At the close of the Kingdom of Arthur's sixtieth year, a rare blizzard swept across the Barren Land. Snowflakes whirled through the sky, instantly blanketing the mugwort grass, which grew knee-high. The damp, frigid air spiraled across people's faces, stinging like a blade.
In a small town somewhere in the Barren Land, the vagrants huddled in the street corners, cursing nonstop. "Damn the gods! Show some mercy and make this wretched wind leave Saint Brieuc Fortress!"
As they cursed, they futilely wrapped their threadbare clothes tighter around themselves and curled up to conserve what little warmth they had.
Saint Brieuc Fortress was an unremarkable little town, sparsely populated and full of crumbling buildings.
Dozens of similarly desolate towns dotted the Barren Land. Like old men on their deathbeds, they reluctantly guarded the kingdom's southern frontier.
The lord of Saint Brieuc Fortress was Hamilton Duncan, a direct descendant of the Duncan Family and a nobleman of considerable standing in the area.
Yet his reputation reached no farther than this desolate land. After all, the Kingdom of Arthur had hundreds of Earls and Viscounts, and a little Baron living in some remote region could hardly attract much attention.
In truth, the Duncan Family's rise to power had involved a great deal of luck.
A hundred years ago, Rochelle Hope, the founder of the Kingdom of Arthur, was still a wandering noble of the Olehols Dynasty, while the founder of the Duncan Family, Duke Sam Duncan, was heir to a run-down tavern.
Perhaps by some clever twist of fate, His Majesty Rochelle won Duke Sam's allegiance with nothing more than an outrageous lie.
According to the historical records, this was what His Majesty Rochelle had said at the time:
"Sir Sam, the Olehols Dynasty is utterly rotten. The emperor is greedy and cruel, and the nobles are treacherous and vicious. They herd us like cattle and sheep..."
"When we grow fat and strong, they strip off our hides without hesitation and devour our flesh and blood. We can no longer endure this oppression. We must rise up and fight back..."
"Sir Sam, the people are suffering terribly. I, Baron Rochelle Hope, will raise the golden banner and fight for freedom and faith. And you will be honored to share in this glory with me!"
And so, after a bit of persuasion, Sam, an unsophisticated country lad, became the loyal follower of the wandering noble Rochelle.
Yet history was like a young woman dressed up to suit whoever told it; the truth might well have been laughable.
According to the memoirs of the Duncan Family's founder, Duke Sam, His Majesty Rochelle had eaten and drunk his fill at the tavern that day, then found himself unable to pay. So he had lied to Sam.
What's more, the lie he'd told was so clumsy that it was nothing like the profound tale recorded in the history books.
"Sir Sam, there's a sleeping Frost Dragon in the Ambrisset Mountains, and I'm a dragonslayer. I'm heading into the mountains to rid the Olehols of that reptile before it can bring disaster upon us."
"Sir Sam, if you still have the blood of an Olehols man in your veins, waive the cost of my meal. When I return from slaying the dragon, I'll give you two enormous rubies."
Sam—naive, or perhaps just a little dim—actually believed him. Not only did he waive the bill, he gathered all his worldly possessions, climbed onto the tavern's mule, and declared that he would become the follower of a "dragonslayer."
The tavern's patrons all thought he'd gone mad. Hoping to save the poor fellow, whose mind had been addled by knightly romances, they turned on Rochelle and demanded that he stop deceiving the honest man.
But His Majesty Rochelle was destitute at the time. He couldn't possibly let such a fat sheep slip away. He immediately retorted with righteous indignation, "Sir Sam, don't let these fools sully your noble soul. Your courage and generosity fill me with admiration."
Then the wandering noble Rochelle set out on his grand "dragon-slaying" quest, with Sam as his first follower.
Neither of them knew that what lay ahead would be far greater than slaying a dragon.
In the fortieth year Before the New Calendar, the Olehols Dynasty, after weathering more than four centuries of upheaval, began its slow decline. In his greed and arrogance, the last emperor raised taxes again and again to expand his domain, leaving the people in a state of widespread outrage.
At that very moment, the great "dragonslayer" Rochelle Hope was swindling the lord of some noble estate in the Province of Roses, with his follower Sam Duncan at his side.
"Sir Samuel, the Olehols Dynasty is utterly rotten. The emperor is greedy and cruel, and the nobles are treacherous and vicious. They herd us like cattle and sheep..."
"When we grow fat and strong, they strip off our hides without hesitation and devour our flesh and blood. We can no longer endure this oppression. We must rise up and fight back..."
"Sir Samuel, the people are suffering terribly. I, Baron Rochelle Hope, will raise the golden banner and fight for freedom and faith. And you will be honored to share in this glory with me!"
And so, by coaxing and deceiving, His Majesty Rochelle assembled his first followers.
In the thirty-sixth year Before the New Calendar, the Olehols Dynasty grew even more corrupt. His Majesty Rochelle began making good on his promises, secretly meeting with many old noble families in the Province of Roses and reaching some kind of agreement with them.
In the thirty-third year Before the New Calendar, the once little-known wandering noble Rochelle Hope resolutely raised a banner emblazoned with a golden lion's head and launched a full-scale rebellion.
Many nobles and commoners could no longer endure the emperor's brutal rule. The rebellion spread across the land like wildfire.
In the blink of an eye, the once-glorious Olehols Dynasty faded from the stage of history.
After overthrowing the emperor, the next matter was dividing up the territory.
Through shrewd political maneuvering and bloody slaughter, His Majesty Rochelle Hope gained vast stretches of land in the southern Olehols Dynasty. He thereby earned a resounding title: the Lionheart King!
In the first year of the New Calendar, His Majesty Rochelle Hope was sixty-four, and Duke Sam Duncan was fifty-eight. Both men were frail with age.
Kingdoms changed hands, and countless heroes were swept away by the winds and rain of history.
After countless hardships, the wandering noble Rochelle Hope was finally crowned king, taking the name Hope I.
His followers were also rewarded handsomely. Sam Duncan, who had followed him from the beginning, was granted the hereditary title of Duke.
At Duke Sam's investiture ceremony, His Majesty Rochelle said, "Sam, my dearest friend, I couldn't give you those enormous rubies after all, but I can make it up to you with land."
He pointed toward the distance. "Leave the Province of Roses and head south. Every bit of land your horse rides across will belong to the Duncan Family."
So the fifty-something Duke Sam Duncan followed his friend's instructions, taking his wife and children back to the Barren Land, the homeland he'd left behind so long ago.
From then on, the Barren Land had a new name: Duke Duncan's Territory.