Norman: Switch

Andrew Norman's Switch (not to be confused with the upcoming Nintendo Switch) is quite the juggernaut to get into but it's a piece I would like more people to enjoy. It also provided me with an experience I will likely never again repeat in my life.

The official premier was on Nov 6, 2015 but the Utah Symphony held an open rehearsal the day before, which I was able to attend, where they ran through the piece twice. I was then able to hear the piece again the next day while I was doing some volunteer work for the symphony, and then the day after that I attended the performance for real. Not only that, but I even got to meet Andrew Norman and discuss the piece with him briefly.

I enjoyed the piece immensely on first listen, partially because it plays to my interests and partially because I'd already been addicted to Christopher Rouse's Der Gerettete Alberich since the Utah Symphony preformed it a few years earlier. (There is also an interesting story behind my attendance of that performance, but we can save that for later.) But having the opportunity to hear it so many times (4) over that weekend as well as being able to digest and discus it with others made it so that by the time I sat down and heard it in concert for real I was able to appreciate it on a surprisingly deep level. Though there were still many secrets to be discovered once I got my hands on the recording which I eagerly purchased the weekend it went on sale.

So, I'd like to share with you my interpretation of the piece so that when you listen to it you can perhaps find a glimmer of understanding as well. Just be forewarned that I am exceedingly under qualified to do so and am going to deviate from the composers own interpretation. However, being an avid gamer and a passionate lover of classical music I hope to be able to at least provide something of an easy jumping off point for this piece.

Let's start off with some things you should know before listening. Switch is absolutely program music. (you should laugh because that was funny... 😅) The idea is that the soloist is playing a game (likely a rather difficult execution heavy game.) and that each percussion instrument they play does something to the orchestra like turns an instrument or section on and off. You will occasionally hear this:

Which indicates a fail state. When that happens the soloist must start over from the beginning again. You will also hear this a few times: (it's quiet so you have to listen closely)

Which is something like a sigh of resignation, or perhaps a deep breath to regain resolve. There is also a fun little Ester Egg when the soloist finally wins! (uh... spoilers?)

It's meant to sound very similar to the musical cue you get when you beat a level in Super Mario Bros.

With those things out of the way let's get down to my breakdown of Switch.

0:00~1:17

This seems like an arcade game in attract mode we hear parts of most of the 'melodic' materiel that will be in the piece but the 'real thing' hasn't really started yet. The soloist hasn't even come on stage yet. Remember what the vibraphone is up to for later though.

1:17~9:18

Here the soloist (the player) runs out on stage and begins to play the game. They start off fairly strong but before long finds out that they're not actually super great at this game. There are a couple sections where you can hear the player experimenting with the with the controls a bit (the switches 😋).

At 2:23~2:38 there is a small section (which comes back in the next section) which I can only assume is the player taking a small break or something.

9:18~11:47

At this point it would seam the player has become frustrated and has stepped away from the game to calm down for a bit. You even hear them take a deep breath towards the end as they resolve to get back to the game.

11:47~14:19

While the player has come back to the game at this point they still don't seem to be ready to really try again so instead they start up a different game mode and mess around with that for a while. They begin to become somewhat proficient at this game mode but either stubbornness or pride compels them to return to the first game mode again before they can complete this.

14:19~20:28

The player comes back with full gusto and while still dealing with failure they push through to finally achieve success!

20:28~21:58

At this point the player returns to the second game mode again. This is my favorite section of the whole piece! I love how the different things all come together to make something new.

21:58~25:59

This section calls back to the very beginning of the piece again. Two vibraphones do a kind of call and response thing and it seems to me as if the player is doing something of a puzzle game. They kind of half remember how things went from seeing it before they started but it still requires some trial and error to get it right.

25:59~End

The players final game is to now get the orchestra to be quiet. You can hear different instruments coming on and off and getting louder and softer as the player tries to figure out this final puzzle. Just before the final note of the piece there is that breathing sound one last time, almost as if to imply that if the player messed this up they'd have to start the whole piece all over again.

