Dark Days - Black Knights

Written by:
Jim Klein
Carl R. ToersBijns

DEDICATION

Special dedication to:

The Men and Women
working behind the
walls and fences to
Keep Us Safe.

The Poem

A grim, odd arcane sky
Looms about the darkened castle
Looking up into this sky to find
Any god, Is mark sacred.

A masked cry adoring
These White Knights are exploring
Seeking justice and fairness for all
Instead they find a sick dragon,
Whose flame has destroyed so many hearts

Dark days and Black Knights
Appear before the secret world
Imposing their wrath and anger
On those who threaten their evil globe

So on to this Quest for honor
Standing tall to save the day
For dark days and Black Knights
Only symbolize the most evil way


INTRODUCTION

The fort was quiet as the full moon quietly slithered behind the heavy gloomy clouds, burdened with heavy anticipated precipitation and thunder and lightning creates a magnificent light show in the distance. There in the coldness and damp air, stands a shadowy figure posted upon the highest part of the ridge built by men centuries before he came. This wall made of stones and mud endured the tests of time and remained to be one of the more stoutly built walls of the fortress. Slightly moving and swaying his hands as if he was talking to a God up above, stands a man dressed in shiny white armor, carrying weapons capable of inflicting death with a swift strike, that included his personal custom made dagger and his special trusty sword, made of titanium.

This man, referred to as the White Knight, is the leader of many knights who live inside this partially ruined abandoned castle waiting and yearning to begin their journey spoken of a Quest for Truth, Justice, Safety and Transparency in the operation of its nemesis, the Evil Empire. Soon, this group of knights armed with the truth and justice for all, will ride with the White Knights on this mission to decide and destroy the Inquisitor and his clique. Thinking out loud to himself of his words just spoken a few hours ago to those many brave warriors who gathered to fight with the White Knights, he called his battle cry for the quest before him as he shouted out loud to all present in the halls of knights “Tomorrow morning we shall ride into the fields and meet the Evil Empire.” “Mount your trusty steeds and ride with us on this Quest for freedom and transparency so that we will no longer be required to wring information from gauntlets of the Evil Netherworld Inquisitors.”

The White Knight impatiently paced himself back and forth on that rugged walkway to devise a plan of attack for the morning assault. Echoing his words out loud to the sky, he spoke to motivate the warriors into battle in the anticipated morning misty splendor. His thoughts were focused on the reality that the Black Knights are up to no good as they were hired by the Evil Empire to spread their vindictive scheme to impeach everyone with extra burdens so that the cause of the Evil Empire would maintain control over its subjects and minions as they have done so for the past several decades. Tonight he must sleep and rest for the coming day’s events as the upcoming combat with the dark knights, will surely attempt to wear him down, as the Evil Empire will launch every man and device against this force of do-gooders and attempt to defeat them at their cause for justice and equality for all.

The lodging was meager and the bedding was thin for such a damp and chilly night. Rather than sleeping in the own individual huts tonight, they chose to gather at the castle to be ready for combat within the sound of the command. The warriors, all gone to bed to face their destiny in battle tomorrow, took this opportunity to pray to God to keep them safe and unharmed for the much anticipated fight that will determine victory or death to the causes they so strongly believed in and willing to fight for to preserve so others can live without oppression and false indictments of acts fabricated to make them guilty of gross negligence rather than common mistakes.

Each character that signed up to fight with the White Knights has promised to swear their loyalty to the principles of righteousness and pledged to never quit until the battle was won. Knowing well that each battle would takes its toll on their numbers and stamina; they worked hard to maintain a most fit physical and mental condition that matched the most aggressive fighter the Evil Empire had enlisted in this war. Inside their minds, as they lay there trying to fall asleep, they practice their combat skills as the night is ending and the dawn is quickly approaching. Learning the words spoken in the past of dark days when the sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness, the serfs are counting on the white knights to prevent this from happening in their Quest with the Evil Empire.

