Once upon a time, in the mystic land of Prydain, there was once a king so cruel and so evil that even the gods feared him...
Since no prison could hold him, he was thrown alive into a crucible of molten iron ; and there his demonic spirit remained, imprisoned in the form of a great, black cauldron...
For uncounted centuries, the Black Cauldron remained hidden, waiting while evil men searched for it, for it was said that whoever possessed the cauldron had the power to resurrect an army of deathless warriors ; and with them, rule the world...
Once upon a time, in that very same world lived another king...
Much like his predecessor, this king, too, was known for his cruelty and malice... He travelled far with his huntsmen - thieves, bandits and other unsavory cutthroats - and waged war across the land, with pain and despair, fear, and destruction following closely in his footsteps.
No man could match this wicked king in combat - save one, but he had perished many years ago to the weight of time.
... But time had no affect on this wicked king, for he was no mortal man - not anymore, for he had forsaken his humanity long, long ago ; and in exchange, he became a vile creature : a cadaverous monster with diabolical horns, twisted and sharp upon his head ; and thus he rose to power, and became known only as the Horned King.
For many long years, Prydain had been plagued by the tyranny of this vicious overlord... Ruthless in battle, the Horned King offered no mercy to those who opposed him. He was a fearsome warrior who's presence inspired fear in the hearts of his opponents, as well as those who followed him. The Horned King was practically unbeatable ; but not so were his huntsmen, who were merely human.
No. The huntsmen were not unbeatable fighters... The Horned King had an ambition - a terrible ambition to conquer the world, and rule as a god among mortal men - but it was not one he could achieve with warriors who were merely flesh and blood.
He needed an army. An army of deathless warriors...
And thus, the Black Cauldron entered the story...
The Horned King had learned of the legend surrounding the Black Cauldron. But the Black Cauldron had not been seen for a long count of years, so no one knew of the cauldron's whereabouts - and, as time went on, began to doubt the existence of this terrible artifact. And thus, it remained elusive to the Horned King for many years, until he discovered the existence of an animal with magical properties : An oracular pig under the care of Dallben.
With these prophetic powers, this magical pig could lead the Horned King to the legendary Black Cauldron. And so, he sent his terrible Gwythaints to search for the beast... The pig was found, and immediately brought to the Horned King's lair. However, a young boy - the keeper of the oracular pig - had followed the Gwythaints, and snuck into the Horned King's castle ; and before the location to the Black Cauldron was revealed, the boy had made off with the pig.
He, and two others, had escaped the Horned King... Once more, the Horned King set out his winged Gwythaints to follow the escapees under the notion that they would lead him back to the pig.
But when they did find the boy again, no pig did they find... Instead, the boy had found something greater. He had led the Horned King to the Black Cauldron itself, hidden deep within the depths of the Morva marsh.
At long last, the Horned King had obtained his prize...
With the Black Cauldron now in his possession, the Horned King performed the terrible ritual, and the powers of the Black Cauldron, which had remained dormant for more than two-thousand years, had awoken... And the dead had arisen, ready to serve he who controlled the Black Cauldron.
The Horned King's ambition was nearing fulfilment. It had only been a matter of time before the Cauldron-Born would march out to conquer all of Prydain.
Yet all of this came to a sudden halt when a most peculiar creature came sneaking inside the Horned King's fortress to free his friends... And with one heroic act, sacrificed himself to the Black Cauldron, rendering it's power stagnant once more...
As he watched his army fall, crumbling and reverting back to their inanimate state, the Horned King flew into a rage. He suspected the pig-keeper to be responsible for crippling the cauldron's powers.
The Black Cauldron had become hungry... The Horned King threw the boy toward the cauldron, for revenge, and as another sacrifice. But the Black Cauldron had no desire for the boy.
In spite of his dedication to the legend of the Black Cauldron, the Horned King was oblivious to the curse of the cauldron : whoever harnessed the powers of the Black Cauldron would become bound to it... The Horned King discovered this too late when he himself was pulled toward the cauldron. And try as he could, he was unable to escape it's terrible vortex, which boiled his skin and burned the marrow in his bones, tearing his soul from his body, and ripping his living vessel asunder.
And so too did the Horned King become a prisoner within the Black Cauldron - a prisoner to the Death-Lord within... The pain was unlike anything he had ever imagined. As if he were being drowned, his lungs filled with scalding water ; scorching-hot blades digging deep into his body like sharp, cruel nails... This was to be the Horned King's fate : a prisoner to eternal torment.
Until now...