The Tale of the Princess of Kah
Excerpts from The Princess of Kah and Other Wonderous Tales by Zurda dol-Murir:
Four centuries ago, a fantastical city was constructed deep in the Kuan jungles. The city's name was Kah, and it was ruled by a fair and wise king. Culture, arts and science flourished in Kah and the people lived in affluence. The king of Kah had a daughter who was the center of his entire world. As the years went by, the king aged and the princess grew up. One day, the princess went for a walk in the shadow of the forest and disappeared. Many days passed and the princess did not return. The king was beside himself with fear and grief. Soldiers combed the jungles around the city but could find no trace of the missing princess. Kah was a city in mourning. Early on a summer morning nearly a year later, the princess returned. She had no memory of where she had been or of what had happened to her escort, but all that mattered to the king was that his daughter was back. After a while, the king started to notice that the princess was not quite herself. She was acting increasingly strange and would often be found on the palace battlements, looking out across the dark jungles surrounding the city. Her eyes darkened until they were as black as soot. The king's best physicians treated her with their most costly cures, but nothing seemed to work. The princess retreated inwardly and became a shadow of her former self.
One day, the king received news about a sage living in the Kuan asteroid belt said to be able to heal the darksick with his bare hands. Having run out of options, the king assembled an expedition consisting of his three most advanced spaceships and a crew of his most loyal warriors and healers. Onboard the flagship, the princess was placed in a blessed sarcophagus and was soon asleep. That was the last time the king saw his beloved daughter. The ships left for the great darkness and were never seen again.
Eventually, the king realized that the expedition had failed, and he was driven mad with grief. He never recovered from the loss of the princess, and died soon after. Kah started to crumble, and today, no one knows the location of the golden city. Kah has been lost to the jungles, possibly forever.
What happened to the princess of Kah is not known. Some say that she awoke from the sleep and slew her escort in a fit of demented rage. Others say that she was cured by the hermit in the belt but chose not to return to Kah. Maybe she is still sleeping in her sarcophagus, travelling the Darkness Between the Stars for all eternity.
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