Showcase story: Origin of Hate

It happened some time before he became the King of Arconia. Falconus and Kestrelius were lords of their houses and they had loved her since they were children. Lady Nightengale had a choice to make.

"Have I not been a worthy suitor?" Kestrel asked of her one starry evening. Two of the planets moons shown brightly on the flower filled courtyard.

"Of course you have." She said gently. "You both have and I love you both."

"But the time has come that you choose one of use. With me, you will be queen."

"And that is the difference between the two of you. Kestrelius, you are for power and glory. I am  not. It is not the throne and a position of rule that matters to me, but love alone."

Many heard the cry echo across the royal grounds and came running. Falconus was the first to arrive. Kestrel knelt with Nightengale in his arms. He laid her down gently and held up a glass vial.

"Poison!" He shouted as he dashed the vial on the ground. "She took her own life because she could not choose between us!" He pointed to Falconus. "I blame you!"

"Fool! Take her to the healer!" Falconus cried as he tried to go to her fallen form.

"It's no good! It's the venom of a dragonasp. There's no coming back from it!" Kestrel threw a surprise punch that tossed Falcon backwards and to the ground.  "I swear, you will pay for this with your life!"

Guards moved in quickly and separated them. They took the body of Lady Nightengale away to be examined. In the days to follow, they brought Lord Kestrel before the scales of justice.

"As you know, none may lie before the scales of justice. One side will rise or fall upon truth or tale." Lord Harp said to Kestrel. "Tell us now the way of her death."

"She died at her own hand." Kestrel said.

All the five lords were present that day with a court of witnesses. Audible gasps were heard as the scales didn't move at all.

"This is impossible." Lord Harp said. "It suggests that you neither speak truth or lie! Wait outside, Kestrelius. We have much to decide on you."

Kestrel stormed out and Harp turned to Falcon.

"We have already voted on this matter. I wanted you informed first." After the discussion they called for Kestrel's return and Harp continued. "Lord Kestrelius, we find this situation highly suspect. While no definite evidence can be brought against you, we have found this serious to take one significant action. As you know, our king has stepped down and the throne sits empty. Your house is up for its turn as the monarchy. Because of this highly suspect death and the results of the scales, we have voted. Your house will be skipped in the cycle of monarchy. Lord Falconus is now King Falconus and will be crowned so at the harvest."

"You can't do this!" Kestrel roared. "The throne is mine by right and cycle! This is an outrage!"

"It doesn't make any sense." Falcon said. "Why would she kill herself? She knew she was free to choose or not choose. No one would have forced her."

"I swear this, Falconus. We are friends no more, but bitterest enemies. I will make you pay." Kestrel dashed out of the court before anyone could respond, spread his fiery wings and flew away.

That is how Kestrel began the path would eventually see him trying to murder Falcon and go on to commit many an evil atrocity.

(I have a plan to write the Arconian Chronicles with the full story of these three people. Hope you enjoyed this touch of history)

Spotlight: Arconia!

If you read the spotlight on King Falcon, you know he's from the planet Arconia. Today, for the holiday posting, I am going to give you the Arconian grand tour. I hope you enjoy meeting this special race.

Arconia is a lush jungle world with 3 moons; Colas, Laros, and Venure. Only Colas is uninhabited and frozen over with ice and snow. Naturally, that makes Colas the furthest from the planet. Laros is home to the house of Paradien, and Venure to the house of Kasau-Ki.

As you can tell, Arconians are humanoid (male or female) formed with the heads of various birds. A trivial note is that they are born without their beaks, allowing a live humanoid type birth. They also nurse like mammals until their beaks grow in. The family types depend on the Royal house they are from or related to. Royalty has ability to summon wings of fire and lightning (allowing them to even fly through space) thanks to and ancient relationship to the race of the Star Phoenix. See the pic above of Lord Valderon (father of the Arconian race and legend).Peasantry have no wings. The wings of an Arconian can be a serious weapon, able to raise temperatures hundreds to even thousands of degrees in a fifty foot area or more. The lightning can be cast up to a hundred yards for attack purposes.

Their government is formed of five royal houses with the Royal House itself making number six. Each house takes turns in ruling Arconia as a revolving monarchy. Each house is ruled by a Lord and Lady, assisted by a Duke/Duchess, and finally an Earl (who acts more like a regional Sheriff). So lets take a look at the five houses:

Paradien: Represents nobility and law. The birds here look like falcons, ospreys and eagles. Royalty come to this house to learn the laws of Arconia, and ways of nobility. No youth may take official status of a house without their lessons in each royal area. This house also enforces trials over Arconia's laws and metes out punishment for serious offenses. Even the King may have to face Paradien, but only by unanimous ruling of each of the five houses. Pictured here is the current Lord of the house, Lord Harp. He's holding the scales of guilt and innocence. Facing those scales makes a trial very short indeed.