Brain Spew, thoughts on life and school

I have once again found myself in the position where I am a NEET and a shut in. This is not an unusual situation for me to be in as you may be aware. But that doesn't make me entirely comfortable with it. So then you find yourself in the position of saying, "Well Scott, why don't you go to school, or get a job, or volunteer your time, or go for a walk, or punch a shark?" To which I'd have to say, "Agoraphobia and atychiphobia are considered debilitating social disorders for a reason."

But how does one get to this point?  I guess to discover that we shall have to take a look at how I've grow up and how I have, and do, perceive the world around me. Of course this will not be an easy thing as over exaggeration or strait up lies (usually to ones self) crop up rather frequently when you attempt to examine the past. Not to mention the use of language, especially in it's written form, bereft of intonation and expression, can be a very finicky thing. But I guess I shall try because I am bored and in a rather thoughtful and reflective mood.

I suppose we can start with the fact that by nature I am a very lazy person. Well, who isn't, but I'd say I'm lazier then most. I mean, I had no interest in learning how to crawl until it suited my needs. I was perfectly content to sit there and watch the world go by. Or so I'm told. I mean I don't remember this, who would? But it suits my purpose as an example of just how lazy a person I am even at an early age.

Next, I am incredibly stubborn. To the point of being detrimental to my own well being. I'm sure you are well aware that once I have made a decision I shall follow through with it despite what you or anyone else thinks of it. Sometimes even if part way through I realize that I have made a mistake. But do not mistake stubbornness for drive, for I will only be stubborn in so much as it helps me be lazy.

But these are very common things, one could even say natural to the state of being human. Who among us is not lazy and stubborn? So of course these factors alone can not lead to my current state of existence. Obviously there are things that have happened in my formative years that would also have an effect on my current situation.

So I guess that leads us on an adventure into Scott's past, or at least Scott's perception and recollection of the past. My experiences in school, as with any other person, have had a huge impact on my life.

You could say I had an odd introduction to school. I have vague memories of going to pre-school in Texas. But to me, school really started in Germany, where I went to Kindergarten. And since our parents wanted us to have the real German experience I of course went to a German Kindergarten. This served to create the beginnings of a problem.

Do to the language barrier interacting with with my schoolmates was almost impossible. I of course had some rudimentary understanding of German as I was exposed to it frequently, but I never really grasped it fully. And honestly didn't feel the need to as I knew that eventually we would be moving again, presumably to a place where people spoke English. And of course the teachers knew that I didn't fully understand so when it came time to actually teach stuff, I wasn't always expected or required to follow along.

This all of course served to solidify a thought process I presumably already had. From what I have heard I have always been kind of a 'do my own thing' type of person.  I am pretty sure mom has told me a story about me going to a birthday party or some such and we had been playing a game or playing with some toys and then when it was time to move on from that I decided I didn't want to. So somewhere in me I've always had the perception of, "me vs. everyone else".

But again, this is not uncommon. Do we not all perceive the world in some variation of "The way I see it" vs. "The way other people see it"? So again there's got to be more going on.

I guess this brings us to when Dad died. I remember very much being confused by this whole situation. As someone who was born and raised into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I was well aware of the plan of salvation and even at a young age I knew that death was an inevitable part of life. So although my father had died and I wasn't going to see him anymore, he wasn't gone. It was as if he'd moved away and I wouldn't see him for a long time. This was a feeling I had experienced more then once before because I had moved away and said goodbye to people, probably to never see them again.

But people where trying to tell me that I was supposed to be supposed to be sad, distraught, or even angry. And thus the counselling began. I remember all 4 kids being brought into group counselling sessions where we could air out and discuss our feelings. Where it was ok to cry or get mad. But frankly I was just confused. Dad was not there, but he wasn't gone, what's the issue here?