Echoes from the sky have promised to darken the sun and to prevent the moon from giving them light. This fear of death and gloom has put a burden on the region to ensure that the world they know it will not come to an end. Surely there must be a way to defeat this colossal sense of fear and strike it at the heart and soul so that the evil and wickedness disappears from their souls.

CHAPTER ONE

The territory has a new ruler and the states of affairs are changing quickly. This new territorial ruler had called upon many provincial rulers to come to assist him in his new endeavors to serve the many people of this most vast territory that was divided into fifty provinces. Each province had a head of state that would rule as if it was an independent part of the territory and have the sovereign powers required meeting all constitutional and custodial responsibilities of taking care of its serfs and population.

Suddenly, overnight, the head of state of a province called Arizona was hastily dispatched to the new rule’s home in the D. C. territorial capitol and asked to take a new position with the new regime. The head of state for Arizona commonly referred to as Queen Nappy by the lords, the commoners and serfs who loved her, was visibly excited and filled with emotion for such a nomination and quickly vacated her castle to make the journey east. Before the morning sun was partially visible over the Superstition Mountain, as the overnight shadowy clouds parted to allow the sun to shimmer the air with heat waves to start the new day, a new ruler appeared before the court and ready to take the reign so hastily left behind by the former leader. Just as quickly as the former leader left the castle, the new resident moved in. Formerly known as Lady of Phoenix, she was hastily inaugurated as the Queen of the region. Expressing both merriment and appreciation for the appointment to the throne, she wasted no time to appoint her friends and political allies to positions of influence and power.

Formerly an illiterate bookkeeper who never finished her preparation for leadership or education, she was blunt and spoke with a foul mouth that offended many except those who were willing to put up with such an uncouth woman. This new leader, appointed to the throne by default due to the politics arranged within the state by local leaders, rose to power and appointed her henchmen to implement her new royal biddings. The populace, regardless of her background, opened up their arms and invited her to rule the province with new ideas and new direction. Her first act as the new leader would be to order all the provincial agencies to stop submitting newly created and proposed rules and regulations in order for her force to be granted the opportunity to review the policies and procedures enacted by her former leaders. Through the provincial bulletin she announced her actions as a freeze to evaluate all things she had covered in her inauguration speech just days before. Sharing her ideas and on lowering taxes and lifting restrictions to improve her provincial economy, she called for this temporary regulation to determine how their impact her serfs and businesses within her domain. It would appear her second official act would be to appoint knighthood to the many loyal servant leaders who were standing in the shadows, waiting for the sword of knighthood to fall upon their shoulders and become a knight for the newly appointed queen.

The provincial prison system was in dire straits as the former director had been called upon by the vacating queen to serve at her pleasure in the territorial headquarters near D. C. It was imperative that the new queen appoint someone quickly to assure the prison are managed and taken care of so that she would not face public embarrassment and ridicule for the many flaws she was told existed within this system. The wicked Lady Dorien, famed throughout the land for her love of witchcraft and magic, demanded loyalty of the serfs in the kingdom, rewarding them with trinkets and baubles whilst the evil doers amongst them grew rich and fat. Lady Dorien believed all were created equal, serfs and evil doers alike, alas, the evil doers were born under a cloud of despair and angst which only Lady Dorien's magic could cure.

The serf's were of little concern to Lady Dorien, had they not their freedom, their huts, and their cherished families to welcome them after their daily toils? The evil doers, wretched souls that they were, had fine castles, but such was their nature, they could not or would not leave unless the serfs were careless. Verily, even when allowed to purchase their freedom, many found their way back, as the dark clouds surrounding them wreaked havoc on their mortal souls.

Lady of Phoenix now named Queen Jackie officially announced the appointment of Interim-director Chuckles and appointing Charlie as interim deputy director for the province. The town scribes and bulletin writers decried these appointments as they were reminiscent of a previous appointee for the prison system by the name of Sir Terrance. This Sir Terrance was an evil doer, who was a former prison chief and an advisor to the territorial former ruler Bush administration for a crusade in a far away land called Iraq where he was paid to run their reformatories and dungeons far away from here.

