[ TT ] [ IP ] Somber Castle

Redmoss Castle 
 
 Underneath the somber sky he stands high, looking out over what once was the alluring pride of the land. But that was a time foregone. 
 
 The castle is now is no more than a shimmer of past greatness, the glory that it had held no more. During its prime, there had been a colourful ball every week, paintings surrounding people in rhythmic motion, in a magnificent room. There had been big meals in the dining hall that left a warm scent lingering around until the next feast. There had been a happiness that spread out across the entire castle and beyond its walls to the lands around. He had been happy; the people had been happy. 
 
 He was never officially a king but his riches and charm had spoken otherwise. Not even once had he thought of keeping his wealth to himself and he invited everyone near and far to join him. 
 
 This generousness flowed from his background; poor as a child but with a dream. In love with exploring nature, and a childish optimism for finding treasures aiming to discover Redmoss, the land ’ s most valuable gem that grew like actual moss. He had never any luck finding anything - and even less luck in giving up. But the day his mother had fallen ill and his family was unable to pay for medicine, the gods granted him a selfless wish. 
 
 That day, he ’ d felt a confidence like nothing else and he ’ d gone out, led by his gut, to return with a stone lined with the rarest treasure in the country, Redmoss. They sold the stone for a lot of money, and were able to afford the medicine to treat his mother's illness. The people in their small village never found out where he got it from and though the tale of a young boy finding Redmoss spread, no one was able to find it. No one but the boy. 
 
 Thus his mother recovered, and his family was rich one day to the next. His father and mother pleaded him to tell the location of the gem, but he had felt he shouldn ’ t, for the gods only revealed the Redmoss to him. But their pleading won him over and he told of the place where he had found the Stone; a cave with an entrance hidden from view by trees with roots larger than any other in the forest. He described the long route. His father and mother went, but never returned. 
 
 He found them lifeless in the cave, which had partially collapsed onto them. Their greed had weighed too heavy on the ceiling of the cave. The Stone in the middle of the cave was safe. This was the place where, in darkness, the Redmoss glowed and grew, on it and on any stone in contact with it. 
 
 After coming to terms with his loss, he lived a secluded life, living from nature as he ’ d learned to over the course of years exploring it. He saved up stones aligned with the precious gem with one goal: to build a grand hall in name of his father and mother, where people would dance like they had loved to. 
 
 He lived this life for so long that by the time he had saved enough, he was a boy no more but an adult, and the poor village that was his origin had been abandoned. 
 
 The empty reflection in the lake next to his house brought him a new determination, to build a castle in honor of his village. And he did. Selling the stones strategically like he ’ d heard his mother and father whisper to each other. Over the course of time, he gathered more resources than anyone in the country save the king himself. And he began the construction, starting off with the hall for his mother and father next to the lake, where their house had been. He made sure their favourite instrument was the centrepiece of the room, and moved on. The castle was finally finished with a cathedral-like structure sided by two towers he named after what had led him to create this masterpiece. The castle itself he named after the gem; Redmoss Castle. 
 
 Finding his village empty had taught him to share with others - had he done so before, the village could still have been today. And so he shared. He invited people from all around the land, and everybody that entered was greeted by the pleasant atmosphere of gratitude and kindness. 
 
 There was one thing he kept to himself though, and no one but him knew of it. It was a room he ’ d constructed himself, hidden in a maze of corridors that others weren ’ t allowed to wander. The room contained the way to the cave with the Redmoss. Because of it, he was still able to share and give to the people around, and live this luxurious lifestyle. 
 
 But every time he ’ d entered the room, he ’ d felt the opposite of what he experienced the day he first found the gemstone; an anxiety like nothing else, as if the gods were telling him to revoke the chamber, to give up the Stone. But he couldn ’ t; he had to give to the land and honor his village and parents, giving up the Stone would take all that away. So even though the feeling of anxiety grew with every time he entered the room, he kept doing so, harvesting the Redmoss to keep everything as it was. Over the course of years, the feeling became near-unbearable. The gods had had enough. 
 
 That he was one day almost unable to exit the cave should have been enough warning for him but he shook it off. Everything, the feast, the ball, proceeded as planned. And he paid the price. 
 
 That night, before the ball with everybody in the dining hall, the fragrant feast turned rotten, and the castle was struck by a storm that nothing could have prepared it for. There was heavy lightning booming all around as the sky tore holes in the walls. The paths to the Redmoss crashed down and became blocked, and like the greed of his parents made the ceiling of the cave fall, all those years ago, the ceiling of their ballroom plunged down. 
 
 After the catastrophe, no one dared to come near the castle again. No one except him. It had been his castle, but his exploits led to its downfall and his somber feelings from that night had never left, circling around it like dark clouds, mist and crows. It was a ruin. But somewhere hidden in that ruin there was still a cave with a special Stone. 
 
 Standing on the tip of the cathedral, between the towers he ’ d named Hopeful and Willpower, he sensed his dream again. Hope and willpower welled up inside him like when he was a child. As his cape danced in the wind, he turned around. He wouldn ’ t give up. He would find it. 