So again here comes this idea of, 'me vs. everyone else'. And people seem to be saying there is something wrong with 'me'.

Move not too much past that and we get into my least favorite thing about my childhood. The thing that keeps me awake at night trying to forget it. I got put in "Resource", "Special Edd", "The short buss", "School for the learning impaired". Suffice it to say I was now 'labeled'. "You are not as smart as those around you."

I was now part of this group of kids that I certainly didn't feel like I belonged with. Many of them had obvious and debilitating mental illnesses or were out right delinquents. Whether I liked it or not, I was now one of them, broken, or a problem. Something that needed special attention because it wasn't quite right.

'Me vs. everyone else'. And 'me' is increasingly being shown as not correct, or not good.

This lead to new incongruities that I could not properly comprehend. I was labeled as "unintelligent" or "slow", but I was constantly being told by my tutors that I was very intelligent, to the point of some event commenting, "Why are you here? You totally get this." And I sure wasn't a delinquent. I was often held up as the example of a 'good boy'. The teacher would ask, "Why isn't everyone else being good like Scott? Quietly sitting in his seat and paying attention." So there was obviously something else wrong. Time to be medicated!

Much of 6th and 7th grade are a very strange kind of thing for me to remember. I was taking medication that was supposed to 'fix' me. But I wasn't 'me' anymore. I didn't like the 'me' that I was when I was on medication. It was rather boring and dull. But I didn't like the 'me' that wasn't on medication because it was broken. But I did come up with an Idea. Maybe if I did well enough in school I could prove that I wasn't broken and then I wouldn't have to be medicated or put in special edd.

Of course laziness still prevailed and I didn't quite apply myself as well as I should have. But I at least felt that I had shown enough progress that when I got into 8th grade I'd be free of these things.

Well, no. It seems that my effort only proved that I really was broken and that these things that I hated where helping. So in 8th grade I gave up. I stopped caring. I was broken and that was that so why bother trying.

It didn't help that some time around 6th grade I had started to discover that school was not about learning. School was a very cruel and calculated game where the point was to jump through the hoops the teachers set forth rather then to actually learn anything. A point of view that was only solidified by the fact that people continued to tell me I was intelligent and yet my grades often didn't show it. Even on assignments that I put a lot of effort into I seemed to fall short of what the teacher actually wanted.

This lead to a whole new anxiety. Homework was not about showing that you understood a concept. It was about fulfilling the teachers unknown expectations of the concept. Every assignment and test became terrifying game of, not knowing the right answer, but knowing the answer the teacher wanted. (It doesn't help that even now when talking to mother about some of the assignments she gives her students and and giving her whatever my answer would be, she responds with, "That's not what I'm looking for.")

So this all leads back to the question that you'd like to ask me, "Why don't you go to school or get a job." Well, school is a terrifying place where I am expected to fulfill whatever unknown expectations the teacher may have for me, rather then a place where I learn things. And as for a job, who wants to higher someone who is broken?  Someone who does not meet the 'standard'.

But all of this puts me in another very awkward position. I want to learn things. I hunger for knowledge. But one cannot teach themselves. There needs to be some form of guidance. I can read books. But many of the books on subjects that I'm interested are either incredibly boring or way over my head. And who's supposed to explain these things to me without a teacher.

Well you can find collage lectures and wonderful documentaries about things on YouTube and Netflix. But being a one sided experience there is no room for questions or clarification.

I don't really know where I'm going with any of this or what the point is. To be honest as I sit here and stare at this wall of incredibly personally text and my blinking cursor I wonder if it's wise to publish this. I wonder if saying any of these things will somehow offed someone even though that is not at all my intention. I wonder if I've expressed myself properly or if I've given the wrong impression about things.

But I have gone through all the effort of actually writing this out and I write things so rarely it would almost be a waste to not do anything with it. So anyway, here is a random brain spew...

