Blood Royal

From the Game's Introduction: Once upon a time, a King ruled in a far away land. He was not a particularly good King, but he was not evil either. He had reigned for many years, and his kingdom had prospered. The peasants and merchants were content with his laws, the nobility swayed by his charisma and generalship, the priests approving of his piety - in short, the kingdom was a happy place, where almost everyone could live in comfort, if not joy. One year, the King fell ill. It was long, decades even, after he had ascended to the throne. His children had all grown and learned, and they had gone their separate ways in the world. The best doctors and leeches were called to try their art, but the King's condition only grew worse. One by one, the healers gave up; eventually, only a few remained to take care of him. Finally, they decided that the King was not long for this life. His courtiers remained worried and eagerly requested news of his health; but he lay dying still. The sages and physicians who attended him said, "He has but one week to live." They had no hope of stopping whatever ailed him. Worried, the King's advisros and councillors said to the King, "You must choose a successor before the week is out, or we shall be without a ruler and the kingdom will be plunged into civil war." So they brought all the King's children to the palace. The royal abode had been a merry place, warm, lit with cheery torches and draped in colorful banners and flags; but now it was cold and dreary. The torches were extinguished, replaced by small, flickering candles; the banners had been removed in mourning, leaving only the dank stone. Heavy grey curtains shrouded the windows, obscuring almost all the sunlight. The King was dying, and it seemed all his retainers wished to follow him. At last, calling his children to his bedside, the King explained his plan for succession. "I have not yet decided upon an heir. Upon the last day of the week, I will make my choice. Until then, all of you, show that you are worthy of my crown." He sent for a quill, ink, and a piece of parchment, and wrote a short list upon it, giving it to his hreald to read to the children later. Then he dismissed them. This is the story of the King's children, and how they spent that week. And how, when the week was over, only one of them became the new ruler.