The queen, knowingly and needy on her closest advisor, Sir Senseman, made this appointment an interim one so she could find another person to run the prison system if this man didn’t work out in his provisional reign of power. Not known to be a reformer like his predecessor, he was known for being a hardliner in the way he prefers to rehabilitate prisoners and was accused of having a mentality that worried many of the queen’s subjects in her provincial state. Regardless of the voiced outcries and denouncements of his governmental skills and abilities, he was knighted by the queen.

On this gloomy day, the queen, took the knight’s sword to the shoulder of Chuckles and said out loud for all the witnesses to hear “In the name of Graft, Corruption, and Malevolence, I dub thee Sir Chuckles” thus knighted him to be “Sir Chuckles, Director of the Evil Empire.” Unlike Lady Dorien, who was deemed to be more senile than incompetent, Sir Chuckles was about to stir things up a bit and treat the prisoners in the exact opposite method Lady Dorien had taken to manage the flock and treat the serfs as poorly as he could to pit them against each other creating chaos and dissension among many. Surely, he agreed that his strategy must be that they must fear him and close the ranks of loyalty based on fear and intimidation. Enlisting the help of other evil doers from his past regime and tenure, he carefully appointed “good ole boys” to manage the serfs to begin his quest to conquer the remaining non-compliant and disloyal serfs who would threaten his very survival and supremacy. Carefully, Sir Chuckles divided the round table in his castle and chose those who were amicable and compatible for his power growth and those who, if they were to ascend to positions higher up in the pecking order, not protest his evil and pitiful ways to rule the Evil Empire.

CHAPTER TWO

The Dark Days were upon the Empire, for no one dared stand in opposition to Sir Chuckles, lest they became subject to wanton retaliation, recrimination, and nefarious investigations. Many serfs fled the Empire. Others simple became eunuchs in thought and deed. The few brave serfs who stood against the Black Knight found themselves subjects of evil acts. The serfs cried out to the dark skies for a ray of hope, but the clouds remained tightly closed. What this? In the distance, armor shining brightly despite the darkness, a few hardy knights, mounted on sturdy steeds of white was cantering into the fray. Who were these brave warriors, this small band of White Knights? Each Knight was a rugged individualist, specializing in a different brand of warfare. With no need for titles, and no egos to feed, they disdained the use of “Sir” in addressing them.

Trace, a tall man with a contemptuous sneer permanently affixed to his face, was a double agent, capable of donning the serf’s rags and toiling as one of them. Trace was about The Rules, and followed them to the Letter, expecting no less from anyone, nay not even Sir Chuckles.

Carl, a heavyset man with closely cropped hair under his gleaming helmet, loved to scribe, but was also a fierce warrior, especially for the Safety of the serfs. He was a lion hearted man.

Jim, he of the cold blue eyes and battle weary, sagging frame, lived for the fight, be it words, fists, or sword and dagger. Jim had also studied under a magician, and was capable of creating colorful visions on paper, icons that wove stories as well as any written word. Together, these three would comprise the core group known as The Warrior Against the Evil Empire.

All three knights have been invited to eat at Sir Chuckles’’ castle but have refused to eat his bread. Sir Chuckles, an evil man who can be very hospitable, possesses devious powers to greet you with a smile but with fierce thoughts of disarming you and harm or maim you just the same. One must be kept a fair distance afar him, as he will order his legion of evil doers to kill you where you stand and hideth the body somewhere in his castle. Never a kind man, he does not hesitate to give the order to “kill the intruder” and will attack you no matter what you say to him to provide assurance of truth, justice and equality for all serfs.

