Many years ago, in the static motion of time, a King ruled over the entire expanse of Ciertamn. Little over a year after marriage of him and his betrothed, she became of child and gave birth to a boy. They called him Urien. He was born beautiful, but the older he grew, the more hideous he became. As substitute for his facial monstrosity, he was charming, witty and intelligent. He caught on quicker and was more mature than any child his age. The King, thinking it enough to convince others, submitted him into a proper school. But as much as Urien melted the hearts of many, the children in his age category could not understand his logic, being more prone to that of the average child. They grew to be jealous and resentful: it did not take long until he came home, begging his father to continue to home school him.
Desperately, the King and Queen took off from Ciertamn to look for a cure for their son's demented face. During their time away, they made it seem as if they were still present in their country – as many allies as they possessed, they had even more enemies. The land of Ciertamn was not a large one, but it was fertile and beautiful; something to be envied. It would not be long until a country chose to strike out at them.
It was, although, a poor defence. It did not take long until rumours spread that they were absent from their country. In luck, the King and Queen were able to travel secretly, and encountered only one enemy on their trip – a wizard that cast a spell on the King's wife.
When they returned to Ciertamn, still without solution to their son, they discovered what the spell had done
It had made his wife barren.
This thus ruined the plans they had made upon having another child – one, hopefully, the Queen had said, that would replace the heir they currently had, and one that would not be so ugly.
It was in luck that they had other plans.
Through half-smudged maps and small town rumours, they reached the home of a powerful enchantress, hidden under a mile of sand, on the outskirts of Ciertamn. With a single hair of their son, the enchantress made them another. He was born from her cauldron, already eight years old; two years younger than their original son. They then had a new boy, and named him Ragorth.
Being only at a small age, and still possessing such naivety, Urien accepted Ragorth with open arms, believing the tale that they had found him lost in the woods, hidden in the hollow of a tree. Neither was he jealous of Ragorth, for their new son had the face of an angel. As time went on, it became obvious that however beautiful Ragorth seemed he did not have the compassionate mind that Urien did.
The Queen's love for Urien had never been strong because of his face, and, blinded by the sudden arrival of Ragorth, made up her mind that she loved him more.
The King, although, loved Urien much more. He was his flesh and blood, not a faceless child brought up from the bowels of a cauldron belonging to an enigmatic enchantress. It was not only that – Ragorth was cruel, brutal and rash. He took up practical skills like Archery fencing, only to reply, when the King asked him why he did this, that it was to kill those he disliked.
When approaching the King's time of death, he split Ciertamn into two parts – the Northern Empire and the Southern Empire. Ragorth inherited the North while Urien inherited the South. Little was ever heard from Ragorth, as they further grew in their throne, but Urien married the daughter of a Fairy King. They gave birth to their heir two years later, going by the fairy name of Orkabr.
Urien's appearance stopped getting worse around the age of fifteen, when his father and mother were still alive. But, as much as many tried, his face did not ever get any better.
After Ragorth and Urien's parents' deaths, their conversations lessened. Soon, they barely made treaties, let alone kept in contact.
Urien lived enough completely peaceful years to let down his guard. He sent most of his army home, and lived carefree.
All the while, Ragorth plotted.
- - &&& - -
Eight years ago, King Urien of the Southern Empire and his family were assassinated by order his brother, King Ragorth. At the same time, armies travelled in small groups to every single village within his territory and burnt them down, leaving few alive. The more able of the men were sold to either one of the three Nobles of Ragorth's – Orlasta, Kosta and Menandrake – and trained to become a Soldier, and later, to be part of their army. The futures of those left lay in the hands of poverty and famine. Those with money left were deported, though there were few of those. Almost all valuables were taken during the raids, and there would be nothing left for them to pay their fair with. Most capable women would take up prostitution.
Although both Urien and his wife were properly killed, with proof, their son was not found. After weeks of searching the remains of the castle and miles in radius of it, it was publicly announced that Orkabr had also perished in the fire. Now, with no heir to the Southern Empire, all of Ciertamn belonged to Ragorth.
After obtaining full function of Ciertamn, Ragorth split his land into four – one large block of land and three smaller, equal ones. Each one of the three was given to one of his three Nobles. He kept the largest acre to himself.
What little survivors left from the Southern Empire that were capable of defence and that had not been sold to one of three Territories formed a rebellion called the Brass Spyglass. They were the Robin Hoods in children's fairy tales, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
It did not take long for their existence to come to Ragorth. They quickly became his top priority inland enemy.
None of the Brass Spyglass' five leaders have yet to be captured.