Once upon a time, there was a Great kingdom. It was ruled by the honorable and just King Greatalot. The people in his kingdom lived happy, prosperous and peaceful lives.
The king had three sons: Fightalot, Thinkalot and Smilealot.
The king loved all three of his sons equally but as he grew old, he started worrying about who should be his heir. He couldn't decide who could be the better king.
He discussed this issue with his council of ministers, and concluded that the three princes should be tested for their ability to rule. It was decided that each of the three princes would be given 3 months to rule the kingdom. The king and the council of ministers would observe their rule closely and decide on the future heir of the kingdom by the end of the year.
Being the eldest one, the first chance was given to Prince Fighalot.
Now, before we go further into the story, we need to know more about our first candidate. Prince Fighalot was born in the initial years of King Greatalot's reign. His developing years were spent watching his father strategize and ruthlessly fight through scores of battles, winning wars and conquering new territories. Obviously all this had a strong impact on the prince's personality. He grew up to become a fierce fighter and an expert swordsman much admired by the military generals and the Kingdom's armed forces.
So, within three days, the new King Fightalot soured relations with neighboring states. Within three weeks, he decided to mount an attack on one of these states that had otherwise had peaceful relations with our great Kingdom. Fightalot inspired his army of soldiers by taking to the front lines and through his clever strategies. Though he won after 6 weeks of ferocious battle, the kingdom lost a lot of men to the war, attracted thousands of refugees from the defeated state and left the economy in tatters.
The next chance was given to Prince Thinkalot.
Now Prince Thinkalot was brought up during the consolidating years of the kingdom. The King spent most of his time holed up in a room discussing trade and economic policy with his council of ministers. Obviously, this had an impact on the developing prince. He became an introvert, spending his days learning about finances and other policies.
The new King Thinkalot spent most of his days and nights holed up inside the palace. Only a select few ministers and traders were occasionally invited to meetings that would go on for hours and hours on end. He was as such perceived to be authoritarian king, ruling through a small coterie of advisers, and for all purposes invisible to the people at large.
Even so, by the end of his third month, the economy of the kingdom had started showing strong signs of revival, ambassadors had been sent to neighboring states to placate and reassure them of the king's peaceful stand, and work had been started towards rehabilitation of those affected by the war.
The last contender for the throne was Prince Smilealot.
Prince Smilealot grew up in the years of prosperity. The king had started working on improving relations with neighboring states. There were lots of parties, summits and festivals that were celebrated with gusto throughout the kingdom.
As such King Smilealot became very popular with the general public very fast. Riding high on the strengthened economy left by his predecessor, he lowered the taxes, visited the neighboring states, showered gifts and freebies for all. It was as if there were a party everyday! By the end of his third month, though the economy had started to stagnate, the new king had won over the people and the neighboring kingdoms with his charm.
Even as King Greatalot and his council of ministers began to mull over who should be the next king, Greatalot's health began to deteriorate. Unfortunately, the king died without naming the heir to the Great Kingdom...
A few hours after the King's death, a large fire breathing dragon came out of nowhere, and the entire kingdom was burnt to ashes leaving all its inhabitants dead...
.
.
LOL..Just kidding, leave out the "Dragon and the Kingdom burning to ashes" part...
To Be Continued...
The king had three sons: Fightalot, Thinkalot and Smilealot.
The king loved all three of his sons equally but as he grew old, he started worrying about who should be his heir. He couldn't decide who could be the better king.
He discussed this issue with his council of ministers, and concluded that the three princes should be tested for their ability to rule. It was decided that each of the three princes would be given 3 months to rule the kingdom. The king and the council of ministers would observe their rule closely and decide on the future heir of the kingdom by the end of the year.
Being the eldest one, the first chance was given to Prince Fighalot.
Now, before we go further into the story, we need to know more about our first candidate. Prince Fighalot was born in the initial years of King Greatalot's reign. His developing years were spent watching his father strategize and ruthlessly fight through scores of battles, winning wars and conquering new territories. Obviously all this had a strong impact on the prince's personality. He grew up to become a fierce fighter and an expert swordsman much admired by the military generals and the Kingdom's armed forces.
So, within three days, the new King Fightalot soured relations with neighboring states. Within three weeks, he decided to mount an attack on one of these states that had otherwise had peaceful relations with our great Kingdom. Fightalot inspired his army of soldiers by taking to the front lines and through his clever strategies. Though he won after 6 weeks of ferocious battle, the kingdom lost a lot of men to the war, attracted thousands of refugees from the defeated state and left the economy in tatters.
The next chance was given to Prince Thinkalot.
Now Prince Thinkalot was brought up during the consolidating years of the kingdom. The King spent most of his time holed up in a room discussing trade and economic policy with his council of ministers. Obviously, this had an impact on the developing prince. He became an introvert, spending his days learning about finances and other policies.
The new King Thinkalot spent most of his days and nights holed up inside the palace. Only a select few ministers and traders were occasionally invited to meetings that would go on for hours and hours on end. He was as such perceived to be authoritarian king, ruling through a small coterie of advisers, and for all purposes invisible to the people at large.
Even so, by the end of his third month, the economy of the kingdom had started showing strong signs of revival, ambassadors had been sent to neighboring states to placate and reassure them of the king's peaceful stand, and work had been started towards rehabilitation of those affected by the war.
The last contender for the throne was Prince Smilealot.
Prince Smilealot grew up in the years of prosperity. The king had started working on improving relations with neighboring states. There were lots of parties, summits and festivals that were celebrated with gusto throughout the kingdom.
As such King Smilealot became very popular with the general public very fast. Riding high on the strengthened economy left by his predecessor, he lowered the taxes, visited the neighboring states, showered gifts and freebies for all. It was as if there were a party everyday! By the end of his third month, though the economy had started to stagnate, the new king had won over the people and the neighboring kingdoms with his charm.
Even as King Greatalot and his council of ministers began to mull over who should be the next king, Greatalot's health began to deteriorate. Unfortunately, the king died without naming the heir to the Great Kingdom...
A few hours after the King's death, a large fire breathing dragon came out of nowhere, and the entire kingdom was burnt to ashes leaving all its inhabitants dead...
.
.
LOL..Just kidding, leave out the "Dragon and the Kingdom burning to ashes" part...
To Be Continued...
