Of the many tales and myths regarding the world of Arvale, none are
quite as legendary as the story referred to as the Journey of Illusion...
Long ago, when the world of Arvale was born, the Gods created
Dragons and bestowed them with the gift of magic. The Dragons were
entrusted with this power to watch over the world and keep it in relative
harmony.
As time passed, another of the Gods' creations, Humans who were gifted
with imagination and a thirst for knowledge, ventured outside of their
caves... When Human and Dragon met, they quickly found a mutual
understanding of each other and lived together peacefully. Eventually, the
Dragons came to love the Humans' creativity and curiosity.
Thus, Dragons began instructing the Humans in the ways of magic, to
see what these intriguing Humans could accomplish.
This upset the Dark Dragon, the strongest of the Dragons, who believed
that magic should only be entrusted to his own kind. As Humans used the
small doses of magic they were given to improve life and become more
civilized, this enraged the Dark Dragon even further. The Dark Dragon
went on a rampage, killing all Dragons who opposed his view, and then
began hunting down and destroying Human civilization... darkness befell
the world.
Until one day, a brave warrior appeared with the courage to stand up to
the Dark Dragon... This brave warrior defeated the Dark Dragon with
an instrument of the Gods and placed him into a mystical slumber. The
brave warrior then disappeared and was never to be seen again.
However, as time flowed onward, a new brave Hero of Legend would
appear every time the Dark Dragon stirred from his sleep. This Hero
would again bring peace to the world by returning the Dark Dragon to
his slumber, and then mysteriously disappear just as the first brave
warrior did.
Within a short amount of time, a brilliant young man by the name of
Krypen, had perfected the art of magic and had devised a way of bottling
magic and selling to anyone with a desire to use it. Eventually, this
brought magic to everyone of every class and race in the world and
improved life and civilization to the beautiful world that it is today.
As this chapter in our story opens, the Dark Dragon begins to stir once again. This time, it appears that a new Hero of Legend is about to be discovered in the most unlikely character...
Duncan Forsythe, son of Druncan Forsythe, is the Royal Gardener of Entoque Castle.
Duncan spends his days battling with nasty flowerbeds,
hunting down poisonous weeds, and occasionally doing his Royal
Majesty's laundry.
He doesn't mind his place in life, or the kingdom, or really the world
in general. He is just content knowing he has this secure career, handed
down from his father, taking care of the garden, away from the rest of
the nobility.
One day, while controlling a particularly volatile bed of roses, Duncan
is interrupted and told that King Entoque requests an audience with him
immediately...
So begins the tale of Duncan Forsythe and the Journey of Illusion.
