After Eiloseth gave birth to Gren, she hid him in a cave on a moon orbiting Shurn.
She knew his father would kill him because he was a bastard. No one was allowed to stand in the way of the royal succession.
As a favored concubine, Eiloseth was allowed to live despite her serious infraction.
Lord Mog was a lusty king whose sexual escapades were legendary on Shurn. He was also quite crazy.
Gren was raised by his grandparents who went into hiding to take care of him when he was born. From an early age Gren exhibited unnatural strength and wit. He was walking, and talking, before he turned two years-old.
By the time he was six years-old he took over all the heavy work, like collecting firewood and energy stones to heat the cave up. He was already four-feet tall and heavily muscled.
They raised him like a son, and he believed they were his parents. Neither had the heart to tell him about his true heritage. That if he ever went to Shurn he would be murdered by the mad King Mog.
Gren became friends with the other fugitives who lived there. It was rough living on Ka because the moon’s landscape was barren and inhospitable. Life could only be sustained underground.
An endless maze of tunnels dug hundreds of years ago, spread out beneath the surface of Ra. Gren’s home was a fair distance from the other inhabitants. After doing his chores, which included digging for eatable roots on the surface, he would explore the endless labyrinth.
Gren had devised a system of navigating the interconnecting tunnels that allowed him to explore without getting lost. In this way, he discovered the others who lived there. Over a period of years, regular communications were established among the people of Ra.
More importantly, a basic government was set up to guide the people. It consisted of twenty-four men and women selected by their peers. This council came up with rules to live by and the people felt more secure.
People who had special skills were encouraged to use them. One example was when a geologist discovered a new element- ZX-20 – that stored energy like a sponge. The bright orange ore vein stretched for miles.
It wasn’t long before teams of geologists found other valuable natural resources. The discovery of Uranium and Plutonium caused quite a stir when a committee of scientists announced they could make bombs with it.
One thing that Gren’s grandparents made sure to do was to tell him about his home planet Shurn. They explained what kings and slaves were. They painted word pictures of the lush green valleys covered in a constant bed of flowers that changed colors with the seasons.
They told him about the mad King Mog and how evil he was. They explained that they fled with him when he was a babe, after Mog’s minions came looking for slaves one day.
Many of the stories they told about people’s lives on Shurn were sad, like the fact that the common man had no rights. The mad king treated them no better than the wild animals he killed, or put into zoos.
If it wasn’t for the Merk’s, no one would have bothered to explore the nearby moon they named Ra. The Merk’s were the sole holdouts on Shurn who dared to defy King Mog. They were a group of scientists and scholars that discovered how to build a space ship.
That quark powered ship was used to transport fugitives for over eighty years. The population on Ra had grown to a million people during that time. Still, millions more were living lives of despair back on Shurn.
The day came when the Council of 24 decided that Ra could no longer sustain getting any more refugees. At this time, Gren’s grandparents told him, and the council, who he really was. After overcoming the initial shock Gren made a startling suggestion.
He would go back and lead a rebellion against Mog, using his heritage to claim the crown. Despite misgivings by his grandparents and the council, he enlisted help from fifty strong men willing to give their lives in the name of freedom.
Gren’s small army grew into hundred of thousands of fighters in two short years. Finally on the fourth day of the fifth house of Thron, Mog’s army met Gren’s on the flowered Plains of Jezzop.
Though outnumbered, Gren’s men overcame their opponents in a day of bloody slaughter. Gren was wounded when King Mog confronted him with his enormous broadsword.
In the ensuing fight Gren’s youth and strength overcame Mog’s defense and he cut the mad monarch down. But Mog had wounded him too. His left arm was barely attached by a muscle, and the chest wound he sustained earlier was pumping out his life blood.
And so it was, Gren bled to death on the day of his greatest victory.
Gren’s men carried the day, and the remainder of Mog’s army surrendered. Afterwards the royal house was suspended and the citizens of Shurn were governed by a Council of 24.
In appreciation of Gren’s efforts, the Council named a constellation after him: Gren – The Wise and Loyal One.
As It Stands, I always thought it would be cool to have a constellation named after me.
The Creative Chronicles of Dave Stancliff 