Once there lived a noble of unusually keen intellect and cunning.  His mind was a finely-honed machine, capable of calculating great and perfect plans for any endeavor.  This noble gained fame in the lands when he led a small group of rabble to victory over a batallion of highly trained soldiers, thus founding his kingdom.

  Many thought this victory was little more than a fluke of fate.  As the noble constructed the castle they thought sure his small rabble of an army would be easily defeated.  But the noble had planned for such.  His small but growing army managed to repulse all attacks as the noble built his masterpeice of a castle.

  Once completed, this castle stood as a magnificent monument to the brilliance of the noble.  All assaults against its walls failed miserably.  The noble, using his impregnable castle as his foundation of strength, began to spread his influence and his army into the neighboring lands.

  So it was that this noble's wealth grew along with the size of his kingdom.  This, naturally, attracted theives to attempt to raid his castle as army upon army had tried before.  Most failed to even scale the soapstone-coated walls, kept slick with oils.  The few that made it to the parapet inevitably met with a well timed and precise patrol.  Eventually a legendary theif sent word of his intention to steal the noble's greatest trinkets from the heart of his castle.

  The noble was so confident in his designs, and seeking to prove the folly of these theft attempts, sent the guard away for the appointed night the master theif was due.  When the guard returned in the morning, they found the master thief, collapsed at the foot of the main vault, having exhausted himself in his attempts to penetrate the locks and traps set into the door.

  Priests tried to convert the guards, to take over the castle that could not fall by striking from within.  A simple pay raise and other fringe benefits had the guards hauling the priests off in chains.

  Time and again this perfectly planned castle withstood all manner of attacks and assaults.  The noble was gaining unchallenged influence in the lands.  All that remained was a summit between himself and the various rulers of the neighboring kingdoms, that they could pledge fealty to him or face his well planned wrath.

  The summit was, naturally, perfectly planned.  A room at the heart of the castle was arranged to house all the nobles.  A giant stone table and chairs were hewn from the finest stone to seat all the visitors.  All manner of foods were prepared for the feast that would follow the summit, for the ingenious noble would be overlord of all he could survey in but a day.

  The night before the summit, the noble was sitting at his place at the table, smiling contentedly to himself.  His genius would soon reign supreme.  He let loose a cackling laugh as he thought of all the prosperity that lay in his future... As he laughed, he noticed something amiss... The room was reverberating the sound of his merriment too much... as if it were... shaking...

  The next morning, the rulers of the neighboring lands arrived at the castle, only to find it reduced to a pile of rubble in the earthquake of the past night.  As the rocks were sifted through, the noble was found, crushed under the table that was to house his summit.  Without the noble's ingenious tactics, the lands he once ruled were easily carved up between the other lords, who learned the final lesson this genius of a man had to offer:

  No plan, however carefully calculated, is perfect.