The journey of Parzival - The Throne of Zamorah (Prologue, Part I)

[Zilmrud]

The journey of Parzival
Prologue, part I
Prolouge - The Throne of Zamorah
[City of Zamorah]

The room was dark except from the starlight from the balcony and window. The balcony door was open to get some breeze in the summer night. In the ruler's bedroom it was quiet except for the ruler's heavy rustling breath. Next to him stood a servant, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a wet towel. Next to the footboard of the bed stood two people with hoods with their heads bowed.

“- Is he awake?” the elf Waldemar whispered
 “- What difference does it make? if he is not awake you have to wake him up.” Whispered the elf Gindrell back in an angry tone.
“- Why me? Whispered Waldermar.

A heavy rustling was heard from the bed. The ruler Zull af Drachen moved under the sheets.

 “- What are you whispering about? Don't you think I hear you? I'm admittedly on the deathbed, but I'm not dead yet. But my voice is weak, so I have to talk this way.”  A voice was heard inside their heads.

Gindrell felt a shiver go down her spine. Even though she should have gotten used to it after all these years in the Ruler's service, she was always surprised by the druid's way of communicating directly into her head. Zull had the ability to communicate via telepathy, An unusual ability that had been inherited for generations by the druids in his family.

“- Excuse us, your grace. We didn’t know if you were awake. We come with ominous news.” Waldemar answered.
“- We know that your grace needs to rest after today's tiring deliberations. But we do not think this can wait until the morning.” said Gindrell apologetically.
 “- Well, let go. But let it be fast!” hissed Zull's voice inside their heads.
 “- At dawn when The Aurum Order was to start today's deliberations in the throne room, an urgent messenger came with a message.” said Gindrell

“- It was Arguin, the leader of the royal guard, who made the message. As chairman, I received the parchment from Arguin. But  as he kept his head down all the time, I understood that it was not good news.” Said Waldemar.

“- I took the parchment back to the Order and read it aloud to everyone.” Waldermar said 
“- During the night there was a terrible accident in the Aurumium mines under the city. A mine tunnel has collapsed and people have been injured. But the work was still going on to clear it up so it was not known then how many were injured.
 
“- We immediately sent down a delegation to investigate what happened in the mine.” Said Gindrell. “- During the day, we interrogated workers who were in the area. We received information so that we could in all probability determine how extensive the damage was. We arrested Master Gundwald, the foreman of section 7 where the accident took place. He is the one who bears the ultimate responsibility for the work in the mines in Section 7. We held an interrogation with him in the required manner in the throne room in the afternoon.

“- During the interrogation, he was unusually quiet.” Said Waldemar. “- Master Gundwald is usually quite outspoken, even when he should not be. But what came out was very worrying.”

“- It soon became apparent that inspections of the mines in Section 7 had taken place during the night, Gindrell continued. "- The group that carried out inspections in the mine is said to have been located exactly where the mine tunnel collapsed."

“- Late in the afternoon, so much had been cleared up in the mine tunnel that this was confirmed.” Said Waldemar. “- It has been possible to confirm five dead and no survivors from the inspectors. Only the testimony of Master Gundwald and his workers and what could be seen of the crushed remains.

 “- Mmm, this is really sad news.” The voice of the ruler was heard in their heads. “- There are few times when our mining work has caused injuries to our citizens. This is a great sorrow for our kingdom and it will be announced on the market tomorrow. You can give this announcement Waldemar, as it is part of your office. You Gindrell must make sure that you contact the relatives of the deceased directly in the morning. They must be worried after not hearing from their loved ones.
I want you to bring me my son Parzival. It is ultimately his job to ensure the safety of the city and the mines. I want to hear what he has to say about it all before the morning.”

It became quiet in the bedroom. Waldemar and Gindrell looked anxiously at the ruler and at each other.

 “- Well!?" The cold voice of the ruler was heard in their heads.

Waldemar cleared his throat. “- Erm… it was just that your grace. We can not find your son. Erm….  According to witnesses, he was one of the inspectors in the mine. We could also find his clothes and belongings on one of the bodies in the mining tunnel. I'm really sorry to have to tell you this. But your son is dead!