Birthday Symphony III

Calm down, I hear you, "Birthday Symphony III!?!? Didn't you skip a number!?"

No, I did not in fact skip a number. I had Birthday Symphony II all ready to go last year but at the last minute I decided not to do it because I thought no one cared. I'm pretty sure that's still true I just feel like doing it this year anyway.

Total Running time, about 50 minutes.

A Retrospective

One year ago today I was in Chicago seeing Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy. That was 'defiantly' the experience of a lifetime! And a great birthday gift to myself.


I remember having a really hard time getting to sleep the night before, following Distant Worlds on Facebook and watching as they talked about Nobuo Uematsu getting to Chicago and what he was up to before the Concert. I couldn't believe that I was actually sleeping (or not) in the same city as one of my heroes!


The next morning I tried to sleep in but that didn't really work either so I decided it was time to explore the world map. First off I had myself a wonderful egg omelet for breakfast and it was pretty dang goooooooooood. After that I headed out to Millennium Park. It was really big and beautiful and I took quite a few pictures. (All of which I have lost because I dared my friend to run over my cellphone with his car to see what would happen, well guess what.... it broke.....) It was a really hot day and the sun was really bright but I enjoyed myself none the less.


After wandering around the park for a while I found myself near an art exhibit and decided to walk in and take a look. It was nice to be out of the hot sun and there was some pretty neat stuff in there! I wandered around in there for about an hour and a half and kept wishing that there was someone else there with me so that they could appreciate it with me. And so that I didn't feel quite so silly when I would say to myself out loud, "Gee, that's pretty cool. What do you think it means?"


I soon noticed that I had very little time to get to my concert so I made my way to Symphony Center and boy was it crowded, it made me a tad uncomfortable. So I walked around to find a place where there weren't so many people and as I walked down a hallway I was greeted by some AWESOME pictures! The whole hallway was covered with pictures of performances from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra including pictures of some of my favorite conductors like Riccardo Muti.


As I was looking over these gems I started to hear faint music. At first I thought perhaps it was just in my head because there's always music in my head and of course I was really excited about what I was about to participate in but I noticed that if I went closer to some doors along one wall (which turned out to be side doors to the hall.) I could hear the orchestra rehearsing Dancing Mad with Arnie Roth. I was surprised that no one else walking through the hall had noticed, although there were not a lot of people there and most of them were just walking through while talking to there friends and probably did not take the time to listen for the quite music. I sat down next to the door and just listened for about 10-15 minutes before they stopped but I felt privileged to be the only fan there to get a preview of the music.


When I finally got to go sit down I could hardly hold in my excitement anymore! I was towards the middle in the second row. THE SECOND ROW!!! When the concert finally started and Nobuo Uematsu came out on stage to greet his fans I was almost close enough to touch him! And boy did he get a good reception from us! Of course the concert was really fun and Nobuo Uematsu and Arnie Roth even preformed a new piece together. It was quite a treat! Especially since it was a world premiere!


After the show I had the opportunity to meet Nobuo Uematsu, Arnie Roth, Benyamin Nuss, and Susan Calloway. Admittedly I (and most others) didn't care much about meeting the last two but it was still pretty cool. I hadn't brought anything for them to sign though because I thought that the shop they had at the front of Symphony Center only accepted cash which I didn't find out until later that night was wrong. So I asked people in line next to me if they wanted me to get anything signed for them and this guy behind me takes off his backpack and pulls out this HUGE stack of Uematsu merchandise! After looking though his things he found one that he wanted and handed it to me. People in line looked at me like I was crazy for doing that but what else was I supposed to do? Arnie Roth and Nobuo Uematsu found it pretty surprising too but I think it made a good impression on them. :)


After that I went back to my hotel room briefly to get something to eat and to clean up a little before the next concert. When I got back I found out I could buy stuff with my debit card and bought a cool shirt, the Distant Worlds art book, and the Distant Worlds: Returning Home DVD.


