Spaj father's name was Inoqrue, and he was a very kind man to his people, ensuring that everything went on well during his time. He however had one flaw which would contribute to his death, he thought everyone loved him, he saw the world from a happy perspective due to the way he was raised and hated to see his people sad.
Spaj was affectionate and amiable with everyone and very down-to-earth, he would go around the town without a guard sometimes as he loved to move around freely and sometimes with reckless abandon. Despite several warnings from his queen and his hand Felitinchy about the need to exercise caution, he did not pay much attention to their advice.
Most of the time Inoqrue did what he thought was right and what he believed would be in the best interest of the people. He saw his people as his family and not followers and for this the majority loved him, they always hailed him when he went out on the streets sometimes alone on his black horse and without his guards surrounding him.
He only went out with guards on ceremonial events and official duties and sometimes when he was in a very great mood, he walked a bit around town especially when he went fishing. His head guard Cropel had to insist on following him to fish as he would not need their services. In his reign food was surplus and the land of Tondos was at peace with most of the other kingdoms, as Inoqrue did not love wars and bloodshed.
Inoqrue was a skilled fisherman ever since he was a kid and being the only son of so many sisters, he never lacked love even while his father was away on royal duties or battle. The fishes always reminded him of ordinary people living ordinary everyday lives, sometimes he watched them as seen as the bigger stronger fishes devoured the much smaller and weaker ones.
He saw the will of the smaller fish to survive and its struggle for dear life as the bigger fish held on to its head and it is being eaten up slowly. And most of the time after he catches these big fishes, he feels a new surge of strength and power as their liberator, a savior of the weak and the helpless and he enjoys much more satisfaction when it was time to feast.
He always told his son Spaj, 'To be a king, you must look beyond your high horse' however, while Inoqrue was having the best of time as King of his kingdom without chaos as the people were satisfied with his rule, the enemies were plotting. At this time the instar witches were everywhere but no one noticed because they blended so well with the everyday people.
Inoqrue had a certain affinity for women, and he did not hide it even from his wife. It was an open secret that everyone in the land knew that their king loved women. And he liked them young, which led to him having a lot of illegitimate children that his wife decided to take out behind his back with the help of his head guard Cropel.
Inoqrue fathered many children he never even got to know about, and most of his philandering was done discreetly with many of the women getting paid off and asked to keep things quiet. The stubborn ones are usually handled by his wife Avalat who unlike her husband was more ruthless and most of the time these handlings were done without her husband's knowledge.
Inoqrue's illness started on a certain afternoon when he went fishing and he was accompanied by one of his female mistresses, a blonde beauty called Varoy who seduced him into allowing her to cook in place of his maids. He was at this certain mistress's place with his head guard and he was convinced by her feminine charms to spend the night after taking the meal.
The next day he had a ceremony of Fre Un Frun Duel, a ceremony of combat to pick up the best men who would join the king's guard, only the very best are usually taken and there is no lowering of standards for anyone. Inoqrue collapsed at this event and even though the event continued with his hand in charge, he was down for a week at first before he became himself again as if the thing happened.
However, the days that followed his illness kept becoming unstable, during the day he was Hale, hearty and kicking, and by nightfall, he was battling with his life with his stomach swollen and some creature kept on moving within it, more like it was swimming a wild fish inside an ocean within him with no escape route.
Later on, things got very complicated and his hand Felitinchy was the only face of the crown months before his demise, his tummy rumbled and none of the physicians could see anything wrong with him. His mistress Varoy always came around to tend to him on days his wife was too grief-stricken to attend as she cried mostly alone in her chambers whilst she had sent all the maids off.
Then came the nightmares where he sees several creatures of darkness, their horns long and their eyes blazing while the fire in it sparks in the dark. They are dancing to the slow solemn beat of the stars and their drummer is a tall monster with the head of a dragon and the body of a human.
It beats the drum with so much gusto and excitement and the horned creatures dance to its beat but one thing is really strange from its appearance. It had many hands and the drum had many eyes which stared at him as he walked in the shadows. The Inoqrue saw himself being pulled apart by these creatures and it was more like a feast where these creatures begin to feast on his body and then he starts to growl in pain, as the pain from the dream transcended to reality and his groans usually kept the physicians sleepless most of the nights they were around.