Along
time ago, so long ago that it was the year of our lords 1990, there
existed a kingdom named Alefgard. It's citizens were an odd pack what
the gods termed "Non Player Characters."
Being
an NPC was a responsibility in itself. The Kingdom itself was made of
a castle town and a nearby small hamlet nearby. Across a raging sea,
there lived the Dragon Lord in another castle separated from the
mainland by mountains and a noxious swamp. He sat on his throne
jealously peering into a glass ball.
The
Dragon Lord had purchased his forsaken castle at a lower price than
that of the other castle had cost its King. The first day he arrived
to open the door to his Dark Castle, the magic key he'd bought at the
key store vanished into thin air, leaving his front door incapable of
being locked ever again. You see, the owner of the key store was an
evil magician and the Dragon Lord's cousin.
Having
opened the door he had unwittingly allowed an invisible beast that
feasted on its victim's fears was released along with its copious
offspring. Before he knew what happened, the Dragon Lord was dragged
down a confusing array of catacombs beneath his castle where he was
forced to sit upon a hidden throne.
Suddenly,
there appeared a hero in blue & white armor. And at first glance
of him, the villagers feared him because he stood as a giant and was
at least ten stories tall. He slowly walked toward the castle which
surely would be trampled by his enormous feet. The king sounded an
alarm and had himself locked into his throne room with only his most
trusted guards and advisers to accompany him.
“Who
the hell is that?” he asked as he looked out his window.
“Don't
you know?” asked a guard as he paced about the chamber. “He is
the Dragon Warrior!”
“The
Who?” asked the king.
“The
game is named after him, sire,” said another guard.
It
was at this moment the king made a tragic proclamation: “everyone
just play dumb!”
And
dumb they became. Some citizens would stand or sit still for all
eternity at their assigned posts. Others would wander about foolishly
and for some reason a visiting hero would hear the same “BUMP!”
he would hear if he were to walk into a wall!
And
then the hero finally stepped foot into the castle and was warped
straight into the King's chamber. “Holy crap!” cursed the king.
But the hero was frozen solid in place. “What the hell is he doing
now?” he asked.
The
pacing guard said “the game just asked him his name, sire.”
At
that moment, a pigeon flew into the window. The king opened a letter
attached to the leg of the pigeon. “HELP! A giant, red warrior has
appeared in the town square of our fair city of Cornelia!” read the
king. “Where the hell is Cornelia?”
“It
is the first city of the game Final Fantasy, sire!” said the pacing
guard.
