Myths of the People: Isley, King of Fools

Mythology is always an important part of history, because often people base their lives around such myths and legends. Some myths and legends could even possibly be true, who knows? And perhaps we will all be considered myths that people in the future live based on... We can only hope.

This is an old favorite of mine, told to me by my father long ago. I at first thought it was just a story made up by my father, but once on my travels I saw it performed by a small troupe of bards and dancers in a mountain hamlet.

Isley, King of Fools

Once, long ago, there was a city known as Rabon. It was ruled over by a wifeless king, known as Riggardo. Riggardo was known for his many various affairs with townswomen, although noone saw it as a flaw of his. Only one of his affairs lead to child, but it was one of his (at least, to the people of the city) oddest, for he slept with one of the Elven servant girls employed at his castle. When the child was born, the mother was ashamed, but Riggardo held the boy with pride, letting everyone know of him. He came to be called Isley, and for five great years he was the sole child of King Riggardo, and heir to the throne of Rabon.

Rabon was a xenophobic city though, where racism and hatred were everyday occurances (as strongly as King Riggardo tried to stop them, he himself was very tolerant obviously.) The people of the city called Isley terrible names such as Half-Breed Isley, Bastard Prince, and others (at the time, Half-Breed was considered a racial slur.) King Riggardo's military advisor, General Dauff was extremely prejudice, especially towards elves. It was rumored he had a secret room in his home where he tortured some of the Elven servants of the castle.

The birth of half-breed Isley angered Dauff greatly, because in Rabonite law, should a king go heirless, the highest ranking official of the military would ascend the throne after the king's death. Secretly, Dauff had plans on killing Riggardo and taking his throne, which were squelched after Isley's birth due to tightened security in the castle. But Dauff, an overly ambitious man, saw that he had time to plan, and that in a few years he would be king.

For five years Isley was raised by King Riggardo, and he lived happily in the castle, playing with the servant children. But on a cold winter night sometime after Isley's fifth birthday, a riot broke out in Rabon's tavern between elves and humans, formulated by Dauff. The city panicked as the riot grew larger, enveloping other areas. Riggardo sprung to action, alongside General Dauff. Dauff, knowing this was his moment, stabbed Riggardo in the back, killing him. He then went to the castle for Isley.

Isley's servant mother, knowing something was wrong, took Isley and ran into the wilderness with him. Dauff was on her trail though, and in a few hours caught up with her, crossbow ready to fire. He shot her, killing her, and prepared to shoot Isley, but stopped, realizing that the child had no chance of survival in the frozen forest. Leaving Isley for dead, Dauff rode back towards town, ready to become the new king of Rabon. Dauff did not plan on Isley surviving for long, but was incorrect in thinking that...

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Alright, I'll finish writing the story in a little while. My hand needs a break.

Alright, now we get to the meat of this tale. As I've said, this is one of my personal favorites. When I was young it was solely for the action and the drama that unfolds, and of course the titular character Isley, who, as you will see with this next installment, is a very odd but powerful man. I've grown to realize that I don't just like this tale for it's plot; it's also a tale of racial equality. And with a Half-Breed protagonist, Isley can be seen as a Halfling hero for many, especially myself.

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Isley ran as fast as he could from the spot, not wasting a moment, for Dauff could come back for his head at any time. But he was young and weak, and soon fell to the ground, exhausted. He slipped off into sleep, his body freezing. Death was at his side, but suddenly he was saved.

A group of ogres, previously escaped from a slave farm, found the young boy. For some reason the group leader took a liking to the young boy. They carried him along to a small cave opening, barely big enough for the ogres to crawl into. Setting him next to the fire, the leader, Gyoro, kept a watch on the boy for 3 days, without any signs of Isley regaining consciousness.

Finally, when it seemed the least likely that Isley would ever awaken again, his eyes opened, adjusting the the dim light of the fire. Gyoro rejoiced, for he had recently lost a son, and seemingly found one in Isley. Gyoro decided to raised Isley as his own.

Years passed, and Isley quickly forgot about his father and the city of Rabon. He became like the ogres he grew up with, who despite the common assumption that all ogres are savage, brutal, animalistic beasts, were mostly civilized, with one odd quirk about them - they all loved to fool around. Practical jokes were played, pranks were cackled at, little harmless traps were set all over their cavernous home. Isley quickly adopted their way of life.

15 years passed under Gyoro and the group's supervision. Isley grew into an amazing young man, powerful but noble, his only flaw being his over-the-top sense of humor, which isn't that much of a flaw. The group used the fact that he was a human to their advantage (Isley didn't mind.) The group would use the amazingly shiny stone of their cave dwelling to carve beautiful statues, which Isley would drag to the nearest town and sell to the nobles (the ogres taking it would be suicide, this town was armed and guarded down to the last blade of grass.) Isley didn't like the town very much, the people were cruel to him for his pointed elf ears, something he couldn't understand. He also had a strange feeling of dread every time he entered the town, something he couldn't put his finger on. To him, this town was just a way to make money; Rabon and it's people were just pawns in his prank; just think of what they'd do if they found out the statues were made by ogres!

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This one's a bit smaller than the other, but it's time for me to eat.