The Black Knight's Tyranny

The Black Knight's Tyranny is a 2-part Imaginarium game setting that is played by the Smurfs in the HERO: The Guardian Smurf story series. It is set in the world of King Arthur.

Background Information
In the setting, the player must help a sorceress named Merlina, who is the granddaughter of the sorcerer Merlin, free the mystical realm of King Arthur, who has been possessed by an unknown evil that comes from Excalibur's scabbard, and is now ruling the realm as the tyrannical Black Knight. The player must take up the talking sword, Caliburn and master swordsmanship in order to break Arthur's curse and save the kingdom.

Part One - Invasion From The Underworld
In the World of Camelot, while on the run from the Black Knight (Papa Smurf) and his demonic minions, Merlina (female counterpart of whoever is playing, Merlin if a female is playing) is surrounded by the Black Knight's minions, and, before she is taken, the player enters the setting. The player must defeat the Black Knight's minions before Merlina teleports them both away in a whirlwind. The Black Knight sends out his three Knights of the Round Table, who are still loyal to the Black Knight despite his evil, to find and kill the player and Merlina on sight. Merlina explains that the Black Knight, once King Arthur, is immortal, as he possesses the scabbard of Excalibur. After training the player in the art of swordsmanship, Merlina explains that King Arthur was once a wise and just ruler, but became corrupted by the power of immortality granted by having possession of Excalibur's scabbard. The player soon acquires Caliburn, a talking sword who is highly skeptical of the player's abilities, and they head off on their quest while Merlina goes into hiding (Merlina explains that she would be recognized in town). They first find the blacksmith (Miner's counterpart in the game) in the Castle Town, in order to sharpen Caliburn's blade. The blacksmith recognizes Caliburn, but cannot remember when he has heard of its name before.

The player then heads off to see Nimue, the Lady of the Lake (Smurfette's counterpart in the game) and previous owner of the scabbard of Excalibur, to find out how to stop the Black Knight; on his way, he encounters and defeats Lancelot (Hefty's counterpart in the game), one of the Knights of The Round Table, and claims his sword. The Lady reveals that she will only assist the player when he becomes a true knight and presents him with three tests to be completed in three days. After completing them, The player soon encounters a crying child whose village was abducted by a dragon and decides to help her. The player soon encounters and defeats Gawain (Dempsey's counterpart in the game), and takes his sword before he can kill himself out of shame with it, asking him if there is more to being a knight than serving a king. With the townsfolk saved, Nimue reveals that she was the crying child and was testing the player, and that he can blunt the scabbard's power by retrieving the sacred swords wielded by the Knights of the Round Table. Afterwards, the player meets Percival (Fergus' counterpart in the game) and defeats her before saving her from falling from a cliff, an act that finally earns him Caliburn's respect and the title of "Knight". Merlina has seen those events from her reflecting pool, and arrives to inform the player that the Black Knight is on Faraway Avalon. The player and Caliburn pursue and defeat the Black Knight with the power of the three sacred swords.

Part Two - The Rise and Fall of the Dark Queen (King)
Having fought and defeated him by using the four Sacred Swords (including Caliburn), Merlina reveals to the player and The Knights of the Round Table that King Arthur was an illusion conjured by her grandfather, Merlin. She then takes Excalibur's scabbard to become all-powerful, so she can be the new queen.

The player and the Knights of the Round Table are forced to flee and, with Nimue's help, set off to use the sacred swords to defeat Merlina by putting up a barrier around the kingdom, which is then revealed that is too weak. After the four swords form a barrier around the castle, the player confronts Merlina, who explains that she knows the kingdom will soon come to an end, and wants to make it last forever. The player battles her, but is outmatched; in the process, Caliburn is broken in half, and the player takes a very severe beating. Nimue and the Knights watch the player's efforts, and shout at him to run. the player refuses, resolving to stop Merlina no matter what. The player's determination, combined with the power of the sacred swords, repairs Caliburn, and the duo transform into a powerful transformation, and the true Excalibur, while Merlina transforms into a monstrous creature known as "The Dark Queen". After a long battle, the player and Caliburn manage to defeat Merlina. Though Merlina continues to lament the fate of the kingdom, the player gives her a flower and tells her that, while all worlds have to end, they merely need to live life to the fullest in the time that they have; reminiscing about her grandfather, Merlina takes his advice to her heart.

Afterwards, Lancelot says that the Knights of the Round Table will have to disband now that King Arthur is gone, but Caliburn reminds them that he is the one who chooses the one to be king (or queen); thus, the player is the true King (or Queen if the player is female).

Characters

 * The player as himself or herself
 * Merlina is the female counterpart if the player is male; Merlin in case the player is female.
 * Papa Smurf as King Arthur
 * Smurfette as Nimue, The Lady of The Lake
 * Miner as the local blacksmith
 * Hefty as Sir Lancelot
 * Dempsey as Sir Gawain
 * Fergus as Sir Percival

Trivia

 * The setting is inspired by the Wii video game, Sonic and the Black Knight.