The Orb of the House of Balfurio

In those golden years before the Scattering, in all the land of Caledon, there was none to equal the House of Balfurio. Three times twelve castles did they keep, each a splendid vision of dizzying granite ramparts, from whose majestic slate-roofed towers flew the proud crest with the Double Griphon. Their knights rode forth in armor struck on the thunder's anvil; their ladies floated in raiments sewn from wind and moonlight. Feasting, song and merriment made the crystal windows ring and the oaken panels hum.

And none in that fair land was fairer than Princess Morena. Princess Morena, first born daughter of mighty Prince Ralfon, from whose aerie keep did the morning clouds scatter in respect and obesiance. On her balcony in that wondrous tower, she would set the air ablaze with sparkling light, each time she turned her head to sigh at the vanishing horizon. She was in the world, but somehow not of it, with a melancholy born of seeing much too deeply. Indeed, on the night her mother died, the stars gave up their secret song to her, with a promise to tell her more, and she waited now in silent hope for the firmament to once more rend.

Prince Ralfon was much troubled by his daughter's sighs, and he endeavoured to make her happy by many schemes and plans. He brought, from lands beyond imagining, troupes of gaily colored dancing jesters, languid animals, impossible flowers. He pressed upon the Princess a parade of worthy Princes, each more noble than the last, each richer, braver, kinder, each more handsome and refined. A thousand songs, a million flowers, a skyful of sunlight and rain. Still the Princess pined away in splendid solitude; her suiters, jesters, flowers and songs--all forgotten.

It was thus that Prince Ralfon first came to hear of the Orb. A vassal prince from a far away land told him of a wondrous, magical Orb, left on this earth from days when gods did mingle with mortal men. A marvelous, luminous Orb; made of gold and shimmering diamond, of ruby, sapphire and blood. This Orb was said to bring light to a world wracked with darkness and pain, to bring hope in the place of despair

Prince Ralfon ordered that the Orb be brought to him, but the vassal begged mercy, saying that the Orb was in the hands of the Magician Bladon, such a powerful Magician that he feared for his princedom, should he attempt to take it. Upon hearing such words, Prince Ralfon sent a force of his own most trusted and valorous Knights of the Standing Stones to gain that mysterious Orb for him. This they finally accomplished, but only after laying complete waste to the vassal state, and losing most of their number beside. Of the Magician in whose care the Orb had resided, it was not known whether he died in the fighting, or escaped through the wild mountain passes.

So the Orb came to the castle of Prince Ralfon, to be with the Princess Morena. It came in a shining coach, pulled by twelve white steeds, with music and fireworks it came, with fanfare and heraldry and pomp.

Princess Morena was sure that the Orb was the fulfillment of the stars' promise, so she gladly let it fill her heart with rejoicing, laughter and cheer. Her days were now radiant, her nights serene, and her mind was at long last free. She let the simple grace of the Orb guide her life, and it led her to a place of great peace, where she could look down as from a high tower on the confusion of her former days.

And not only for the fair Princess did the Orb work its magic. The entire land seemed to bloom and flourish under the sway of this powerful amulet. The rivers ran fuller, the flax grew taller, the cows and the goats gave more milk. Even the fish in the sea seemed content. Prince Ralfon Balfurio walked among his subjects, and they showered him with affection and joy. The Orb of the House of Balfurio became famous throughout the land, as the bringer of peace and harmony. If only it could have lasted.

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The Bishop Arnu of Caledon was suddenly taken ill, with an ailment of the soul and the heart, it was said. He was sent far away, to a place in the sun, and his replacement was soon on the way. The Bishop Fanar, a gray mystery of a man, was installed as the new Bishop of Caledon, and as soon as he moved into the Bishop's palace, the changes came to the princedom.

Princess Morena was first to feel the difference, and she fell into a deep unhappiness, from which she could not be roused. This was not, however, the forelorn state of her previous exposure to the music of the stars; this time she was simply and inconsolably distressed, and she wished to be left alone to die. Not even the effects of the wonderful Orb seemed to help now. In fact, the Orb seemed to be the very source of her misery. Nothing good, she was quite sure, could come of it, and this she told Prince Ralfon.

The Prince could plainly see by now, that not only was his beautiful daughter languishing, but his princedom as well was in danger of falling apart. His people, who only so recently had possesed such cheer and good will, now fought among themselves, and even with his knights. The land itself grew spiteful, sprouting weeds and thorns where wheat once grew, and cracking open with great yawning gaps, so that the unwary traveler might fall to his death. The birds in the sky, the cattle in the field, the deer and the hares in the forest, all grew sullen and strange. The air was now thick with a sulphurous stench, and great clouds blocked the sun from the sky, while hot winds dried the land like a bone.

