By Maradas Graham

Sir Lawrence Cassad was one of the most famed knights of his day in the Seelie Kingdom. Loyal retainer of the Seelie King, he traveled the length and breadth of the realms, righting wrongs and fighting the encroachments of the Unseelie beyond their domain. He was famous for upholding the laws of chivalry, never taking advantage of an opponent from behind or when unarmed. The most popular story of Sir Lawrence is his recapturing of Draken, a dream creature mistakenly created by the dreamsmith Corasmus.

Draken was created as a nightmare creature by Corasmus the dreamsmith. Corasmus power was beginning to fray in his old age and during his sleep his dreams would manifest about him, from which dreams Draken appeared. Draken was given permanence by Corasmus' apprentice Korich, who continued his career to greater treacheries, but that is another story. The beast escaped from Corasmus' tower and fled to the far reaches of the Seelie Realms, to the Silver Wood which bordered the Unseelie lands.

Sir Lawrence set off after the beast as soon as he saw it leap from the parapets of the castle and take flight. Saddling his faerie steed Windrider, he gave chase across the entirety of the Seelie realms, his steed not faltering a step the entire voyage. So concerned with the safety of his Seelie realms with this creature lose, he didn't even take the time to bid his wife and child farewell. But this would be his final undoing. Reaching the Silver Wood, Sir Lawrence saw the creature sink into its wooded Depths, and dismounted to give chase through the under brush. He soon found that the beast had traversed a portal through the mortal realms to the lands about Innismoor, and gave chase, though he did so without his steed.

In the mortal realm he tracked the beast for three days as it flew across the country side, destroying any and all life it found. Sir Lawrence finally caught up to it on the edge of the mountains. He chanced upon it while it slept, but could not bring him to slay the creature in its sleep, as that would violate the code of conduct he held so dear. While considering what to do, he gave a call to the surrounding animals of the wood, and received strange help indeed.

He was approached by a small band of furred, clawed creatures you and I know as chitterlings. He did not know the creatures at all and thought them at first dangerous, but soon found them more curious of his chain mail than anything else. Giving them some links from his armor, he engaged them in what could pass for conversation. They soon brought one of their number which was silver in color rather than brown, whom the beasties introduced as Greymayne. This one proposed a plan to Sir Lawrence, which involved dropping a magical potion down the throat of Draken the dragon that invoked a field of powerful cold. This would prevent him from using his fiery breath against the fey champion.

Agreeing to this, Sir Lawrence bade the chitterlings sneak forth and do so. Being a silent and stealthy race they easily scaled the sleeping dragon without waking it, filling its massive mouth with the freezing substance. As it awoke they scampered away in to the brush, leaving Lawrence to fight the monster. As it reared to its full height, fully twice as tall as the surrounding trees, it tried to destroy Sir Lawrence with its fiery breath, but nothing came forth but steam. As it roared in confusion Sir Lawrence charged, sword and shield raised high. A battle began, the likes of which this isle has rarely seen, and the forests were filled with the ringing of faerie silver on the steel strength scales of the dragons. Using his size and speed to his advantage Sir Lawrence darted around the monster, the much slower dragon having a terrible time attempting to strike the weaving knight. The battle raged for the remainder of the day, but in the end Draken fell to the fey blade of Sir Lawrence Cassad.

Thanking the chitterlings for their help he returned to his home in the Seelie Realms to proclaim his victory, but found a great tragedy had been perpetrated in his absence. His two children had been kidnapped by the Goblin King as he was cast out of the kingdom for slaying Corasmus the dreamsmith. They were taken while playing in the gardens outside the Seelie King's palace. Seeking permission from the Seelie King he entered the Goblin Realms after his children, but was unable to rescue them in the thirteen hours it takes to transform a faerie into a goblin. Still he stayed, thinking that they were still his children no matter what their form. But rumors say he still has not succeeded and remains in the labyrinth, still hunting after his children in that nightmarish Place, despite several centuries having passed.