As you walk the narrow walkways of his fourth floor castle, you noticed small men crouching and bowing to Sir Chuckles as he walks among them. You can see the fear in their eyes as they quickly look the other way as they know not to stare into the man’s eyes or even look at his face. Sir Chuckles, a knowledgeable heathen thinks he can “eye fuck” people better than anyone until the day he meet the White Knight Jim.
After a drawn out staring challenge between the two, it was Sir Chuckles who broke the gaze as he briefly looked down, cleared his throat and started a distraction to hide his weakness from the good knight. It was at that moment, Sir Chuckles realized that this knight could ruin many things for him if he was to be chosen to stand with him and serve the Evil Empire. Jim, on the other hand, recognized Sir Chuckles’ attempt to recruit him into his evil doer legion and have him join the other Black Knights, changing his shell to a deep glossy black armor and punish the serfs who have served Jim so well in the past. Sir Chuckles, reaching into his trick bag of potions offered Jim a magic invincible potion to give him power and influence over the serfs. Jim, disgust on his face, stood up before Sir Chuckles and left the chambers. As he headed back to the entrance of the fortress he had to pass a guard who was there to warn him not to enter the castle again as the messenger made it clear this knight was no longer welcome in this castle. Outside, Jim stared up to the fourth layer of the castle and said to himself, “Here I stand, a free man, not under the influence of the wickedness and wrath of the Evil Empire”

The story told in the village was that Sir Chuckles was on the rampage and out to destroy the White Knights and their followers. Many still do not understand the ways of the White Knights and their reasons for riding against the Evil Empire. Little do they know of its origin and cause, thus a notice was posted on the town square to alert and make all serfs and peasants aware of their cause and reason.

Posted on the bulletin near the town water foundation where many met to chat and whisper, was a scroll which read “ The White Knights rescues serfs in distress, they fight for justice and equality for all men and when someone is wronged they try to save the day by bringing forth the truth. “ Do not fear the White Knights as they only seek to help you by driving away the darkness. They will slay the evil doers and free you of the illnesses of the past. They shall rescue not only one person in need but rather any or all who ask for their help. They will ride to restore the damage done by the Evil Empire and his wrong doers.”

It appears the White Knights have chosen to take the cover of an extinct empire to represent their goals. Each of these knights has assumed the roles of supernatural heroes who have chosen to participate in the war between “good and evil”. Although acclaimed to be ordinary men, not wearing any special armor other than white, these men have offered to stave off the evil and fight for the indentured slaves or serfs who cannot stand and fight for themselves. Fighting unseen human created monsters and evil doers who threaten the very existence of the modern world yet their methods are so medieval, they can be slain with not modern weapons but words and actions that are noble and truthful. Pretending to be blood sucking vampires and demonic in nature, their reality is revealed to be more mortal than any human being, once their black armor is removed, their faces uncovered, exposing their weakness and flaws. So what does it take to be a White Knight and what is the difference between them and the others you ask? Surely, the answer is simple but yet complicated as it involves difficult styles to perform their expected roles into our society.

A Black Knight is a ruthless individual who replaces serfs and management with its own people and formulates its own principles to act upon. Their hostilities are often subtle and well hidden behind altered strategy and authorizations providing them cover from the laws of the land. At other times, these Black Knights spread disease and famine to infect and reject opposition to their ideals and intentions. To be a Black Knight one must sell his or her soul to the dragon and allow all that is wrong to prosper and grow. The Black Knight is under the influence of Sir Chuckles’ potion that makes them feel invincible. They are powerful when within the Evil Empire’s home castle but once they wander out there beyond their castle’s boundaries they are susceptible to harm and infection. A guardian by nature for the Evil Empire, they seek to destroy all those who stand up against the evil and wickedness of the empire they represent.

