Shadows danced upon the longhouse wall brought to life by the roaring flames in the firepit in the middle of the dining room, smoke twisted and flowed like ghost hair in the rafters as the tables bellowed boomed with the sound of laughter, boasting and the occasional arm wrestles.
It had been a good year for Clan Volkmann and their Kimbri allies, the steppe was largely united under the rule of the mighty Gaiseric and foreign wealth and technology was flowing into Essalanea like an unstoppable wave. Gaiseric sat at the head of the table, Wolf furs wrapped around himself to keep out the cold, he sipped mead from his stone goblet and took in the heady scene with a flaneurs eye.
The bards were playing a low, settled tune on stringed bows, a simple tune romanticizing steppe life and freedom with every note, it bored Gaiseric greatly, rising from his seat he silenced the room with a single raising of his hand.
'Enough of this soppy prattle! we are celebrating the dawn of a new age! It is time to tell a tale worthy of Essalan, Euric tell the tale of our god and his greatest foe! Recount for all the glory of Ziu and the black bear!' he roared, his voice filling the hall and echoing out into the night
Euric, the clan's elderly lore keeper rose from his seat, scratching his chin in a contemplative gesture. His weathered and wrinkled face was the sight of hair the colour of snow, a neatly oiled moustache and braid giving him an air of dignified age.
'Ziu and the Black Bear my lord? now there is a tale to bring any hall to life! Bards! Strike up the tune!' the old man said his seemingly relaxed face suddenly taking on an expression of savage excitement that belied his age
The bards began to play furiously on their stringed bows, the tune rapid and almost terrifying in its pace, Drums began to pounding in rhythm with the crashed tune. Some of the foreign guests who had joined the assembled clan for the night's feast suddenly seemed nervous as the tune began to grow into a booming sound to fill the entire night.
Feet began to bang on the floorboards, Fists slammed on the table and a rising throaty chant filled every clan bondsman's throat, a single word repeated in ever louder voices
Ziu ZIU! ZIU! ZIU!!!
As the chanting threatened to drive the guests from the hall in abject terror Euric silenced the hall with a gentle raising of his hand.
Long ago, before the first men were even dreams, the sum of all things was nought but the icy expanse of the Seelwald, the soul forest, it was a cold and mist-shrouded realm were only shadows and the whispers of things to come dwelt. Into this dark world, the cosmos bore a son, a being of pure and eternal fire, the first and only God, Ziu!
From the endless steppe above fell this bright star, blinding light marking his passage down to the endless fog of the Seelwald. His fall from heaven marked the very earth, the son of eternity rising from his impact ablaze in white light, eyes aflame and body a beacon to all that lingered in the dark.
So great was his presence that the shadows and whispers began to form around him, their being given substance by his mere existence amongst them. Though they were not beings of flesh or blood Ziu cherished these vessels and gathered them to the side wherever he went, a collector of unborn souls.
Ziu longed to lead these hollow beings into the light but darkness prevented them from taking on the true life. The whispers told of a dread entity that stalked the Seelwald, devouring any that it found, the Black Bear, death, and unbirth incarnate. The Bear guarded the very gates to the creation and would allow none to pass.
Ziu, longing to give true life to the unborn despaired, how to slay such a monstrosity?! He journeyed high into the mountains, to a great height where the mist dissipated and the endless steppe above could be seen and there in the shadow of all things he communed with his father, he listened and creation spoke.
'Slay the Beast, but know that all glory requires sacrifice and your glory will be greater than any that shall follow' thus spake creation to Ziu
Ziu with a rib torn from his own chest forged a blade of purest white and from the rocks and whisps of endless fog, he gathered about his form the raiment of a warrior, a helm bearing wings and armour to resist even the blows of death itself. So armed he descended to do battle with death and unbirth itself!
At the gates of creation, they met, Ziu and the Bear, the beast roared in a voice that was at once a thousand whispers and a million shrieks!
THIS REALM IS MINE TO STALK, All ARE MY PREY!
Ziu was unmoved by the horror's boast for he was burdened by a great and glorious purpose
'I AM NOT OF THIS REALM!!!' He roared back and with white boned sword drawn they did battle
The winds of the Seelwald shrieked, the trees buckled and snapped, the mountains and the earth cracked and heaved with each blow exchanged, the Sky boomed with thunder and lightning. For time unremembered they fought, a god against the unbirthing horror, their battle echoed across all of creation. They were evenly matched, neither able to gain the advantage.