Heeding his daughter's words, Prince Ralfon felt that the magical Orb had surely turned against him, and against his Princess and his land. He rued the day he took it upon himself to traffic in the occult, and he resolved to rid himself of that devilish object, which was causing him so much grief.

No sooner had he formed these thoughts, than the new Bishop was ushered into his presence. "My son," said Bishop Fanar, "I have never seen such confusion and travail in a land. It seems a curse has been visited upon this place, and that evil has been loosed to roam free. Pray, tell me, has anything out of the ordinary passed into your hands, which might have brought with it such grief and destruction?"

Upon hearing these words, the Prince fell to his knees. "Oh good Father," he sobbed, " I fear I have made a pact with the Dark One, but I swear I knew not it was so. I only wanted to hear my daughter sing again, to lift from her that dark veil of despair, so that she might again see the sweet light of day. When I learned of the Orb, that great mystical treasure, I thought my problems could be cured, if I could only make it mine. So I destroyed a whole land to bring that cursed trinket to my house, and now ruin has befallen my people. Tell me, oh Father, what should I do?"

From his knees on the floor, Prince Ralfon could not see the sneer which passed so quickly over the Bishop's lips. He could not see the steel and the fire in the "good Father's" eyes, or the cold, hard set of his jaw. When he did finally look up up in his pleading, he saw only the kind Bishop, whose advice he so desperately sought.

"What is this Orb of which you speak?" the Bishop Fanar inquired gently. "I fear that you are keeping some treasure of the Devil, and to regain it, he will stop at nothing."

Still on his knees, the noble Prince recounted the tale of the Orb, and how it came to be in his possesion. The Bishop listened in utter silence, and no flicker of emotion did he betray, no trace of the treachery at hand.

"Your daughter, your land and your self will be doomed, I am afraid." Thus the Bishop spoke. "The evil power that has made this foul Orb wants it back and you must not refuse. To do so will cause total ruin."

"Oh, this I know, so well and so so full." replied the Prince, "Only tell me what can I do. How can I rid my fair land and my home of this curse. How can we once more be free?"

Now the Bishop looked thoughtful and stroked his long beard. He looked into the far away mountains. Finally he turned to the Prince at his feet. "Although this foul ovum be the seed of the Devil, I fear it not, as I walk in the light. Give it now to me. I will break its wretched power, and set your people from under its spell."

Prince Ralfon sprang up, and with hope in his voice, cried, "Come with me; do not tarry. I wish to be rid of this doom." Saying that, he led the Bishop to the innermost vault of the treasury, where the Orb had been placed in an urn, and the urn had been placed in a chest.

"Stand behind me now, Prince; make the sign of the cross, that you may remain safe from such evil as I am about to expose." Saying this, the Bishop removed the Orb and held it close to his face.

Ah, such a face! Such a face had the Prince never seen. For now was the countenance of the good Bishop Fanar become the mask of an unspeakable fiend. His eyes burned like the souls of the damned and his skin became leather and scales. His hair now a hissing and striking of vipers, his voice now the howl of the wind.

"You fools!" cried the monster, "You have given me back that which I lost so long ago. I was weaker and lean-witted then, and the Magician Bladon took my prize. But now you have saved me the trouble of battle with that wizard, and delivered my reasure to me."

The wizard seemed to fly though the air to the open window. He turned to the Prince. "As a token of my gratitude, I will tell you the truth about this Orb. Your first feelings were correct. It is indeed a talisman of hope and of love and of truth. It is the one thing which can cure your poor land. I am the Great Magician Tholar and it is I, only I, who have caused all this ruin to befall you and your kind. I wanted my Orb, so I caused you to think it was corrupt and a thing of the Dark."

"Now my plan has worked, don't you see, and I need you no more. I am off to my high fast redoudt. I take with me now all your hopes and dreams, for you have invested and trusted your souls to a magical fountain of light. And that light is snuffed."

He snarled as he sprang through the window. Prince Ralfon was never sure if the demon flew, ran or simply vanished, but he was gone. And with him he took that one true hope that the Prince, his daughter and his land might once again regain peace.

As he looked out the window, the Scattering had already begun. Servants were running from their masters, students from their teachers, and even children from their mothers. The Prince sat on the stone floor with a heavy heart, and began to consider what could be done to regain the Orb of the House of Balfurio.