| abstract | - Fardeep owned and operated the Champion Inn in Rithmere for many years. He amassed a great deal of wealth and respect in the Mere territory through the Inn, which was famous for its games. Many years before King Endon took the throne, Fardeep's family was killed by bandits that invaded Rithmere on the Shadow Lord's orders and Fardeep was driven from the Champion Inn. The Shadow Lord later converted the Champion Inn to suit his purposes, while Fardeep fled to a valley in the Jalis territory. Fardeep, embittered by the loss of his family, sought peace in the valley. The Shadow Lord however, sensed his anger and misery. He was corrupted and manipulated by the Shadow Lord, who offered him a palace and immense powers, ultimately entrusting Fardeep — now known simply as "the Guardian" — with the great Diamond, stolen from the Belt of Deltora. Before obtaining the Diamond, he simply offered a casket of jewels and gold. Ranesh once encountered him, but refused to play the game, and the Guardian allowed him to leave the Valley. The Shadow Lord allowed the Guardian construct an elaborate game to protect the diamond. The Guardian offered the diamond to anyone who could win the game by discovering his true name. The Shadow Lord instructed the Guardian to claim that his true name was "Endon", hoping that anyone who successfully reached the diamond would be deceived into thinking that the King of Deltora had become one of the Shadow Lord’s servants. When the Torans broke their vow to the King of Deltora and were banished from Tora, they wandered into the Valley of the Lost and the Guardian enslaved them with his magic. Only one man successfully completed Fardeep's game, Doom, who was so horrified and defeated by the idea that Endon had been corrupted that he left without taking the diamond, his faith in the royal family shattered.
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