'How to slay such a beast!?' Ziu roared as the claws of the beast raked his armour and the heat of its foul breath covered the god's face
The universe answered once more ' Glory requires sacrifice'
Ziu knew what he must do, raising his sword arm he allowed the bear to bite into his wrist with its vile fangs...What greater sacrifice can a warrior make than his means to fight? The beast tore the hand clean off and began to gnaw upon it. In its arrogance the beast turned its back, certain that a god without a sword hand was all but doomed...
In that Moment Ziu knew what he must do, reaching for the blade he plunged the sword into the beasts turned back. The Bear roared and struggled furiously as Ziu drove the point ever deeper but then it fell, a heart pierced.
Ziu had sacrificed his sword arm but from that loss, he had guaranteed that untold generations would raise theirs in his name. He opened the gates of creation and the unborn flooded into the world beyond. Using the Beasts carcass Ziu forged for the unborn a new world, from the bear's bones, sprang the mountains, its blood became the ocean, its hide the grass and earth and its brains the clouds above. When the work was done a new world was born.
But still, it existed in darkness and the unborn still lingered in hollow non-life, Ziu knew he had to help them one last time. ascending back into the heavens Ziu stood sentinel over the cosmos, his light shone down upon Eras and the world was bathed in warm life. The unborn became were made flesh and bone, vessels possessed of a portion of Ziu's light and as each new soul was birthed it would live in the world of men beneath Ziu's light.
Upon the extinguishing of Ziu's light the soul would return to the Seelwald, but with a difference, for Ziu had made the soul forest into a verdant mirror of Eras and here the long-dead would forever dwell in peace beneath the eternal light of the father.
'Behold kinsmen, look to one another and the faces of our foreign guests, look upon the blessed life Ziu has granted us, to live in strength, honour, and glory! True to Essalan and True to the eternal God!' Euric said in a booming voice
The Hall erupted in cheers and more chanting of Ziu's name as the tale ended, the people of the clans invigorated by such a holy tale, even the foreigners seemed impressed, if still slightly afraid. The cheering and singing would continue late into the night.
It had been a good year for Clan Volkmann and their Kimbri allies, the steppe was largely united under the rule of the mighty Gaiseric and foreign wealth and technology was flowing into Essalanea like an unstoppable wave. Gaiseric sat at the head of the table, Wolf furs wrapped around himself to keep out the cold, he sipped mead from his stone goblet and took in the heady scene with a flaneurs eye.
The bards were playing a low, settled tune on stringed bows, a simple tune romanticizing steppe life and freedom with every note, it bored Gaiseric greatly, rising from his seat he silenced the room with a single raising of his hand.
'Enough of this soppy prattle! we are celebrating the dawn of a new age! It is time to tell a tale worthy of Essalan, Euric tell the tale of our god and his greatest foe! Recount for all the glory of Ziu and the black bear!' he roared, his voice filling the hall and echoing out into the night
Euric, the clan's elderly lore keeper rose from his seat, scratching his chin in a contemplative gesture. His weathered and wrinkled face was the sight of hair the colour of snow, a neatly oiled moustache and braid giving him an air of dignified age.
'Ziu and the Black Bear my lord? now there is a tale to bring any hall to life! Bards! Strike up the tune!' the old man said his seemingly relaxed face suddenly taking on an expression of savage excitement that belied his age
The bards began to play furiously on their stringed bows, the tune rapid and almost terrifying in its pace, Drums began to pounding in rhythm with the crashed tune. Some of the foreign guests who had joined the assembled clan for the night's feast suddenly seemed nervous as the tune began to grow into a booming sound to fill the entire night.
Feet began to bang on the floorboards, Fists slammed on the table and a rising throaty chant filled every clan bondsman's throat, a single word repeated in ever louder voices
Ziu ZIU! ZIU! ZIU!!!
As the chanting threatened to drive the guests from the hall in abject terror Euric silenced the hall with a gentle raising of his hand.
