When Richard was a boy he would often spend his summers away from his father's court in London. On these holidays he would travel to England's seashore in the company of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. It was their custom to spend their mornings walking along the water's edge looking for exotic sea shells and other objects. Eleanor would entertain her son with enchanting yearns of the far and distant lands from which the objects had originally come.

On one particular brightly colored summer's day, Richard noticed an object in the distance shimmering golden in the sunlight. As he approached, Richard discovered a golden coin half buried in the sand. Richard uncovered the object and ran to Eleanor to share his new found treasure and to have her interpret its significance.

Eleanor took a long look at the golden coin and declared that this was the most precious of all their found treasure. This was an ancient coin from the lost continent of Atlantis. Richard was spellbound as Eleanor wove a wonderful tale of a lost civilization once so blessed by the gods that they were the envy of the world. She told of how the Atlanteans foolishly turned their wealth and knowledge to the conquest of other nations. And, how, after many years of success they were at last punished by the gods for their arrogance. She ended her tale by saying, "Richard, you may hold the only remaining evidence of Atlantis in your hand, my son."

Richard never forgot the story and although now, so many years hence, he harbors secret doubts as to the story's authenticity, he nevertheless has dispatched his loyal knights to find the truth about Atlantis. It is here our story begins...