The second concert was also great! And they did a super fun One-Winged Angel singalong! That was probably the most fun I've ever had!


Then I got to go meet the cool guys again and this time I actually had the art book for them to sign. I also gave Nobuo Uematsu a complement that I hope he remembers, he sure gave a good reaction when I said it too him. I told him that his music was a gateway drug and that now I was listening to crazy things like Penderecki! 


After getting my art book signed I pretty much ran back to my hotel with my treasure! It was a really great day!


And now one year later I'm getting ready to do it all over again! Just this morning tickets went on sale for the 25th Anniversary Celebration of Final Fantasy which will be held in Rosemont, Illinois which is just about 18 miles from Chicago. So this December I'm going to get to meet Nobuo Uematsu again! Sorry if you where hoping to see me for Christmas. ;)

Scott's Super Scary "Symphony"

I had so much fun doing my Birthday "Symphony" that I decided that I should do another one. It's that time of year for scary stuff and this is what I find scary. So turn off the lights, turn up the sound, and hang on to your significant other.

I'm not going to tell you want this next one is because I want to see if you can guess. It will help if you close your eyes but if you still can't get it there is a HUGE clue at the end.

A Birthday "Symphony"

Last year Mom asked me what music she should listen to to celebrate my birthday, well here it is, a birthday "symphony". Approximate total running time is 1 hour. I don't really expect anyone to listen to all of it and I expect hardly anyone to listen to any of it.




Summon The Heroes - John Williams (1932 - Present)

Instrumentation:
2 Flutes, Piccolo, 2 Oboes, English Horn, 2 Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, Contra Bassoon, 4 Horns, 6 Trumpets, 4 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion, Harp, Piano, and Strings

Written in commemoration of the Centennial of the Modern Olympic Games. Premiering on July 19, 1996, the piece features heavy use of the brass and wind sections and is approximately six minutes in length. Principal Boston Pops trumpeter Timothy Morrison played the opening solo on the album recording. It has been arranged for various types of ensembles, including wind ensembles. This theme is now used prevalently by NBC for intros and outros to commercial breaks of the Olympics.




Symphony #1 In C Minor, "The Bells Of Zlonice" - 1. Allegro - Antonin Dvořák (1841 - 1904)

Instrumentation: 2 Flutes (one doubling Piccolo), 2 Oboes (one doubling English Horn), 2 clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Timpani, and Strings

Dvořák submitted the score for a competition in Germany, but never saw it again, and always believed it was destroyed or irretrievably lost. He later included the work in a list of early compositions he claimed to have destroyed. However, in 1882, an unrelated person named Dr. Rudolf Dvořák, a 22-year old Oriental scholar, came across the score in a second-hand bookshop in Leipzig, and bought it. At that time the composer Dvořák was not widely known; although he had written six symphonies, only one of them (No. 6) had been published and only three of them (Nos. 3, 5 and 6) had been performed. Rudolf Dvořák kept it in his possession, telling nobody about it, until he died 38 years later, in 1920, when it passed to his son. The son brought it to the attention of the musical world in 1923. Its authenticity was proven beyond doubt, but it did not receive its first performance until 4 October 1936 (in Brno, by an orchestra conducted by Milan Sachs, a Croatian opera conductor), and even then, in a heavily edited form. It was not published until 1961, and was the last of Dvořák's symphonies to be either performed or published.




Ending Credits - Final Fantasy XIII - Masashi Hamauzu (1971 - Present)

Instrumentation: Unknown... to me.

I couldn't find any information on this piece but I can tell you that it is a vary beautiful piece that makes vary good use of its limited melodic material. Often hitting some rather shrill dissonances it always rewards you with a good strong consonant. I actually didn't even want to put this piece in here, I was really hoping to get some Uematsu in but none of his pieces really fit the tone I was going for here so just for fun one day I put this one here and it stuck. It was the last piece finalized for this "Symphony".