A white knight is a friendly and rational savior in the trade of helping others in their tasks and their endeavors. They intervene whenever a hostile act is performed allowing the serfs to maintain a sense of safety amongst them. Sometimes the White Knight can be a single person or a group of caregivers. Their common intention is to save others and help maintain a minority interest in a possible scheme or evil takeover. Thus it can be said that White Knights are friends of the people who will benefit from their abilities to restrain vice and wickedness in the spirit intended by the good gods. Unlike the Black Knights who wear their black armor all the time, these White Knights wear their shiny armor only when going into battle. Never establishing certain rules for engagement, they each wore their own surcoat or shield as they chose. Allowing this individuality conflicts with the Black Knights as it was preferred by the White Knights they must all maintain their own personality, their own honor and their own reasoning for fighting this struggle against the Evil Empire.

Another distinction is the absence of the military type of orders the Black Knights receive on a daily call. Not all oriented in the manner of the evil doers, these men are creative, independent thinkers and wise as they have their own magic and their own crystal ball to gaze in to see what the Evil Empire is doing to upset the balance of nature within their realm. Lacking this uniformity in leadership, they wisely discovered their strengths and weakness from each other as they heed the challenge of taking down the ways of the Evil Empire by joining the Warriors Against the Evil Empire.

CHAPTER THREE

How did this hardy band of warriors come to be, you ask? Through magic, peering into crystals for hours on end, they came upon each other in a mysterious land known as Facebook. Each soon discovered the warrior qualities in the others, and the common enemy each had sworn to defeat. The three swore an oath of allegiance, that the Warriors Against the Evil Empire would, from that day forward, devote their skills to conquering the dreaded Sir Chuckles and dispelling the dark clouds that hung heavy over the Empire.

Trace quickly waded into the fray, calling Sir Chuckles himself into battle as the Empire begrudged him his pittance, arrogantly withholding coins for another day as they saw fit.

Jim peered into the Empires’ dungeons and observed the hundreds of abject serfs suffering the lash under the iron hand of Sir Chuckles and his abusive minions. Jim wove a tapestry of colorful icons for the serfs to gaze upon and learn from, to learn the harsh truth of their fearful leader.

Carl saw the serfs exposed to illness and degradation due to the whims of Sir Chuckles, whom had decreed that all serfs may wear facial hair, whether it was safe for them to do so, or for naught. A dreaded plague was sweeping the through the Empire’s Evil doers, the terrifying TB, which robbed the serfs of their ability to breath, and brought illness and pestilence into their families. Carl looked into his magic crystals, and saw that Sir Chuckles had gravely wronged the serfs, so he prayed to the ADOSH Gods to bring relief to the serfs.

The ADOSH Gods sent their earthly priests among the serfs and the Empire and found Carl to be truthful and lionhearted, and they rewarded his efforts with a heavy tax upon the Empire for the pestilence and illness the Empire had wrought, and they declared, “Thou shalt wrong the serfs no more, lest we visit upon you taxes and fines so heavy, no mortal may bear them.” United in front and divided in tactics, they each carry their own swords and wisdom coming together every now and then to consolidate their thoughts. Taking the time to read some of their individual interpretations and understanding their text can cast doubt at times but often results in maintaining a matter of faith in what they are doing. Either way, their efforts will pay off against the Evil Empire as they each present to the gods, their own way of slaying the sick dragon and easing the suffering and pain of those cast under its spell. None will make predictions or revelations as they are aware of the many evil spirits that reside within their nemesis’ grasp. Each is armed with the knowledge that will lead the Evil Empire into eventual desolation as their abomination inflicted upon their own will surely break up their unity and fragment their forces. Herein lays the key to defeating the Evil Empire.

Equipped to act as an anti-leverage team, they seek to disrupt the evil team of Black Knights in their own games and measures. Admitting the Evil Empire has the strategic leverage of holding the high ground such as the hills and the powers of persuasion and governmental controls, the anti- leverage team aka the White Knights, must seek to overcome such strategic advantage by using other tools and devices available to them to fend off any attacks or invectives. There are new tools available today that were not available in the ancient or medieval days of old and are essential for survival and completing the job thoroughly and accurately.