An enormous silence spread in the room. Waldemar and Gindrell could almost hear the echo of Waldermar's last words repeated over and over. The silence was so compact that it almost hurt their ears. They couldn’t even hear the ruler's breath anymore. They looked anxiously at each other and at the servant who was standing still with his eyes wide open.

 “- Leave me!”  Zull af Drachen's voice roared in their ears.

The days passed and Zamorah sank into grief. Partly of the terrible disaster in the mine but also when the Ruler's son and heir to the throne was dead. Black flags were hung on the city streets and squares and the citizens wore black bands on their arms. 
The next few days it turned out that in addition to Parzival af Drachen who died in the accident, was also his closest lieutenant and childhood friend Beren Grimfold the Paladin, his friend the fauna and magician Eld Afett and not least his betrothed, the Duchess Freda of Andustar. The company that died also included the chief inspector and dwarf Durum Grotta.

There was some tumult and confusion in the castle. How would Zamorah be governed now? Zull af Drachen lay on the deathbed and his only heir to the throne was dead. In addition, Zull's health soon deteriorated. The Aurum Order could not help but convene an urgent council meeting to be held in the ruler's bedroom. During the council meeting, the Ruler announced that The Aurum Order would take over the reign of Zamorah as there was no heir to the throne. And thus was the end of the long succession to the throne of af Drachen family that went as far back as the first druid who settled on the top of the mountain.

Shortly afterwards, Zull died in the suites of his illness. But many believed that what really killed Zull was the grief over his son's death and the grief of the end of his lineage and of letting the reign of  Zamorah be left in the hands of The Aurum Order.

A funeral ceremony for Zull was held in the castle's throne room. Long-distance guests from foreign lands came to say goodbye to Zull, a ruler most remembered as a just and kind-hearted leader.

The Aurum order came to power in Zamorah and it was not long before it was announced that the long magical shutdown of the city and duchy would be lifted. Trade contacts would be established with foreign kingdoms. But great resources would also be invested in building up a defense against foreign powers. Divisions thus arose in Zamorah's government and among its people. Those who looked forward to the new and Zamorah's opportunities for trade and wealth. And those who saw how the only thing that kept Zamorah safe now had been removed and how the greed of the outside world would now lead to the duchy being invaded.

Regardless of what the population thought, The Aurum Order was clear in its message: Now the whole of Historica would see Zamorah's greatness, power and riches and The Aurum Order would ensure that Zamorah would have its rightful place as a significant duchy in Avalonia.

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by Zilmrud

[Velnerius]

Love the build of the throne room, and the story is told very well!

But what I especially love, is the stained glass window and the lighting in the first picture! It looks amazing!

[NOD]

Well told story. The Zamora Town Hall looks great with the beautiful carpet and furniture.

Edited February 18, 2022 by NOD

[The Stad]

This is an incredible series of builds!  Great details on the columns, in the floor, the stained glass windows, and all the furniture.  All your figure combos are really nice as well, particularly your royal guards.

I'm sorry to see the story of Parzival come to such an abrupt end (if that really was his body in the tunnels...), but I hope we'll still get to see more of the story that precedes this chapter, and I can't wait to see the direction of Zamorah under its new leadership!

[zoth33]

The lighting in all the pictures is fantastic.  The hall has some great detailing in the floors and the windows allow for wonderful pictures and lighting.  The story is really great and it will be interesting to see how this will continue.  The figs are all great looking too, especially the ones with the armorer helmet from Boba fett.  I really need to get some of the helmets they seem to be quite useful.  

[Kai NRG]

The size of this throne room is magnificent, great pillar design, love the windows too, and I think I mentioned that throne on Flickr but it's worth mentioning again, super cool and brilliant use of the dragon head!  The stained glass on the introductory build is also gorgeous! 

[Zilmrud]

On 2/18/2022 at 11:24 AM, Velnerius said:

Love the build of the throne room, and the story is told very well!

But what I especially love, is the stained glass window and the lighting in the first picture! It looks amazing!

