Garion rode his dark steed along a country path. It was two days after the Longest Day, and his 18th summer had been the most fruitful so far. He had graduated in the order of the Sacred Glade and officially been granted his title of Wizard. It had taken seven years of intense study but now he had finally been assigned to a court. As he rode along, he took out a long pipe and packed it with some blueish organic material. With a word, he lit the substance ablaze and took in a long pull. His dark horse continued to trot along at a steady pace beneath him without any direction from its rider. He thought over how far he had come. He had grown up in the glade, been born there for all he knew. It seemed strange to him that only now on this journey could he truly appreciate the beauty of the rolling fields and sapphire blue skies. He wondered if he would miss the emerald canopies of his childhood, or the whisperings of the familiar trees.

His horse paused at a fork in the road, unsure of which path to take. Garion put out his pipe and placed it back safely inside his cloak. He glanced up at the sun, it would be midday soon, at this pace they would make it to Brackenfell castle by evening. He nudged encouragingly on the reigns and his horse began to trot happily along. Garion tightened his thick cloak and kicked the horse into a gallop. There was no need to keep his liege waiting after all.

An hour or so passed as he galloped, crossing the rolling country hills before the plants began to change. Someone unaware the magical properties of nature would have been unable to sense such a change, but Garion could feel the shift in the microcosm around him. As the horse galloped along the wildlife began to noticeably shift from the calm greens he’d been riding past for so long to a bramble filled waste land, the fields here were overgrown as if no cattle dared to eat the grass. After some time, Garion began to see the outline of a dark stone castle jutting up out of the wasteland on the horizon. Not far now.

Garion’s steed came to the outer walls of the castle. It seemed to be made of stone, possibly lime stone, but it was darkened with some kind of black dust. At the foot of the wall was a thicket of brambles almost engulfing it in both directions. Garion trotted his steed along one of the outer walls, admiring the brambles as passed. He followed the wall around the guard tower, standing watch over the castle’s south easterly corner, and found he could see a gate in this next wall. He rode to the gate and dismounted his horse. A chain hung overhead from the stone archway of the gate. Garion, able to see no other way of lifting the gate, and not wanting to be rude pulled on the chain.

DONG

After a few minutes, a gruff looking man with greasy black hair came into view beyond the portcullis. Noticing the man was carrying a short sword, Garion raised his hands in surrender and, in an attempt to not anger the man, began to speak. “Greetings friend, pray tell me, is this Brackenfell Castle?” The gatekeeper eyed him suspiciously. “Aye. It is. What business do you have here stranger?” Garion relaxed for a moment, at least he was sure he was in the right place now. “My Name is Garion Greensleeves, I was summoned here to the court of King Robert V of Robertia, I seek access to this castle good sir!” Garion asked in the commanding tone of someone waiting to be somewhere. The gatekeeper met Garions gaze, hesitating for a moment as if he were contemplating using his sword. Before he shook his head, sheathed his blade and signalled for the gate to be opened.

Garion brought his trusty steed inside, handing the reigns over to a stableboy so the great black horse could be fed and watered. The gatekeeper cleared his throat, “If you would accompany me this way sir, the King would like to speak with you” Garion sighed, he had been hoping to be able to eat before attending to his duties, but his plans would have to wait. “Of course” he said politely as his stomach growled, “Would you mind showing me to the King?” the gatekeeper grunted in response but Garion hastily followed after him.

They walked hastily through a number of torch-lit corridors, each the same as the last. The walls, as drab and dusty as they had seemed from outside, were pretty unremarkable if not for the variety of doors they housed. The gatekeeper stopped in front of a ornately carved wooden door. Garion took a moment to read over some of the runes etched into the door, they were legends of dragon- and giant-slaying kings. The gatekeeper knocked. “Enter” boomed a deep voice from within. Then, within an instant, the gatekeeper opened the door, shoved Garion in, and closed the door behind him. The door made a loud clunk as if locking.

Garion took a moment to take in the room. A large table stood at the centre. Three people sat on large carved chairs toward one end. They all had food piled high on plates in front of them, cooked meats and roasted vegetables. Garion’s stomach growled. He hadn't eaten since sunrise. As he watched the trio eat, he took in their looks. They were an odd group. A skinny man in a large chair sat closest to where Garion stood. He had evidently chosen to counter the loss of his hair by growing what little he had left long, giving him a gaunt look. Aside from this skeletal lych like creature, the other two were by far the biggest humans Garion had ever seen. A woman, seemingly swollen from years of gluttony, sat in a large oak chair, her plate was piled high with food, even moreso than the others, a comically high tower that looked like it could collapse beneath its own weight, and a glance at the floor assured Garion that it already had. She had purple hair pulled up into a pony tail, and was exhaling smoke through her nostrils between gulps of food. At the head of the table, the third man was truly huge. Whereas the women's bulk was apparently caused by supernatural gluttony, this man's bulk apparently came from supernatural body weight training.

Garion approached the table. The woman stopped eating and eyed him with suspicion. “Who’s he?” she asks the two men, not bothering to swallow her mouthful of meat to talk. The other two turn to face Garion. “Well?” asked the huge man at the head of the table. “Who are you?” Garion cleared his throat and began to speak.