The Adventures Of Marco And Sabre

Sabre the panther from Ook's Soggy Creek and Smuggler's Highway has been babbling about a faraway kingdom recently. Checking the Alpha's archives, I have found some burned information on some papyrus. Be sure to remember that these stories can be fakes, but there has been no confirmation, so this is the only lore Jamaa leans on today...



 "Really, son?" was the first thing Gilbaatorix said when he saw young Sabre trudge in covered with linen.
It was a new age where the Coraxese were settling down in the north, after separating from the Jamaasians and worshipping Moon instead. Sabre would be a good prince, Gilbaatorix thought, but he had to be more peaceful and stop getting the remains of their ancestors on his platinum armor and leather saddle. For some reason, Sabre thought that having his father ride him like a horse was good exercise.
But the good times would end.
One day, Gilbaatorix's term as king ended on Sabre's twenty-fifth birthday. That was the required age for a Corax to become king, and they had to be royalty, as Gilbaatorix had set. Sabre clung on to his days playing jockey with his dad and "digging" in the Sand-Mouth for treasure by hosting a large party.
"Hello," and "I wonder what the new king will do when he is king" were the only things Sabre could hear as he sat near his birthday cake, twenty-five candles on the exotic icing. Everyone passed the whiskey and salty brownies around as the king took off his platinum crown and placed it on Sabre's head. He was offical prince.
"Dad, what does the rank 'prince' mean?" Sabre asked his father after the party, just when their handmaidens were finishing their cleaning shifts. Panthers like them were smart, but despite the odds Sabre had never heard the term "prince" be used to describe him before. Gilbaatorix smiled.
"Son, it is a rank of royalty that is like a deputy to a clan leader. You have the right to command a portion of the military, and succeed me to the throne, but you have no rights whatsoever to seize full control. Understand?" Gilbaatorix whispered so that their servants didn't think Sabre was an idiot.
Sabre looked up at his father's new platinum crown grander than his previous one, and wondered if he would be that great a prince.

 "Take off that stupid saddle!" was the first thing Sabre heard in the morning afterwards. Sabre looked up from his feather mattress, and saw Madeline, the annoying koala he hated. Apparently, his father was busy sorting out disputes between peasants, and paid Madeline half-price to watch Sabre, because her ugly makeuped face was carved into a pout. Sabre took off his saddle, because he didn't feel like having his stuffed animal Ted ride him.
Ted, who was under his covers.
Madeline didn't mind, of course, but Sabre felt like Ted was a friend, not a trophy, so he hid Ted where there was little view but good air.
Sabre sighed, and got up so that he could train a bit.

 Ten years later...

 Sabre was now king, as Gilbaatorix had died protecting his kingdom fighting frost dragons. Everyone said that he had died nobly, but Sabre didn't feel like that.
He felt like Gilbaatorix had left him for his world to get shattered, and despite his training he had not been prepared.
Mental damage is the damage that really hurts, Madeline had told him a mere year ago. Now she was dead, because of him. He had been practicing the spell to summon the Yeti, and all of a sudden a frost dragon had come, bringing more on its trail.
Madeline and her family had been trampled in the chaos resulting.
Sabre had passed harsh laws to prevent that happening again, and now riots were frequent around his palace.
The protesters threw rocks saying that magic shouldn't be limited, there was another way, et cetera. However, Sabre was gone.
Now, Sabre was packing up his room, using magic to stuff his room into a sack like a paper painting, along with Ted and all his possessions.
"Oh, Father, please forgive me for leaving Corax without a heir to the throne..." Sabre pleaded to the sky, wherever his father was. Gilbaatorix seemed to listen, as  Sabre felt a wave of calm spread over him. His father's voice spoke in his mind.
Go to the Duat docks. Go. Meet the armored penguin, and set sail for Ook. Secrets and danger await...Go.
The voice repeated itself in Sabre's head over and over, over and over, as he slunk  to the magic docks, sack and all.
He had no idea what awaited him, or what would become of his penguin friend, who would become the penguin alpha...