronan attacked the tail to try and distract him. With a mighty swing King Ludwig threw them out the window and onto the edge of a bailey. The cockatrice flew down to them where it prepared to finish them off. With the spindle she had taken from the spinning wheel Linda plunged it into the foot of the beast. King Ludwig roared in pain, dropping the baby and Rumplestilskin. They watched as the cockatrice turned into a golden statue and shattered.

With the death of the king came reform. Prince Ronan became the new king with Linda as his queen. Rumplestilskin stayed to show her how to further her magical abilities and to help teach her son as well. And they all lived happily ever after.

Book updates

Wow. Again I wasn't able to do blog posts for a week. I'll try to do better next time. I did just want to give you a heads up with how book two is coming along. I'm working on a chapter that I hope will be well received. All I'll say is that it'll help show what Saurina is going to do while Josun is on the quest.
I've also been receiving tips and ideas as to how to move the story along. This week I got some good help with coming up with climaxes for the stories. Some of the ideas that were presented I really like and look forward to developing them.
Apart from that, the new website is almost up and ready. I'll share the link when it's finished. I really like the design.

You know better than I (from "Joseph King of Dreams")

I just thought I'd share this song because it shares a good message for us to keep in mind. Sometimes we think we know what is the right path for us, yet we question why when things don't go the way we planned. To me this is a good reminder that the Lord knows better than we do and He can help us find the way that is truly right for us if we will allow Him to help us.

Standards for film

So I don't keep you waiting for long periods of time I decided to post something else. This was a paper I did for my film class explaining my standards regarding movies. These reflect my personal thoughts and opinions regarding cinema. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I got a really good grade on this paper so I hope you enjoy as well:

One of the things I love to do is to view movies. I enjoy good stories in all formats and I try to find those that match certain criteria I have. One of the biggest decision makers I have is that I will not watch a movie that is rated R. My reason for so doing is that my parents have taught me that R rated movies do not conform to our standards. Reading the reasons why they receive that rating will also usually tell me that I will not enjoy it. If a movie has people hooking up I will try to avoid it because I do not like filling my head with images that I know are against my religious beliefs and I don’t want what I see to form my opinion on how I treat my fellow men. Earlier this summer I went to see The Lone Ranger with my dad and youngest brother. However there was one scene that had a really disturbing moment that could be taken as violent. I have seen some movies with violence in them. However I think that how something is portrayed and why will be a big decision factor in me deciding if I like a movie or not. For example even though the Lord of the Rings films have a lot of violence in them I think they portray war as something very dark and evil and not something to be celebrated. Same with the film Thor where at first he wants to launch a war only to have his opinion change at the end of the film because he learns that war isn’t something to be desired. Something that I like to do more with films is to try and see if they can be used to teach life lessons like honesty, virtue, courage, and faith. I also enjoy seeing movies that are fantasy stories or have dinosaurs in them because those are some of my biggest interests.

            This summer I went with my brothers to see Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. It was based off the second book of a series that I had enjoyed reading. Even though I had been furious with the first film adaptation I opted to go see this movie because it sounded like they were trying to correct some of the errors of the first film. I was furious because of how different The Lightning Thief was from the book. However recently I did a blog post asking if movie adaptations should be the same as the books. That was pretty much the only film my brothers expressed interest in seeing because the other options I was considering were Turbo and The Smurfs 2. I had seen some of the trailers for the film and I was a little nervous about some of the things they showed like the encountering of Kronos and falling into the mouth of Charybdis. However I decided a long time ago that I wouldn’t judge movies without giving them a chance. The only exceptions are R-rated films and some PG-13 movies because I don’t like seeing material I know goes against my religious beliefs.