Today the use social tools are used to slip in the leverage that the social media can provide those who seek attention to their cause. The White Knights, after consultation and agreement, suggested layers in the attack of three proportions. First create a profile for the serfs, media and the enemy to provide a positive identity. A good profile will make the most of the exposure and allow maximum benefits. The second social media layer will be the ability to network the cause with other groups that share commonalities or reasons for change. This represents a growth in numbers connected or contacted thus perceived to be more powerful and influential with other entities or people.

The third and most difficult layer to develop is the brand or how the group intends to differentiate the lineup from other teams. Deliberations should be held on how to build you’re the reputation and decide whether it will be an individual or a group. If individually, there must be some sort of collaboration and consistency in the message or deed to avoid contradictions and suspicion of motive or intent. Sharing the resources or knowledge is most certainly suggested as there was no personal ownership of standards or principles involved as a team concept brings the message bolder and much more enhanced. Here, there is a need to establish the integrity, abilities and willingness to deliver the service and build a name for the brand proposed to represent the mission of all involved. Preparing for resistance is sure, as this action may result in an immeasurable amount of disclosure and possible condemnation by those who question the validity or sincerity of the group to produce this brand as a legitimate means to address the matters. The quality of this social media effort should be a factual, collaborative and a sound planning implemented with support and consideration by others who can influence the design of the attack and the implementation phases.

Stressing quality and not quantity, the plan is to reduce the labor involved while maximizing our efforts to leverage our ideals and principle, in other words, the concept, to those who can influence the outcome and establish positive examples to eradicate the existing leverage of the Evil Empire as it stands today. The use of the social media such as newsletters, blogs, Facebook and many others will spread the word to every corner of the world without impacting costs as they are voluntarily carried over from webpage to webpage to inform others of the strife endured by the serfs under this current regime led by Sir Chuckles and his henchmen. The White Knights already know how cleverly Sir Chuckles manages the media both internally and externally. His perception is that they only need to know what he wants them to know and he has adeptly created a solid wall to protect data and prevent leaks from his castle and his Black Knights who at times tend to boast of their conquers and under the influence of wine and liquor have often spilled information that should have been kept closer to the heart.

Herein lays his weakness and frustrations as he has been known to execute a Black Knight for loose tongues and bad judgment in the delivery of a message to the public. Never subtle in his wicked style of execution of others, he takes the time to meticulously describe, defend and explain his actions in words that are contradictory to his actions but shielded from the sun to prevent the light from exposing the truth. The White Knights experienced with wisdom and pen in hand and with sword in battle, know the impact of telling the truth. Their decision to battle the friends of Sir Chuckles and his evil doers has consequences. They must brace themselves for repercussions that can be mortal to the weak and the frail in intellect. One must have the courage to co-exist within a most hostile environment that in filled with retaliatory hazards and personal vulnerability to their health or welfare.

In cases where Sir Chuckles disagrees with the message sent or the messenger, he will create certain behavioral changes in the workplace to cause the truth seeker to perform differently and eventually become less productive or efficient prompting the use of leave or other absences. Eventual demise of the integrity and ethical performance of such a messenger can create doubt of the reliability and sources provided by this transporter thus labeling the truth seeker a “disgruntled serf” to suit his own needs rather than others. One important fact to remember is to treat all information as alleged until such time the accusation is proven or established with either facts or with evidence related to the message. Truth seekers are common people with common problems. These White Knights, more powerful and wiser, have demonstrated too many evil doers they are mentally and physically prepared for the impact for carrying out such a mission. Focusing to upset the Evil Empire in its evil doings their damage is become known to many and has enticed others to come forward with the truth. Knowing full well they will suffer recoil from the intense anger or resentment their exposure may lead to by others, they must prepare themselves to be vulnerable and prepared to recall details that make their message truthful and complete.

