07/14/12

Above picture: What I imagine a typical village is in Tawaran :D

Welcome! I hope you guys enjoy this story :)

            Once upon a time, there existed a desert land called Tawaran that harbored people who were capable of using magic. A magnanimous king and a gentle queen ruled this land with success, despite their lack of magical tendencies. However, when the king and queen died, the kingdom was thrown into chaos; clans were divided into magical and non-magical, and the clans battled one another to the death.

            After two decades of chaos, an old sage walked up to the dilapidated Palace and told its forsaken servants to issue an announcement. Although the old sage seemed crazy and untrustworthy, the servants could not refuse the sage's request. Because if the announcement was true, order will be restored to the kingdom.

            It was time to repeat the cycle and find the reincarnations of the king and queen. The previous king and queen have died around twenty years ago, and the king and queen’s descendents have turned to corruption, ruling the kingdom with mercilessness and gunpowder.

            Six magicians were assigned to be the new king and queen’s advisors, and they set out to the Ming Guan and Dao Er villages to find the girl and boy who were to occupy the two thrones in the Palace. All the girls of Ming Guan Village and all the boys of Dao Er Village were gathered to take place in the competition. The winners of the competitions were the reincarnations of the previous kings and queens that were chosen in the same fashion.

            The first round for the boys and girls was to solve a riddle and find the object. That riddle was: I help you wake up in the morning, but I’m always with you, no matter what. Most boys and girls were able to solve the riddle, so most pass the first round. Then, the challenges get harder, of course.

            The boys were to compete in a race, and the ten fastest boys pass the second round. The second round for the girls was the test of knowledge. Each girl was given a set of ten questions; each set of questions was the same as the other sets. The top ten girls that scored the highest proceeded to the third round. The third round, a game of chess. Boys vs. boys, Girls vs. girls. They all played until there were two players of each gender left.

            Finally, the last round. The most peculiar round of the competition. The two boys had to pick three items out of a collection of one thousand items, and the two girls had to note the judges of any birthmarks on their bodies. The boy who picked the right items and the girl who had a birthmark shaped like a star were considered the new king and queen.