            Apart from being based off a book I liked I also saw it because it has strong fantasy elements due to the series being inspired by Greek Mythology. For some time now I’ve been interested in the fantasy worlds of strange creatures and mystical forces that seem to define worlds separated from our own, or in the case of this film hidden within our own. Some elements from the book were taken out yet they managed to portray some of the creatures from the book in a very interesting way. The hippocampus was designed to have the head of a horse and the body of a fish and instead of the front legs of a horse it was given fins instead. Although it would’ve been nice if they stayed true to how the book described the creature a movie isn’t supposed to be the book. It’s an adaptation and one should expect differences between the two.

            I did see several moral lessons contained within the film. One of the biggest issues that the main character, Percy Jackson, had to deal with was his confidence. Even though in the last movie he stopped a war between the gods it seems that not everyone has that event memorized. The head of Camp Half-Blood, Dionysus, seems to disregard Percy and views him as only good for cleaning up the training ground. When a hero is being chosen to go on a quest for the Golden Fleece, Percy is overlooked and the camp’s superstar, Clarissa La Rue, is handed the mantle.  Percy throughout the film gets the feeling that his father, Poseidon, doesn’t care because when Percy tries asking him for help his pleas seem to go unanswered while his Cyclops half-brother Tyson gets his request answered. Eventually Percy shows us that we don’t have to just sit around and wait for things to get better. We need to do things to make our situations better.

            There was also another lesson that could be learned on forgiveness. Percy’s love interest, Annabeth Chase, has a hard time connecting with Tyson because he’s a Cyclops. While one could argue that was being racist it was because in Annabeth’s past a friend of hers was killed by a Cyclops. I generally dislike it in stories, whether they be books, films, or TV shows, where the character chooses to hold on to a grudge because to me that sends a message that people should hold on to grudges and not forgive others. However when a person forgives in fiction I feel better because it shows they are willing to let the past go and not hold another person accountable. In the film Tyson seemingly sacrifices himself to save Percy that causes Annabeth to realize that Tyson was not a monster as she perceived him to be. She learns to forgive him.

            For a long time I had the idea that film adaptations should stay one-hundred percent true to the books. When I learned that Disney changed the name of a film from Rapunzel to Tangled I was furious and felt like it was going to be a horrible movie. After a while I realized that I had gone against a saying and judged a book by its cover, or in this case a movie by its title. After that I decided to give Tangled a chance and walked away loving the movie. I did a blog post not too long ago about movie adaptations of books and if they should stay the same. I think that we should keep in mind that there may come a time where a story may have to change and adapt for a new generation. If it doesn’t it may not survive. Besides is there only one right way to tell a story? If you answer yes to that then many films that have been huge successes should be hated because of how different they were from the original stories.

            I generally try to avoid movies based off of Greek mythology because my readings about those old tales are loaded with “hook-ups” as the film adaptation of The Lightning Thief put it. Even though that was part of the mythology I don’t believe that it gives us the right to show or make those kinds of movies. Still because I’ve read the books I know that is not going to be the focus of the films. They don’t go beyond the characters saying that one of their parents is a god or goddess. So far I’ve been right. My only hope is that they’ll continue to hold true to that. I was also surprised at the lessons I saw could be learned from this film. I wasn’t expecting to see so much in the story. I was wondering after I came out of the theater why I wasn’t feeling outrage like I did with the first film. I would say it was because I wasn’t expecting the movie to be a strict adaptation of the book. True I wish some of the things done in the film were closer to the book yet I did not focus on those details. I still found the story to be very enjoyable and having a strong foundation in the plot of the book. I will try to keep an open mind about films and not judge a movie by its title.

            I think maybe one way I can do that is to think about why certain things are done or why they show certain events. For example I mentioned earlier that The Lord of the Rings films show war as a horrible event. I also remembered The Avengers also had that message about war, and I also saw lessons on the dangers of pride and jealousy through the antics of Loki. I think if a film advocates something I know is wrong I won’t enjoy it or watch it. However if it has a representation of what I know is right I may enjoy it. It will vary because I think the movie Avatar shows war as a horrible thing yet I still did not like the movie because I didn’t like how the Na’vi were portrayed. I do not believe that we have the right to show primitive people with really scanty attire. I just do not feel comfortable with that. True the reason could be that they’re down to earth and don’t know any better. However I still feel that it’s not right for anyone to create a race like that. True the mermaids are portrayed in a similar fashion in The Little Mermaid yet I still feel it’s an okay film to see because the original story was a Christian tale. I guess in the end it’s up to me to decide if a film fits my standards or not. 