White Knights who serve the serfs who tell the truth must ensure they are protected from guiltiness and intimidation by others who stand up for the Evil Empire. Most fear reprisals at the hands from their supervisors and fellow serfs as they relinquished their once well-liked and well respected status. Feeling alienated within the workplace, it is likely these truth seekers will be unable to achieve any further progress and choose to retire, resign or transfer to another place to work to avoid the constant harassment of being labeled a scoundrel. White Knights use the evil empire’s laws against them, holding them accountable to some degree but mainly to keep them back at a safe distance. In the end, the will and the power of good deeds can overwhelm the power of the evil doers but it is not often that the survival of such a messenger or transporter remains intact as a serf in dispute with others and who chose to enlighten the truth and is at this moment harmed forever.

Dark days come and go but none as frightening as those where there are no eclipses to explain the phenomena that have just occurred. Serfs run to call their families to find out if they are safe as the world they know it has turned into darkness without an explanation. On those days, when the sky turns black, serf make sure there are plenty of candles lighted inside their houses as they noticed the sounds around them have turned into an eerie and different manner as the birds were not chirping and silent, they dogs not barking and the chickens and fowls were not gathering to roost.

These occurrences create intense alarms and distress to multitudes of minds who were wondering why the day has suddenly turned pitch dark when the clock has not even struck the noon hour of the day. Appearance of gloom and nightly surroundings in the mid day of the week, the serfs panic to the streets as they fear the Armageddon that has been promised for so many years in the past and finally come to an end.
As the multitudes of serfs and indentured servants gaze into the sky, they noticed the moon had turned into a full shaped bloody red object. Fearing the worst, they pray to the gods this episode of insanity would not last much longer as the fear and the mayhem of such phenomena has already started a riot in many places as people charge to their dwellings to be safe with their families and loved one. The darkness continues to exist as the serfs kept gazing into the sky for a sign of relief. Suddenly, there in the height of the heavens bright lights of falling stars shower the earth as it was raining fire, falling from the sky.

What must have seemed like a century this shower of falling stars lasted for hours. Setting the heavens ablaze with an apparent everlasting inferno, the shower lasted no more than four hours from the time it began. Many serfs, now safely inside their houses and dwellings, sighed with relief that the world did not end but yet they know that one day, the heavens will fall and the earth will crumble like a giant earthquake tearing apart the continents of the world just like it has been prophesized by the many who read the bible.

There are many tales of many dark night and countless dark days when it came to the tyranny of evil powers that have fallen to the wayside in the past. Many say that the dark days are indicative of the end of the Evil Empire and signals to many, the birth of a new beginning. These declines are almost always signaled by the coming of darkness whether night or day and is a reassuring sign the gods have not forgotten the good and is punishing the evil doers for their corruption, their savage and ruthless manner they treated the serfs and the establishment of anarchy when the order to rule was given by Sir Chuckles contradicted common law and common sense.

Loyalists, formerly giving their hearts and soul to the Evil Empire, sensing a shift in power, rebel against the Black Knights as their grasp of power and influence began to waver. Inside the hearts of many is a birth of a feeling common of mutiny and treason. Many, wearing the Black Knight armor, were still flattered to fight to the demise with those White Knights who have stirred the emotions of the countryside to create a new attitude, a new beginning and a new idea for all to live in and enjoy. One by one, their numbers began to weaken as they scurried back to the heavily wooded gates of their fine but threatened castles. Sir Chuckles, sensing a loss of instrumental affiliates of his dark durable dark force, designed a new wicked arrangement to recruit and hire on additional Black Knights so he could maintain effective control of the empire.

He decided to offer them a bonus to come onboard and allow them to earn twice as much as before by simply changing the paperwork to allow them to double dip into their retirement and earn new wages on top of the pensions already drawn. Reassuring the Black Knights that this would prevent them from ever being poor and never having to fear in losing their earthly possessions, they signed on with the Evil Empire and reaped the profits with merriment and laughter. Now, with their double dipping earnings, they began to set secret future dates for an abrupt and inexplicable departure, thus leaving the dark force to do battle never no more.

