Life Story
Page 1
Once a star fell from the heavens. It was seen by one stray elf.
Very long ago, long before the birth of the Royal Capital Luknalia, there was a time when elves, humans, dwarves, and beastfolk had no deep dealings, and people went to their deaths knowing only their own small sliver of the world.
The Deep Forest was a graveyard for the weak; those who stepped out of the migratory life of hunters for injury or illness, young children with no one to look after them, and the weak who contributed nothing to the group. They were left behind to meet their ends in the Deep Forrest.
But that stray elf was different. He did not belong to the groups that fended for each other, but lived on his own in the Deep Forest, stealing food from others. If that were all, he might have ended as a simple bandit, but his encounter with that start changed everything.
That star tore through the Deep Forest, burning and, still shining, pierced the ground. He was fascinated by this star and resolved to make it his own.
Page 2
At that time, people had no knowledge of meteorites. AS such, they feared stars falling from the heavens, thinking them the resentment of those who were abandoned in the Deep Forest.
The stray elf who actually saw the star knw. He knew it was a powerful force to attract people. He had to do something before everyone who'd seen the star competed to take it from him.
Knowing that the stars were feared, the pondered. Raising the star of resentment, he recruited outcasts. He would make the Deep Forest where the star fell a place to be, not a graveyard for the weak. And then he would lead these strays he had gathered.
"If I do that, this star will be mine. None shall take it from me."
The stray elf went to and fro pleading his case. Anyone could be in the Deep Forest. None were treated as a hindrance. All were welcome. For the star of resentment was now on the side of the forsaken.
And so, the Deep Forest began to see change.
Page 3
Those who heard his appeals before they died in the Deep Forest and felt and were filled with hope, the outcasts who looked up to him as he walked from place to place revered Arboris as their leader, extolling his name and praising him, who had changed his fate from being abandoned to death.
The number of those living in the Deep Forest increased. Before long, strays began to gather believing rumors that there was a place for them in the Deep Forest, even when Arboris himself did not set out in search.
Eventually, the Deep Forest began to be called Arboristia. Here was born a kingdom that crowned a king named Arboris.
It was a place where anyone could belong, where even the weak could live. A realm guarded by a star of resentment of those who had been forsaken. Who would blame a king who laid the foundation for a realm for having a star?
"Just as planned. The star is mine."
Page 4
Even after achieving his original goal of acquiring the star, the kingdom Arboris started continued to grow.
As the inhabitants increased, so did the need for food. There was only so much that could be done in this realm with so many wounded and sick. And Arboris is originally a thief. He would take what was lacking. That was the natural choice.
There were not many citizens who could be mobilized. However, Arboris had a talent for strategy that compensated for the lack of manpower. He would put a small number of strays from all over to work according to their abilities, thus taking a large amount of food with a small number of people.
The people's support for Arboris increased further for the king's ability to achieve more results with less effort. Meanwhile, in the neighboring lands, Arboris, Lord of the Deep Forest, came to be feared as the leader of a great group of bandits.
The fame and fear of the Lord of the Forest lasted for hundreds of years. Everyone thought that Arboristia would flourish eternally.
Page 5
Time passed, and the end came for Arboristia, which for so long had shaken those who lived adjacent to the Deep Forest.
One after another, nations that had never existed before rose up, united, and fought with strategies that were no longer exclusive to the Deep Forest. In the end, Arboristia was vanquished in a battle by the great kingdoms, and Arboris was executed.
It is the natural order of things for the winner to take from the loser. The soldiers of the great kingdoms invaded Arboristia to plunder it, searching for the great bandits' treasure.
But there was no treasure trove as they had imagined, and the place where the kingdom had once stood for hundreds of years was as quiet as a ruin. The meteorite that was the foundation of Arboristia and was said to possess special powers was nowhere to be found.
There is no eternal prosperity. The Kingdom of the Deep Forest was no exception. But the one stray elf's initial decision to not let anyone take the star was ultimately impossible for anyone to overturn.