The Creation of Dymos

This is a short story I wrote for a class assignment. I view this as the story of how the world of Dymos came to be. Enjoy:

Long ago back to the time when Earth itself was just beginning Ancient Powers noticed that the process of change on the new world had a side effect. Now known as natural disasters, these changes unleashed another energy that moved loose matter to another sphere of existence. Known more commonly as an alternate dimension, the Ancient Powers gathered this loose matter and started forming it into another world.

Despite the means that separated the two worlds the Ancient Powers saw as time went by that as the worlds brushed close to each other in their spheres of existence disasters would occur on the worlds.  This would cause the barriers separating the two worlds to temporarily have holes ripped in them allowing plants and animals to migrate over to the new world. The Ancient Powers named this world Dymos and as they continued to develop this world decreed that this world would exist to preserve the species of Earth from extinction.

Throughout the ages the world of Earth died and was reborn many times. However many species were wiped out as a result. Thankfully the doorways to Dymos had opened many times over the years allowing plants and animals to cross over and escape certain death. As the years went on other items from the skies above Earth smashed into the planet and caused the world to die. Yet this world had something most did not: The need to live.

The events that transpired over the millennia that would’ve resulted in the end of a world was never the end of Earth. Some of the matter that crashed into the planet actually did something more. Another force was brought into existence. It was nowhere near as strong as the Ancient Powers, yet it was still remarkable. It began to cause stranger creatures to come into existence. Mostly they were mixtures of many different species.

As with many things with wonder comes fear. The emergence of magic also brought forth sinister forces. These forces sought to destroy life for good. The creatures of magic had reason and were able to withstand these powers, yet the Ancient Powers knew that the time would come where the forces of darkness would overpower the magic. To aid them the Ancient Powers created a very special gift: The ability to shape one’s destiny and influence the future. The Ancient Powers then gave this gift to an unusual species of animals which were just starting to emerge and find their way in life: the species that would come to be known as the human race.

The magical creatures were aware of this great gift and started teaching the humans about civilization. However it was at this time that one of the dark forces reared its ugly head. It began to encourage all life to take everything beautiful and not share it with others. It sought to bring about the downfall of the world by making everyone take it for themselves. This entity, named Ereged, was confronted by one of the most powerful magical races in existence: The dragons.

Realizing what Ereged was plotting the dragons all over the world joined forces to fight this nemesis. This massive army fought against Ereged in what some say was the first war. Despite their abilities the dragons were no match for this dark force. It was then that the Ancient Powers directly intervened. They imparted bits of their power into several magical items that were sent to aid the dragons. However the dragons never got a chance to use them. These weapons all chose human wielders.

The humans joined the dragons in their struggle against Ereged and together stopped his diabolical plan. However they failed to destroy this evil and pieces of his being were imprisoned within several precious items. Some say it was seven items, others say it was thirteen. A few insist that he only split into two. Regardless of how many pieces it was they were scattered before anyone could get their hands on them. Fearing that Ereged would use these items to return the dragons scoured the planet gathering every valuable item that Ereged could’ve been turned into and hiding the treasure in hoards, guarding them in order to keep someone from unleashing Ereged’s evil upon the world. However the lure of the great wealth corrupted dragons from time to time and they sought out treasure for their greed. The searches of those hoards failed to reveal any piece of Ereged. To this day no one has found anything that could be a piece of the evil, yet some believe that he is still out there waiting for the chance to exact his revenge.

I can't seem to decide which name would be best for the evil force I mentioned. Possibilities besides the one used in the story include Arroged, Ureged, Oregyd, and Aroged. Which do you like?