In the old days, in the great kingdom of Calormene, there lived a powerful king High-King Rillian of the North. His kingdom flourished with happiness, and he was known as “Rillian the Magnificent”. People travelled from around the world to live under his just rule and build a new life in his prosperous country.
King Rillian would often hold meetings with his 3 most trusted companions; Tumnus, a great warrior and commander of the King’s army and Archen, an excellent councillor and His Majesty’s seneschal. And the third was a marvellous magician, known by the people as the “Marsh-Wiggle”. A weird name, true, but it had an interesting backstory; he lived in a marsh, and his left ear wiggled whenever he got happy or excited.
During one of these meetings, the King spoke to his companions, “My dear friends, a great tragedy has befallen us, for our trusted partners in trade, the Southerners, have broken off all ties with us and formed an alliance with our greatest enemy, The Fifth Nation. Without their produce and new allies far stronger than before, I’m afraid the kingdom is in danger of poverty and destruction.
It was Tumnus who spoke up first, “Your Majesty, it is upon my belief that we should have destroyed The Fifth Nation during the Battle of Bernal. But, unfortunately, it was Your Majesty’s decision to let those prisoners live, and we have come to regret it for the past decade.”
Typically, if a person had ever spoken to the King like this, he would have been thrown in prison faster than he could have said the word ‘pardon’.
Archen shook his head and began to talk very quickly, “It is no use crying over spilt milk. What can we change by talking about the past? We need not do that but think for the future of Calormene and its people.”
Rillian spoke, “You are both correct and wise in your opinions; I am to be blamed. My dear friend Marsh, why won’t you speak your mind?”
Marsh-Wiggle, who had been sitting quietly, listening to their words carefully, said, “Sire, it is not the place for me to speak my mind, for you are all skilled in the art and knowledge of warfare, and I must admit that war has always been my weakest spot. “I say we send our troops to fight the Fifth Nation before they launch an attack on us-“.
Archen exclaimed, “No, no, we cannot bring war on them before informing them. That would be unjust and against everything we, as Calormenes, stand for!”.
“Pah! Injustice? So you are saying that we should be “good” towards them even after everything they have done? You are a sickness for my eyes!” said Tumnus.
Archen retorted, “You are worse for mine, and yes, being kind towards them would set a better example for our generations to come, and the world will give the North the respect it deserves.” This heated exchange had, of course, been between Tumnus and Archen. The two may be the best of friends, but they disagreed a lot and always argued, even if it was on a matter as small as what coloured socks one should wear to a formal event.
The King watched them wearily, and Marsh-Wiggle looked highly amused.
It was then that he spoke up, “Though my opinion may not be of high value-“
“My friend, you are on the King’s council because the King holds you in much respect. Therefore, your opinion will be heard of, no matter what”, the seneschal interrupted.
“Yes, as I was saying, I recommend that we prepare a reinforcement of our army and inform the soldiers on the border to be on high alert. We also put our remaining resources into the vault so that if Calormene does go to war, we may survive for longer,” continued Marsh.
The King agreed to this, and the plan was put into action. The kingdom’s people were informed, and many shut themselves in their houses out of fear.
A few days went by without any news from the Fifth Nation. Then, one day, the wizard went to the King and asked him to come to his chambers; the King came with his guards outside the door. The wizard opened a chest and took out something wrapped in a scarf. He took out a small stamp.
The King looked questionably at the wizard, who spoke in a hushed voice, “Your Majesty, there is not much time; there is a traitor among your court, and an attempt at your life will be made. I give you this; for the sake of Calormene, use it.”
The King looked even more confused and asked what the stamp was for.
Marsh-Wiggle looked offended as if he had expected the King to know and said, “It is the Stamp of Truth; you must have heard of it, and so, you must know what power it holds.”
The King’s eyes widened, and he ran a hand through his beard, “So, it is true and has been under our nose this entire time!”
“Hush! Not so loud”, Marsh-Wiggle said angrily, “the stamp will make whatever text it is printed upon come true. You must use it to find the traitor, or stop the war, or-“.
“No, I will not use this stamp to win the war, for it decides who is fit to rule,” said the King.
“Yes, your Majesty, but-” Marsh-Wiggle hesitated, “the Fifth Nation are all barbarians; they will not hesitate to kill every innocent soul in this kingdom if they come to power”.
That night, the King decided to use it once and for all. He called his companions to his side, and all but the magician came. He informed his friends of the plan to write down a carefully worded request of the traitor’s name and then use him to betray the Southerners as an envoy of the Fifth Nation. In doing so, the North would have the South in their alliance. As was stated in the treaty signed by Rillian’s great-grandmother, the South, as traitors, would come under the North’s rule for 5 generations of Kings or Queens.
That very night, the traitor, a knight in the army, was caught, and a message was sent to the South. The next day, the northern army laid siege to the lands of the South, and within hours, they came under Calormene’s rule. A horrific battle ensued the next few days in which the Fifth Nation was destroyed.
High King Rillian began the tradition of passing down the stamp from ruler to ruler for its protection. Rillian was succeeded as the greatest ruler in the history of Calormene by his great-great-great granddaughter, Queen Rhyia. She found the stamp lost by one of her ancestors and used its power to make Calormene a strong, sturdy kingdom. As for Marsh-Wiggle, he was never seen again, but decades later, a few people who possessed the same powers were found.
To this day, the magical stamp exists, but few can see it, and much less touch it.
