Quest for the Castle

Quest for the Castle was the story and summary of previous King's Quest games included in the King's Quest V manual. It was written by Bridget McKenna.

Quest for the Castle
Long ago, in the kingdom of Daventry, there were three magical treasures that kept the kingdom strong and prosperous: A magic mirror that foretold the future, an enchanted shield with the power to overthrow any invaders, and a treasure chest that was never empty. These treasures were taken from Daventry by deception and stealth, and without them Daventry grew poor and weak and King Edward, once a stout-hearted and vigorous ruler, had become powerless and sickly. Edward had no heir, and everyone feared the chaos that would result upon his death.

King Edward asked his bravest knight, Sir Graham, to embark upon a quest to recover the three treasures. Graham's quest was successful, and as his reward, King Edward named Sir Graham his heir and granted him the throne of Daventry.

King Graham was a wise and kindly monarch, and with his great wisdom and the return of the three treasures, Daventry prospered once again. But Graham knew that he must soon marry and establish his own royal line with an heir to the throne. He searched far and wide, but no maiden in the kingdom possessed the qualities he sought in a queen.

One day King Graham saw in his magic mirror a vision of a lovely young woman held prisoner in a crystal tower. The mirror told him that her name was Valanice, a girl both beautiful and good, who had been stolen from her home and taken to a far land. Graham vowed to find her and set her free. After a long journey with many trials, he did, and asked her to be his queen.

In time, Queen Valanice and King Graham became the parents of twins, a son and a daughter. Life in Daventry was peaceful and good - for a time.

In a land far away lived an evil and powerful wizard named Manannan. It was his wont to kidnap infant boys and raise them to be his slaves, eliminating each in turn before he was full-grown and could pose a threat to the wizard's dominance. His most recent vassal, a boy he called Gwydion, was, however, unusually bright and perceptive. He mastered several of Manannan's spells and cast one against him which turned Manannan into a cat. With that, Gwydion was free!

After a time, Gwydion's travels brought him to Daventry, not the lovely and peaceful Daventry of days gone by, but a land devastated by a terrible affliction. The kingdom had fallen victim to the ravages of a dreadful three-headed dragon, which had burned the land all around and drove many people away from the town.

Gwydion was able to use his newly found powers to destroy the dragon and rescue the intended victim from its lair. He was taken before the King and Queen and rewarded in such a way as he never could have imagined in his life as Manannan's slave.

In later years, King Graham's health began to fail, and the royal physicians were powerless to help him. Only a magical fruit from the faraway land of Tamir could bring about a cure and restore the health of Daventry's monarch. Graham's daughter, Princess Rosella, set off in pursuit of this healing magic for her father. On her journey, she performed many brave deeds, and had many great adventures.

With the King's health fully restored, and his family together once more, it was a happy and fulfilled Graham who set out for a walk in the forest one spring day almost a year since Rosella had returned from Tamir. The kingdom was peaceful and prosperous again, and the people were content. Birds were singing in the trees. It seemed an auspicious sign.

As Graham was contemplating his good fortune, a sharp wind blew into the wood from the east, whirling up sticks and leaves into his path, and startling the birds into silence. The air grew suddenly colder. It seemed an unexpected storm was approaching. Graham began to walk back to the castle, his joyful mood broken by a dark foreboding.

When he reached the top of the gentle rise overlooking his home, he was horrified to see only empty space where the royal castle of Daventry had stood only minutes before. Cold fear gripped his heart. Where was his family? What had happened to them?

"Whoo-hoo... whoo-hoo." An owl hooted behind him, but Graham scarcely heard it over the pounding of his heart. "I can tell you what happened," came a voice behind him, and Graham spun around to confront a large owl in a blue vest and spectacles. "I know what happened to your castle. I saw it all," said the owl.

Journey into the magical world of King's Quest once again on a quest for the missing castle and the royal family of Daventry.