Essay For Orchestra - Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981)

Instrumentation: Unknown... to me.

Barber's Essay For Orchestra (sometimes call his First Essay For Orchestra as he wrote two more later) is an abstract piece of absolute music. It was premiered in 1938 along side what is probably Barber's most famous piece Adagio For Strings. The piece can be divided into two parts, the first part is a long leisurely melody that beautifully shows Barber's lyricism, The second is a much more frenzied melody, introduced by the strings, that builds the excitement to a wonderful climax before returning for a Briefly to the first melody.




Symphony No. 5 In B-Flat Major: II. Allegro Marcato - Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953)

Instrumentation: 2 Flutes, Piccolo, 2 Oboes, English Horn, 2 Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, Contra Bassoon, 3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, 4 Horns, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion, Piano, Harp, and Strings

Fourteen years had passed since Prokofiev's last symphony. World War II was still raging during the symphony's gestation, and Prokofiev composed the symphony in a safe haven run by the Soviet Union. He gave out in a statement at the time that he intended it as "a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit." He added "I cannot say that I deliberately chose this theme. It was born in me and clamoured for expression. The music matured within me. It filled my soul." The second movement is an insistent scherzo in Prokofiev's typical toccata mode, framing a central country dance in triple time.

Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity - Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934)

Instrumentation: 4 Flutes, 2 Piccolo, Alto Flute, 3 Oboes, English Horn, 3 Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, 3 Bassoons, Contra Bassoon, 6 Horns, 4 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tenor Tuba, Bass Tuba, Celesta, Organ, Timpani, Percussion, and Strings

The Planets is no doubt Holst's most famous work, in fact most people have not even heard any of his other works. Jupiter has two heavy dance tunes for six horns in unison (the first with the strings) and a big maestro tune - the most famous part of the work - in the central section. Holst's daughter Imogen relates how, at the Queen's hall in 1918, "During Jupiter the chamber-women working working in the corridors put down their scrub brushes and began to dance."




Fireworks - Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971)

Instrumentation: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes (2nd = English horn), 3 clarinets (3rd = bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, triangle), 2 harps, celesta, and strings

Fireworks begins with a running accompaniment in the flutes and a swinging three-note motto tossed between horns, first violins (with piccolo and pizzicato seconds and violas), and solo trumpet. Horns and trumpets develop this motto into fanfares; a final explosion from the percussion leads to a languid central section. The work’s ternary form (A-B-A) means that Stravinsky brings back the opening material to round things off, a time-honored structural device. It’s Fireworks’ musical substance – above all, its quirky harmonic twists and transparent orchestration – that points the way forward, with pre-echoes of several passages from The Firebird and the later Diaghilev ballets.

The legend of Falkor/The rise of Sindrig/The insurrection of Anhur

Ok, so this kind of came out in a rush and it's just one big paragraph but I hope you'll forgive me. You can also see why I haven't tried to write this down, it's rather generic.

