1 Jan 2800 Jahr v. Chr. - The Breaking of Bonds

Beschreibung:

Though diluted her godly blood is, Svarfina’s enragement upon learning of Lingard’s doings is felt across leagues. Many of the Vourenkinn flock to her place of dwelling in terror, clawing at each other to make haste towards the peak’s summit. Many die during the journey, and feuds begin to sprout between tribes which would last for millennia thereafter.

A great host arrives at Svarfinvir’s doorstep to cower before the First Queen, and though few have developed a form of communication by now the command that is spoken by the god is understood by all Vourenkinn present.

Blinded by her anger, Svarfina orders her creations to kill each other until none remained, resolving to dispose of her living failures to create a new race far more subservient. With primitive loyalty, the Vourenkinn begin to fight with each other without those great mountain halls of Svarfinvir, drawing their kinsmen’s blood in amounts so great that it is said that blood lapped at the ankles.

For a long time the Vourenkinn fight amid themselves for Svarfina’s delight, reducing their numbers from many hundreds of thousands to tenths in the span of days. Amid the combatants champions arise and are left well alone by those who do not seek a swift and cruel death. Many of these great fighters die by each other’s hands during the quarrel, but some survive it to become legends both in life and in death.

Foremost of these is Vourkel (Mountain’s Will), chieftain of a tribe which dwelt in the savage vales at the southwestern reach of Murkunvir. Named by Lingard when he taught his kinsmen how to start developing a language, he captures Svarfina’s eye the most out of his equals, fighting with a ferocity unmatched by his opponents. Unbeknownst to the First Queen, it is a desire to live and thrive which moves him, instilled in him upon learning the Ten Virtues.

Nearby, surrounded by heaps of bodies, fights a warrior from the cold southernmost reach too simple to bear a name, yet smart enough to survive. Towering over the Vourenkinn, he whom would later bear the name of Antmurkun (Tallstone), also captured his mistress’s eye, keeping her attention well away from the front gates.

A shrill scream brings Svarfina a myriad of times to gaze upon the muscled figure of Ránderliv (Thundercry), a maiden from the forested hills east of Svarfinvir. Taught by Lingard yet self-named, she fights not to survive but to protect her tribe, fending off zealous attackers much to the First Queen’s discontent, prompting her to order more of her subjects to assail the great warrior. Away from the front gate Ránderliv makes her stance as well, seizing Svarfina’s attention much as Vourkel, Antmurkun and others, whom despite being far too simple to lie are loyal enough to carry out a simple order given by the First: Distract her.

When Lingard barges into Svarfinvir with a host of loyal Vourenkinn, Svarfina is successfully caught unaware as are nearly all other Vourenkinn there, whom cease to fight for a brief instant.

In that moment of quiet, Lingard makes his statement: He challenges the First Queen to a contest of might for the survival of the Vourenkinn people. He accuses the god of exercising such cruelty which not even the First Fool is capable of, and this declaration attracts the interests of the other gods of Ár, whom manifest to pay witness to the First Queen’s response. Prideful as the gods are, Svarfina hesitates to decline Lingard’s challenge in the presence of other deities, but she does not accept it right away. She argues that it would be beneath her to do battle with a lesser being as such would be no contest at all, but Lingard counters by explaining that because she lacks the compassion of her blood ilk, it would be folly to proclaim herself more godly than him, whom for a century has nurtured those she abandoned and exploited for millennia.

Though this statement enrages the god, it is not until Kalamira herself, mother to Svarfina, arrives at Svarfinvir and denounces her child to be indeed crueler than the First Fool that Lingard’s challenge is accepted, and the fight between the First Queen and the First Being commences.

Before the clash, however, the present gods take pity on the cowering and decimated Vourenkinn, transporting them to a valley far beneath the godly hold and speaking into their minds a directive not to hurt each other for the time being, as their fate is being decided. It is during this time that those champions loyal to Lingard arise as leaders as well, rallying the mangled remnants of their people behind them with tender yet crude attempts at words to those who could understand them and acts of kindness to those whose reasoning was far more primal.

Far above the clouds, a fight for the survival of a race begins. God and First Being clash in a manner which can hardly be described. Awesome power is met with willpower and an imperviousness which surprises the First Queen, whom amid the Pantheon of the Betrayers is a far deal younger than most other gods.

What Svarfina knew not before agreeing to duel Lingard is that each of Ten Upon Stone bestowed a splinter of their godly essence to bring Lingard unto the Existence, making him a being whose nature was nearer to godhood than mortality.

When the arcane fails Svarfina she resorts to sheer might to trump the First Being, but whereas she had lounged for millennia lording over her creations, Lingard spent his time in solitude honing the skills instilled upon him by the gods, and it was Renn himself who made of him the first warrior of Ár.

It is not an easy battle to win, but in time the victor is clear.

Upon falling to her knees in exhaustion Lingard commands Svarfina to yield, but she refuses. With what little strength she retains still, she attempt to continue fighting, but each of her attacks are blocked soundly by her opponent, whom throughout her assault pleads repeatedly for her to yield.

Driven by rage, however, Svarfina presses on, and when it becomes clear that the fighting is indeed done, she does not bring herself to admit defeat. Employing her godly power one last time, she extends her essence to meld with the Állteirfarr, embracing its power for an instant as it begins to consume her much as it did with Myvala before. In a final attempt at victory Svarfina unleashes a torrent of arcane energy which obliterates the Hold of Svarfinvir as well as the mountain’s peak, becoming one with the primordial sea in the process.

The battle is thus done, yet no victor emerges. To the Vourenkinn far below, the crumbling of the mountaintop is a fear-inducing sight and a sign of their sealed fate. Making their peace (At least those capable of doing so), they await their race’s demise, but such does not come.

Neither Lingard nor Svarfina descend from the broken summit to deliver their demise or salvation, but the host’s newfound leaders, Vourkel, Antmurkun and Ránderliv, do not allow the Vourekinn to dwell on their uncertain destiny.

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