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Once Peter had successfully escorted Grover and the “Verdant Voyager” back to the Lost Boy’s base, the rest of you set off towards the Black Castle, where the one called “Tossa” was supposedly being held.
Along the way, Pan gave you all a rough summary of the Black Castle’s origins. Neverland apparently had a long history of violence when it came to the Redskins and “visitors”. Due to their past experiences with slavers, pirates and the British navy, they’d grown hostile and incredibly wary of outsiders washing up on their shores. They had a strict policy to capture or kill most, if not all of them, in order to prevent them from abusing the members of their tribe. After a particularly unusual set of events, Peter and his Lost Boys became good friends with the Picaninny Tribe. Hook and his pirates do not share the same luxury.
However, there is, in fact, another faction that persists to this very day, and has done everything in their power to resist the Redskins’ efforts to force them off the island.
Some British settlers and explorers did end up making a small settlement on the island. But unlike the others, they actually managed to fight off the Redskins’ raids with the help of their trained soldiers and their fearless leader. Over time, the chain of command seemed to deteriorate a bit, and a change of leadership was proposed. That was when the leader of the village declared himself "King", thus giving birth to an inherently flawed monarchy. As his first order, the First King of Neverland ordered his subjects to construct an obscene Black Castle in his honor.
The Castle was left unfinished, as the King’s subjects rebelled against him and started something of a civil war. The constant infighting led to the near total collapse of their infant civilization, and the death of the First King. But unbeknownst to them all, they had already been touched by the magic of Neverland’s faeries.
The wars never ended, since no one could <span class="mu-i">actually</span> die. And anyone that declared themselves as a successor to the First King’s rule mysteriously “vanished” in the night, never to be seen again. At some point, they had used the crown as a weapon to vanquish their enemies, but it was eventually locked away in their deepest dungeon, for fear of it being used against them.
Now, the Kingdom of the Black Castle lies in ruin, and its knights haunt the castle grounds, deathless and loyal to the end.
Just when you were about to ask more about the crown and the First King, however, a clatter of metal stopped you all dead in your tracks. You suddenly found yourselves surrounded by a ring of knights wearing bright colorful ribbons and adornments to differentiate them. They were all holding weapons and standing completely still.
(Cont.)