Long ago, before the first men were even dreams, the sum of all things was nought but the icy expanse of the Seelwald, the soul forest, it was a cold and mist-shrouded realm were only shadows and the whispers of things to come dwelt. Into this dark world, the cosmos bore a son, a being of pure and eternal fire, the first and only God, Ziu!
From the endless steppe above fell this bright star, blinding light marking his passage down to the endless fog of the Seelwald. His fall from heaven marked the very earth, the son of eternity rising from his impact ablaze in white light, eyes aflame and body a beacon to all that lingered in the dark.
So great was his presence that the shadows and whispers began to form around him, their being given substance by his mere existence amongst them. Though they were not beings of flesh or blood Ziu cherished these vessels and gathered them to the side wherever he went, a collector of unborn souls.
Ziu longed to lead these hollow beings into the light but darkness prevented them from taking on the true life. The whispers told of a dread entity that stalked the Seelwald, devouring any that it found, the Black Bear, death, and unbirth incarnate. The Bear guarded the very gates to the creation and would allow none to pass.
Ziu, longing to give true life to the unborn despaired, how to slay such a monstrosity?! He journeyed high into the mountains, to a great height where the mist dissipated and the endless steppe above could be seen and there in the shadow of all things he communed with his father, he listened and creation spoke.
'Slay the Beast, but know that all glory requires sacrifice and your glory will be greater than any that shall follow' thus spake creation to Ziu
Ziu with a rib torn from his own chest forged a blade of purest white and from the rocks and whisps of endless fog, he gathered about his form the raiment of a warrior, a helm bearing wings and armour to resist even the blows of death itself. So armed he descended to do battle with death and unbirth itself!
At the gates of creation, they met, Ziu and the Bear, the beast roared in a voice that was at once a thousand whispers and a million shrieks!
THIS REALM IS MINE TO STALK, All ARE MY PREY!
Ziu was unmoved by the horror's boast for he was burdened by a great and glorious purpose
'I AM NOT OF THIS REALM!!!' He roared back and with white boned sword drawn they did battle
The winds of the Seelwald shrieked, the trees buckled and snapped, the mountains and the earth cracked and heaved with each blow exchanged, the Sky boomed with thunder and lightning. For time unremembered they fought, a god against the unbirthing horror, their battle echoed across all of creation. They were evenly matched, neither able to gain the advantage.
'How to slay such a beast!?' Ziu roared as the claws of the beast raked his armour and the heat of its foul breath covered the god's face
The universe answered once more ' Glory requires sacrifice'
Ziu knew what he must do, raising his sword arm he allowed the bear to bite into his wrist with its vile fangs...What greater sacrifice can a warrior make than his means to fight? The beast tore the hand clean off and began to gnaw upon it. In its arrogance the beast turned its back, certain that a god without a sword hand was all but doomed...
In that Moment Ziu knew what he must do, reaching for the blade he plunged the sword into the beasts turned back. The Bear roared and struggled furiously as Ziu drove the point ever deeper but then it fell, a heart pierced.
Ziu had sacrificed his sword arm but from that loss, he had guaranteed that untold generations would raise theirs in his name. He opened the gates of creation and the unborn flooded into the world beyond. Using the Beasts carcass Ziu forged for the unborn a new world, from the bear's bones, sprang the mountains, its blood became the ocean, its hide the grass and earth and its brains the clouds above. When the work was done a new world was born.
But still, it existed in darkness and the unborn still lingered in hollow non-life, Ziu knew he had to help them one last time. ascending back into the heavens Ziu stood sentinel over the cosmos, his light shone down upon Eras and the world was bathed in warm life. The unborn became were made flesh and bone, vessels possessed of a portion of Ziu's light and as each new soul was birthed it would live in the world of men beneath Ziu's light.
Upon the extinguishing of Ziu's light the soul would return to the Seelwald, but with a difference, for Ziu had made the soul forest into a verdant mirror of Eras and here the long-dead would forever dwell in peace beneath the eternal light of the father.
'Behold kinsmen, look to one another and the faces of our foreign guests, look upon the blessed life Ziu has granted us, to live in strength, honour, and glory! True to Essalan and True to the eternal God!' Euric said in a booming voice
The Hall erupted in cheers and more chanting of Ziu's name as the tale ended, the people of the clans invigorated by such a holy tale, even the foreigners seemed impressed, if still slightly afraid. The cheering and singing would continue late into the night.
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