Squonk

Moritz tried to distract himself by studying the starlit gardens but in vain. Unavoidably, his mind returned to his helpless helpless situation. In a moment of panic and rage, he pulled off his family ring and threw it as hard as he could. The young man vaguely saw it land in a fountain far below. In the dim moonlight, he could just make out the statue that adorned the center of the pool. A beautiful marble Athena holding a pot; pouring water ever into the even pool below.

As a young boy, Moritz had never been intrigued by the fountain. In fact, he had not spent much time at all in the gardens, preferring to wander the forest, creating games that placed him as the king, the omniscient ruler of all around him. His make-believe had always centered around decimating invisible armies and mercilessly torturing nonexistent traitors. With long staffs, he had practiced the fencing his older brothers had unknowingly taught him. Moritz wa sthe youngest of his three brothers and had spent most of his life in the shadows. His father was Lord Everard Gerlach, a widely known and admired noble who was often called away from the Lothar manar to attend to "business". It had been assumed from the day of birth, that Everard would be succeeded by his first son, a golden haired boy the Lady fondly named Karsten. By an extraordinary work of God, Everard's wife was gifted with fertility and soon after her first child, gave birth to three more sons in succession. Everard treated his sons well and it soon became accepted in the surrounding country that the Gerlach house and name could be continued through generations. The next two sons, Berthold and Korbl, were also placed in the limelight as noble supplants in the future.

But Moritz was the fourth son.