Kasau-Ki: Represents warriors and ways of defense. The birds here look like kestrels, hawks, and owls. This is where royals are taught how to fight with their wings and cosmic powers. Yes, they have cosmic powers. Arconians are quite adept in using several tactics and archaic (enchanted) weaponry. Arconia uses no technology. They have powers and magics that take care of all they need. This house developed diving attacks and the use of another potent weapon; the Arconian war shriek. King Falcon's shriek and shatter some of the strongest metals in the universe. Interestingly enough, Arconian usually only needs one protective force to keep invaders away; the King. Each King of Arconia is gifted with great power and considered to be the god and protector of the people. For this reason, Arconians practice what they call, Monarch Worship. The King is God to the Arconians. In the picture you see Lord Owl with his mystical sword.

Magor: The house of magics and great knowledge. The birds of this house look like toucans, cockatoos, and cockatiels. This is where teachings of spells, bardic music, and standard academics are given. The members of this house are powerful in magic enough to shield their world from nearly any threat. Magic is considered to be the blood of the universe and therefore very important to understand and respect. In this picture you see Lord Lord Heziah and just behind him, Lord Chamberlin. Lord Chamberlin represents the House of Magor in the Royal house. All representatives serving in the royal house are honorary Lords.

Fau Lin: The house of life and nature. The birds of this house look like the many forms of parrots and macaws. Arconia is such a lush and life filled place. There are even other magical beasts such as dragons and gryphons. Once a year, around our holiday season, they have an annual dragon hunt (for the non-intelligent species only) and a great feast at the Royal House. Hunters who participate have three choices to hunt with, spear, bow, or bare hands. King Falcon always uses his bare hands. At the house of Fau Lin, royals are taught how to respect all life and the ways of nature. They learn all about the harvest and how to grow all the foods Arconians live on. In the picture you see Lord Macau using powers of nature to grow a vine.

Iyson: The house of balance and powers. The birds of this house look like nightengales (dark black), jays, cardinals, and magpies. Arconians study the Balance of Good and Evil with a watchful eye. They also study the use of powers as much as the use of magic. If you follow the characters of Galaxy Zento, you will see many beings with amazing powers. The House of Iyson studies the use of powers and respects that they have a source in creation all their own. This house also helps write the laws and politics enforced by the House of Paradien. In this picture you see Lord Yiro with his staff of power.

There are several Arconian characters in Galaxy Zento and they are coming soon to be posted at the fan page and Deviantart. Be sure to follow along and I hope your holiday season is exceptional blessed!

Spotlight: King Falcon

King Falconus is the monarch of the distant planet Arconia. Arconia is the richest planet in the known universe of Galaxy Zento. It's rich in all sorts of wealth, from gold and treasure, magic and knowledge, to mineral and resource.

King Falcon stands 7ft, 11in tall.

As the King, Falconus is gifted with special artifacts that allow him to protect his world and others. First is the Amulet of Arconia, found at his waist, attached to his mystical armor. It does two things for him. First, it enhances the phoenix blood in his royal veins. Should he fall in combat, the amulet will resurrect him in a giant ball of phoenix fire. This is potentially hazardous to his foes. If someone manages to take the amulet and slay him, the amulet must be delivered back to Arconia. It will resurrect him there. It's not perfect, the amulet is "sensitive to fate". There is always a chance that it is King Falcon's time. At that point, the amulet will vanish and reappear in it's holding case at the royal palace.

Second is his personal weapon, blessed for him alone. It's called the Axe of Arconia. It can respond to King Falcon's will and cannot be lifted by anyone but him without his permission. He can recant permission at any time.

To fly, he summons wings of fire and lightning (only royalty can do this) and he can fly the voids of space. With his wings he can fireblast large areas and raise temperatures to molten levels around him. His wings also enable him to fly at extreme speeds through space and even to warp to other worlds instantly. His other natural weapons include cosmic class phoenix rays, a war shriek that can shatter steel and stone, and his incredible strength. King Falcon can lift 100 tons with ease and more if he takes time to "gather" and absorb energy from the universe. King Falcon has moved moons in their orbit.

He is immune to disease and impervious to base physical damage.

He also carries one of the legendary Rings of the Multiverse; the Ring of Knowledge. It allows him to gain all knowledge on any given thing or subject he comes across. It also gives him a lie-detecting sense. He also took the Ring of Alchemy from Maestro, but doesn't carry both rings at the same time.

On Arconia they believe in Monarch Worship, who ever is King, is their god. There is no technology on Arconia. They don't need it. The only military is the royal guards and they are to protect villagers and palaces in royalty's absence.

King Falcon helped to form the Council of Leaders, a panel of leaders from various planets for the good of their universe.

King Falcon is one of the most powerful heroes of Galaxy Zento. He's always ready to lend a helping hand to stop the evil forces of the universe.