Sir Chuckles has done immensely well for taking care of his cronies as he arranged the paperwork to be arranged so they can retire from one job and move right into another pre-designated and pre-approved position by the Evil Empire during the course of a conversation over some food and ale inside the castle. These bookkeeping moves bring big financial benefits to those Dark Knights who are willing to give Sir Chuckles their body and soul in return for the payments they will start to collect within a short period of time. The town crier, aware of these backroom paperwork deals, attempted to cry foul to the populace but was received with deaf ears as the practice had gone and spread throughout the region as quickly as famine of small pox or measles.

In the meantime, Sir Chuckles had to adjust his expenditures and sought the advice of those geek-type bookkeepers who served him well up there inside he fortified castle where he kept them hostage. Keeping his legion of subordinate clerks and record keepers close to him and giving them false hope of ever becoming important, he devised a plan to show the governor of the region how he could cut back the expenses of the prisons by reducing the amount of serfs needed to operate the prisons and how much they could cut from their pay to show a significant reduction in operational costs. Directing his chief Black Knight to alter and reduce the number listed within the current staffing patterns that shows how many serfs are needed to run those prisons, he does this with an ax on the heavy oak table located in the fourth floor castle. By design, this will reduce staffing costs at all of the prison complexes. Since the Evil Empire is suggesting less full time positions be allocated than before, he is allowing less money to be spent on respective benefits and services and redirecting those funds to other matters approved by the governor and her loyalists to the cause to save money. The drawback of such a plan is the void these expunged positions have left behind for the others to pick up the slack and do more work with fewer resources. This also increased the pre-determined criminal to serf-force ratio which is kept in line or balanced to ensure a safe and secure work situation with reasonable and acceptable supervision intensity.

Second, he takes away the serf’s performance pay and some stipends to trim down their monthly earnings and deduct more taxes for health benefits and other considered imperial benefits that need to be covered with a greater sum than before. The serfs, taking home a smaller paycheck, will eventually feel the sting of such mugging and fight back in time as they begin to undergo a period of dark days at the hands of the evil empire ruler, Sir Chuckles. Third, Sir Chuckles allows his Black Knights to create a furlough list for all those who are not the main line serfs within the reformatory and makes them take off time within the pay period equaling a day’s forfeit per months so they can impound the coffers for reduced operating cost and contributing to the overall deprived state of affairs within the empire.

CHAPTER FOUR

Very soon after being anointed by Queen Jackie, Sir Chuckles devised an evil plan to punish the serfs of the crime of complacency. Sir Chuckles, in his dark heart, saw all mistakes the serfs made as the result of this malady, and rather than allow his Black Knights to selectively move the serfs who required it due to this complacency, he ordered this be accomplished throughout the land. Such was his arrogance, Sir Chuckles could not see this would cause the serfs to make mistakes in greater numbers, and allow the prisoners to take advantage of their ignorance of them in their new workplaces.

Sir Chuckles also failed to recognize the depths of the blackness in the hearts of his own loyal servants, whom utilized rotation, the great solution to the Empire’s ills, to punish serfs by casting them into strange new work areas, changing the days they need not toil, and rotating them according to whim and fancy, not seniority as the evil Sir Chuckles’ own rules required. Jim heard the cries of the serfs, and he donned his armor. Carrying his magic crystal before him, he confronted Sir Chuckles in his lair and demanded satisfaction. Sir Chuckles ignored the White Knight, so the steely eyed knight began whispering incantations into his crystal, until, overcome by fear and anger, the black hearted Sir Chuckles relented and forced his minions to as The Rules required.

Emboldened by his victory, Jim began looking into Sir Chuckles’ dungeons using his magic crystal. What he found appalled him and again using incantations and magic, he illustrated the sad news with colorful icons the serfs could understand. Sir Chuckles somehow discovered Jim’s magic, and ordered the dungeons emptied of all but the worst offenders, those whom even the stickler Jim could not even argue in favor of leniency.