Long ago, there was a King of Typhoon Mountain. Climbing the mountain was a treacherous journey with a mostly vertical path, huge boulders and a single, almost unmanageable trail. The locals, known as the Phoons, believed that whoever stood highest on the mountain was the king. The Phoons had to follow the word of whoever was the King of Typhoon Mountain.
Halfway up the mountain, the current king, known forever after as King Dread, built his small hut. Once a week, King Dread would send a basket down with his written requests, and the Phoons were expected to fulfill the requests. Sometimes King Dread would ask for chocolate chip cookies. Other times, he wanted an entire musical written and performed in his honor. These requests sent the Phoons scrambling. They did not like the randomness of King Dread.
To unseat the king, all one needed to do was climb higher on the mountain than King Dread. No one could accomplish this.
King Dread grew giant radishes and threw them at anyone who tried to use the small path or scale the rockface. His aim was impeccable, and he would knock off these challengers with radish precision.
One day, a knight named Gwyn came upon the village of Phoon. The Phoons were scrambling to build a series of elaborate kites for King Dread to fly off Typhoon Mountain. King Dread wanted several designs, including one resembling an alligator and another resembling a watermelon slice.
Gwyn was surprised to see the panic in the Phoons. She soon learned about Typhoon Mountain, King Dread and the radishes.
Gwyn came up with a plan. “Well, if you can’t get past King Dread and his radishes, you need to get him off the mountain.”
The villagers were too afraid to act against King Dread, but Gwyn followed the code of the knights to stand up to injustice and protect the innocent.
Before the villagers sent up the kite, Gwyn sprayed them all with a plant killer. As King Dread flew his kites, the plant killer rained down on his radishes. Soon, the plants shriveled up.
Next, King Dread sent down the basket requesting food because he had no radishes to eat or throw. One of the items was honey. Gwyn carefully went out, found a beehive and put it in the basket. The Phoons pulled the basket up.
Gwyn heard the screams from King Dread and watched as the bees chased him down the mountain. He stumbled down the path and raced past the villagers and headed for the lake, followed by a swarm of bees.
Gwyn smiled and calmly climbed up a few feet of the mountain.
“King Gwyn,” the villagers chanted, as she smiled at them.
“As my first act,” Gwyn said, “I’m abolishing the king of the mountain, and I’m going to teach you about democracy!”
The Phoons looked at each other, and each look was filled with a sense of dread.