Before the first kingdoms the land was ruled by bloodthirsty, greedy warlords. Seldom was there peace and many people lived their lives in fear and poverty. As a young man Falkor knew there had to be a better way of life. When he grew into adulthood he was able to find other like minded people and together they tried to create a place where people could live in peace and safety. However, the warlords where not fond of the idea of someone who could challenge their power and they attacked Falkor and his people. Of course they stood no chance against such might and when they where attacked their defeat was inevitable. Falkor, his sons, and those with him did everything they could to defend themselves and their families. During the fighting Falkor unlocked something within himself, he had somehow discovered how to tap into the power of magic. But this new found power was just too little too late. Falkor, one of his sons and a few others where all that survived. They knew they would be hunted for their rebellion so they went into hiding in the wilderness where they could rethink their strategy and try to farther understand and unlock this new power of magic Falkor had unlocked. Several years past and one day Falkors son and a few of the other survivors reappeared. They had succeed in understanding the power of magic and had also created powerful magical sword that later would be called The Sword of Falkor. Using this new power and the might of The Sword of Falkor they where able to finally fight back teaching those who would join their cause the secrets of magic they where unstoppable. With this might they where able to establish the first kingdom, The Kingdom of Falkora. It grew quickly in it's might and was soon the most powerful force in the land. Others also began to learn the secret of magic and form their own kingdoms but Falkora continued to rein supreme. For many years things continued to stay relatively the same and the Falkorins also discovered a secret about The Sword of Falkor. Every once in a while a child was born to the Falkorin line that was extremely gifted in magic and was able to unlock untold powers when wielding The Sword of Falkor. They where called True Heirs. As the Falkorin borders grew they eventually began to explore the north lands and there they encountered large beasts that had a body much like a mans except that their heads where shaped similar to that of a wolf, they had long tales, they had vary long arms, and they where covered in fur. They also noticed that these Behemoths as the Falkrins called them, where actually rather intelligent. Eventually they began to capture and enslave them. The Behemoths large strong bodies where excellent for preforming tasks impossible to humans. However the Behemoths proved to be more intelligent then the Falkorins had a first thought. They began to learn the human tong and they began to fight back. The Behemoths proved to be incredibly powerful warriors, the fighting continued for years. At this time the young prince Sindrig had been revealed as a True Heir. The Falkorin people begged him to take up The Sword of Falkor and protect them from the threat the Behemoths posed. Sindrig was hesitant feeling that there must be some other way to resolve the conflict but eventually he was forced to do as the people willed. With the True Heir Sindrig and the power of The Sword of Falkor the Behemoths didn't stand a chance. The Falkorins subjugated them completely. Sindrig was then going to step down from the thrown having accomplished his task but the people would not allow him so Sindrig agreed to be their king until he passed away. Some years past and the power that Sindrig wielded began to corrupt him. He became a tyrant and began to make war with all the other kingdoms in the land concurring them one by one. He also began to want for a even more lavish life style and taxed the people of Falkora heavily. More time passed, all kingdoms that opposed Falkora had been destroyed and the people of Falkor where suffering greatly, they wanted to overthrow Sindrig but he had far too much power, the only remaining option was to wait for him to die. But Sindrig did not die, for more then 100 years he ruled and never aged. The people of Falkor where desperate, many resistance groups and formed and they had tried to kill Sindrig but none could succeed. Eventually they decided that they had to wait for another True Heir to be born, perhaps then they could stand up to Sindrigs might. One night a young woman named Illidrad snuck into Sindrigs chamber and seduced him. She then went into hiding protected by the resistance withing Falkora. Much to their joy 9 moths later Illidrad gave birth to a True Heir, Anhur. However they had to wait until Anhur was old enough to be able to stand up to his father. 16 years later the time finally arrived. The resistance led by their new leader Anhur rose up against Sindrig. Still they where unsuccessful but one night Anhur was able to sneak into the castle and steal The Sword of Falkor. But Anhur and the resistance knew that having the sword may not be enough and they fled from Falkora. They headed east but where perused by Sindrigs army. In order to survive and to get away from Sindrig once and for all Anhur summoned the power of The Sword of Falkor and raised a mountain range between them. Finally escaped from Falkora and Sindrig the people of Anhur began to raise up new kingdoms. First The Kingdom of New Falkora, then to the north The Kingdom of Bomar, and to the south The Kingdom of Illidrea, and to the east The Kingdom of TCUK (The Currently Unnamed Kingdom). In an attempt to protect themselves from what had happened in Falkora The Kingdom of New Falkora formed The Dragon Knights, a group of knights solely dedicated to protecting The Sword of Falkor and making sure that it was only used when it was absolutely needed. The Falkorin line was also divided between the four kingdoms so that no one kingdom would have a grater chance of having a True Heir and thus threatening the balance of power.

Long, yeah? And that's just the back story.