Thanks! It was hard to get a good detailed picture but also have a dark room. The window is inspired by Katie Walker's designs. 

On 2/18/2022 at 6:20 PM, NOD said:

Well told story. The Zamora Town Hall looks great with the beautiful carpet and furniture.

Thanks 

On 2/18/2022 at 7:08 PM, The Stad said:

This is an incredible series of builds!  Great details on the columns, in the floor, the stained glass windows, and all the furniture.  All your figure combos are really nice as well, particularly your royal guards.

I'm sorry to see the story of Parzival come to such an abrupt end (if that really was his body in the tunnels...), but I hope we'll still get to see more of the story that precedes this chapter, and I can't wait to see the direction of Zamorah under its new leadership!

Thanks! 

As always it's not always as it seems in the royal intrigues. Maybe some things will come up tonthe surface later in the story 

On 2/18/2022 at 8:47 PM, zoth33 said:

The lighting in all the pictures is fantastic.  The hall has some great detailing in the floors and the windows allow for wonderful pictures and lighting.  The story is really great and it will be interesting to see how this will continue.  The figs are all great looking too, especially the ones with the armorer helmet from Boba fett.  I really need to get some of the helmets they seem to be quite useful.  

Thanks. I got some inspiration from circus robots pictures. In the Throne room I had smoke in the room and a big screen behind the MOC. The bedroom was only a laptop screen behind.

It was quite ezpensive to get the helmets. I bought five figs so I can have a few at once in a MOC. The helmet works well as a fantasy/castle helmet. 

On 2/20/2022 at 12:45 AM, Kai NRG said:

The size of this throne room is magnificent, great pillar design, love the windows too, and I think I mentioned that throne on Flickr but it's worth mentioning again, super cool and brilliant use of the dragon head!  The stained glass on the introductory build is also gorgeous! 

Thanks! I'm pleased about the pillars myselfe. Most of the Throne room is made possible with the PaB walls in Lego Stores. I have two within 40km from home. 

[Eyrezer]

Such a grand and spacious build! The floor patterning with that elaborate rug is my favourite part. Is the bedchamber a separate build?

[Zilmrud]

On 3/4/2022 at 2:40 AM, Eyrezer said:

Such a grand and spacious build! The floor patterning with that elaborate rug is my favourite part. Is the bedchamber a separate build?

Thanks. It's quite large. I had those aquaman pieces ready for a rug or such for a long time. It worked out well with the avalonian stripes. 

The bedroom is separate. But I kept the floor design to tie them togehter as they are from the same building.

[Gray Gear]

This is incredible! The design of the floor, the walls, all the details... Damn.

Only thing I dislike is the colored glass window in the bedroom. Yes, it looks very good. But the bricks are not really fixed at all, so the entire window can fall out and fall apart really easily. 

[_TLG_]

Very nice floor and window techniques!

[Zilmrud]

On 3/8/2022 at 11:30 PM, Gray Gear said:

This is incredible! The design of the floor, the walls, all the details... Damn.

Only thing I dislike is the colored glass window in the bedroom. Yes, it looks very good. But the bricks are not really fixed at all, so the entire window can fall out and fall apart really easily. 

Thanks 

The thing is that they are all tight inside a trans-clear panel. And behind that is another trans-clear panel. So they will not fall out even if I shake it 

On 3/11/2022 at 12:30 PM, _TLG_ said:

Very nice floor and window techniques!

Thanks 

[LordDan]

Beautiful architecture in both builds! I really like the stained glass window mosaic, and the entire throne room is very detailed!

[Zilmrud]

On 3/16/2022 at 10:36 PM, LordDan said:

Beautiful architecture in both builds! I really like the stained glass window mosaic, and the entire throne room is very detailed!

Thanks 

[Krol Zmija Sebastian]

Magnificent layout.

[royalstick]

A lot of elven characters! 

 

[Zilmrud]

On 3/28/2022 at 5:07 PM, Viper Knight said:

Magnificent layout.

Thanks 

On 4/20/2022 at 1:59 PM, royalstick said:

A lot of elven characters! 

 

Nice