Ruber

## Background

In 1976, Vera Chapman wrote *The King's Damosel*, a fantasy novel inspired by Arthurian lore. In the book, the **Red Knight** was a knight who claimed no loyalty to King Arthur, and held Lynette hostage until her older sister Lyonesse agreed to marry him. Lynette disguised herself as a servant boy, and went all the way to Camelot to get help. The Red Knight was defeated very quickly, and the book went on without him. He had a very *small* role.

Before *The King's Damosel*, the Red Knight was a title bore by several figures in Arthurian lore.

## *Quest for Camelot*

Everyone loved King Arthur down in old Camelot. But **Baron Ruber**, a knight of the round table, did not. He hated Arthur so much, that he committed treason. Please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason. It *could* be the bald spot on top of his head. It *could* be his singing voice sounded quite dead. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his ego was two sizes too tall. But, whatever the reason, his baldness or his singing, Baron Ruber despised Arthur, right from his kinging.

### Betrayal of Camelot

Once upon a time, Ruber was the totally trustworthy red knight, and a member of King Arthur's court. He then randomly decided to seize power and control, and started with killing Sir Lionel. He then vanished into the broad daylight, and I'm sure he'll neeeever bother anyone again.

### Magic Evil Potion

In the ten years that followed, Ruber had managed to get a gryphon and a band of thugs on his side. He eventually sent the gryphon to steal Excalibur, only for the sword to fall into the dark forest. While that was going on, Ruber bought a potion from the ACME corporation, and used it to fuse his thugs with weaponry, transforming them into a mechanical army. Only problem is, Ruber was holding Sir Lionel's family hostage at the time, and if you're busy practicing the dark arts, you're not making sure your incompetent minions aren't letting the hostages escape.

### Finding Excalibur

With Lionel's daughter Kayley on the run, Ruber and his minions had to work fast to locate Excalibur before she did. But rather than waste time with that waste of time, Ruber focused on recapturing Kayley, who by this point had found a few friends to help her. The most Ruber was able to do by the time he caught up was wound her blind traveling companion Garret (who is a distant ancestor of Matt Murdock).

### The Ogre's Butt

When the gryphon dropped Excalibur, it fell into a cave and was picked up by ~~a rock biter~~ an ogre. Ruber was able to reach the cave, just after Kayley and her allies found it. Their attempt to take the sword caused the ~~rock biter~~ ogre to wake up, complicating things further. Kayley and friends succeeded in getting Excalibur and escaping, leaving Ruber pinned under the ~~rock biter~~ ogre's butt, causing him to exclaim, "The ogre's butt!"

### The Final Showdown

After getting out from under the ~~rock biter~~ ogre's butt, Ruber finally caught up with Kayley again after she reached Camelot. And lucky for him, Kayley's traveling companions were nowhere to be found. Ruber quite easily took Kayley hostage again, and with the use of his potion, grafted Excalibur onto his arm. Once infiltrating the city, Ruber and his mechanical army began efforts to seize power. It was around this time when Bladebeak, a chicken with an axe head, randomly betrayed Ruber and set Kayley free. Making matters worse for Ruber, Kayley's traveling companions had returned to help as well. Ruber was close to beating King Arthur when Kayley and pals entered the scene, but as is the case with many villains, gloating became his undoing. Ruber was led out to the courtyard, where there was the stone that Excalibur was pulled out of all those years ago. And like a fool, Ruber struct the stone, making Excalibur detach from his arm and slide back into it. Disintegrated by the resulting backlash of magical energy, Ruber died as he lived, exclaiming the obvious: "Oh, no! The stone!"