The year is 1312. A dark mist of foreboding looms over the prosperous Kingdom of Farrakanot. The villages are ablaze. Men, women and children run screaming in every direction. An army of orcs, trolls and goblins plunder and pillage the countryside, led by the grotesque and merciless ogre 'Horace The Horrible' All shall bow to his will...
The throneroom stands empty as does the headquarters of the royal cavalry. The mere mention of the invader's name is enough to make any upstanding man of the order cast off his armour and flee. All, except one...
Sir Cornelius of Redroot will not yield to the tyranny that enslaves his people. With his blood-red locks of hair quivering in the breeze, the brave Cornelius mounts his trusty steed and charges gallantly into the fray. Yet bravery is not enough, even for such a young and celebrated warrior. Cornelius is overcome. Cornelius has fallen.
The sheer audacity of Sir Cornelius' attempt is enough to send Horace into fits. If he cannot have Cornelius' fear, he will strip him of his glory, smite his memory, and erase him from time. He will destroy anything or anyone that even mentions his name!
And so it was for 700 years...
But now...
Meet Corey. Bored, disillusioned, cynical, jaded, you know... a typical teenager. The only place he seems to feel at home is at the renaissance faire in the local Farthing Forest. The sights, the smells, the whole... whatever it is, makes him long for a place and time where men wore more steel than most cars are made from today and ALL the pretty girls were damsels in distress! Corey doesn't look towards the future. He dwells upon the past...
And this day, being not unlike any other, finds Corey playing hooky and meandering past the medieval tents and courtesan's curtsies of the faire. "Good day to you Sir Corey!" But when the truant officers track him down, Corey ducks into the 'Armory' where he disguises himself in a filthy old helmet and breast plate to avoid capture. Corey leaves the tent, relieved to see his not-so-clever ruse has worked. The truant officers are gone. And something else has happened... something weird...
Though the faire looks the same, it doesn't 'appear' to be the same. The people look familiar, but they look, well... more authentic. When Corey sees two knights battle to the death... for real... it suddenly dawns on Corey. Somehow, he has gone back in time to the days of yore with gallant knights and powerful kings, tyrannical villains and evil as real as the cold steel resting in the scabbard on his belt.
Corey does what any other know-it-all, smart-ass teenager would do... he panics! HELP!!!
But even a smart-ass punk can't run from his own destiny.
And thus, a legend is born...
CAVALIER COREY
Giving chivalry a bad name, 24/7...
All text and images (c) 2003 Rachel Connor and Duck, You Sucker! Productions.