Calf, the heir presumptive has fallen short once again. As a half-being his competition has always stood heads and shoulders above his physical capabilities but this time, more is at play in keeping him down than the fetters of human ability. "THEY" have interfered and as a consequence, Calf is thrown into a Rites the likes of which only the annals and a few of the long-lived have seen. Will he prevail, or will his story end before it even begins.

PROLOGUE:

The rite of passage. Every creature known and yet to be known by man undergoes its own challenges. These separate the chaff from the worthy crop, whittling down the challengers for every progressive leg of the journey we call life. Be it formalized and observed, or unwittingly followed in the execution of daily life, every form of it is ritualized. That ritual is what we call the rites, the passage being the continuation of life itself, for even when metaphorical, a death is certain in choice and accommodations should one fail to meet its expectations.

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At the top of any group stands a king, set apart from all by qualification, ranging from singular to multivariate by the complexity of each group. To those of the central forests of Greater Liminos, better known as Taurreland, strength is king. Though the land abounds with creatures great and small, boasting intellect, arcane skills and artisanal prowess, strength stands above all of them, second to none. 'Strength will prevail over all' stands as their motto, and to that end, the Rites of a King require triumph over forces from all disciplines.

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Day 300,
Year seventeen,
Future calendar of the Taurs...

Such a rites would occur on that day, and its events would be the first in a sequence of challenges to the status quo. A single answer would emerge to satisfy all the questions that had been asked of a certain Prince for the past 8 years, but as a consequence, that answer would put to question all that was tradition, and the weight of hereditary strength.