Sun Mar 09, 2008 12:01 am  
Thillonrian Mythology: The Fall of Shakark

Long ages past, when the ancestors of the frost, snow and ice barbarians first came to the Thillonrian peninsula the lands were ruled by a terrible demon lord, a creature of icy winter that held the land in its frozen grip.

Many tales have been forgotten in the passage of ages, but the tale of the downfall of Shakark, for so the demon lord was known, and the ascendance of men is well remembered and often told in the long houses and Thane halls of the barbarian north.

The tales tell how Sirgnir Eydarson and his small group of faithful Huskarls braved the frigid mountains to confront the demon in his very lair. Sirgnir did not do so unprepared however, for a minor deity named Vatun, who the Barbarians had met on their journey north, agreed to protect the great Thane and his huskarls from the cold north winds that were Shakark’s to command. All that Vatun asked in return is that the barbarians give him their praise if the attempt to defeat the demon lord was successful.

Sirgnir also had help from the stonefolk, a small group of dwarves that were all that remained of a once grand dwarven kingdom in the corusk mountains. The dwarves had predated the coming of the demon and their iron mines, although less desirable then the gold and silver mines of their brethren further south, were always forthcoming with their ore. When Sirgnir approached the stonefolk they were more then happy to help in anyway that they could, centuries under the thumb of Shakark had whittled their great city to little more then a score of brave souls. They provided the Thane with a sword, Arolle, which had a magically sharp blade to cut through the demons thick hide. They also told Sirgnir the demons secret weakness, which they had pieced together from study, divination, and communication with their gods, Shakark could not be slain by the hands of a man, however if Sirgnir were to cut out the demons heart and thrust the sword Arolle through it the demons spirit would be trapped in the heart and his power would be broken. They warned, however that if anybody were to pull the sword free of the heart, then the demon would be free to return and wreck his vengeance upon all of the northlands.

Sirgnir was known in some circles as the wise, and he knew that the covetous nature of men was their weakness, and he also knew that the memories of men were short, for thus were their life spans… the horrors of today often become the faerie tales of yesterday within a generation. The dwarves he knew had long lives, and thus he reasoned long memories, so he asked their high priest to guard the heart should he return with it.

The great Thane and his huskarls set out for the demon lords frozen lair on the first day of spring, although you could not tell it by the weather as spring had not touched that land for more then three hundred years. The going was tough, and the paths were treacherous and only Sirgnir and his two most able companions remained when the demons icy caverns were reached.

Two days later there was a rumbling, as if all of the thunder of a hundred spring storms burst at once, and it is said that it could be heard as far away as the south shore of Grendep bay. The mountain in which Shakark laired collapsed in upon itself, and was no more, creating a large valley in the high mountains which eventually filled to become Lake Sirgnir from which the Jenelrad river springs. Sirgnir was alone when he reached the city of the stonefolk, and giving them the heart for safekeeping he returned to his people. Spring dawned over the Thillonian peninsula for the first time in centuries and the schnai, cruski, and fruztii peoples moved into the newly green valleys rich with game and now-thawed fjords teaming with fish. Remembering their promise the barbarians turned to the worship of Vatun, forsaking many of the gods that they had brought with them from the Suel imperium. Sirgnir did not get to see the final triumph of his people however, the battles with Shakark had taken a terrible toll on his health, and the great Thane died less then a month after returning to his people.