Another two legends of Legends

From: goedhart@dutiws.tudelft.nl (Peter Goedhart.TI-tel-3925)

Date: Thu, 02 Jul 1992 15:10:25 +0000

Hi, here follows my contribution to the legends of legends subject.

from CoA:

The tale is often told in the northwest of how the legendary Thorfinn
came to power.  His father, one Thorban, came from the South and quickly
rose to the leadership of several of the nomad clans in the Shatolan
Desert.  Some say that he brought with him some others of the Half-elven
race, and that this was the beginning of the Half-elven nomad clans; but
thge truth of this is not known for certain.
     In any case, through his uncanny talent for diplomacy and his
excellent leadership abilities, Thorban soon became a power in the Desert.
It is said that though he occasionally took a tribe by defeating its leader
in single combat, he never warred against any Human or Half-elven tribe in
all his time at the head of the Wyvern Clans, as his tribes were called.
     Now Thorban had had no woman since his arrival in the North, and some
remarked that his manner towards women, though polite, was cool and
impersonal; but one day, at a small faire held in the barbarian village of
Gartinel, he saw the only woman he ever loved, at least since his arrival
in the Desert.  Shenfinn was her name, and she was the daughter and only
child of one of the greatest barbarian chiefs of the Great Northern Forest;
and after long negotiation with her family, Thorban married her.  This
marriage not only brought him much joy, it also gave him sway over many of
the barbarian clans of the Forest.  And, when the old chief died, it seemed
natural that his tribe should swear loyalty to Thorban.
     And Thorban and Shenfinn had a child, a son.  And he was called
Thorfinn.  And although some say his birth was only possible with magical
aid, he grew tall and strong, and was loved by all.
     But one day a small band of Knights from the South came into the
Desert; and they sought out Thorban, and demanded audience with him.  And
when he saw them a great change seemed to come over him, though none could
say why.  And he greeted them as old friends, but with much sorrow in his
manner.  But these Knights were not friendly, and accused him of stealing a
thing and running like a coward to the North; and when Thorban denied it,
they demanded satisfaction on the field of honor in the way of the Southern
peoples.  And he granted them this, killing all but one of them, one after
another; and that one he sent South again, with the news of what had
happened, and a statement of denial of the theft.  But Thorban was gravely
wounded in the fighting, and near unto death.
     Now Thorfinn saw all this, and was wroth at the thought that any could
accuse his father of such wrongdoing; and he pried the full tale out of his
father, though it was never told to men of the North.  Thorfinn then swore
a great oath, to find the truth of the theft, and bring the item back, thus
clearing his father's name.  And he set out upon his quest, though his
mother begged him not to go.
     Little is known of the tale of Thorfinn's quest, but it was
succesful.  However, when he returned at last triumphant to the North with
the prize, he found that his father had been killed in combat with yet
another group of the Knights from the South; and he swore in rage that he
would never return the thing for which his father had died wrongly accused,
but take it for himself, to further the glory of his father's realm.
     And this he did, warring upon the tribes which had not yet joined him,
until all of the clans of the Desert and the Forest looked to him.  And he
called himself Thorfinn the Raven, for the item he had brought from his
quest was a helm of great beauty, fashioned in a raven's likeness, and
called the Ravenhelm; and some said that it granted great powers to him.
And his nation was known as the Wyvernlord Clans, and its capital was
Gartinel, which Thorfinn built into a great city.  Long and prosperous was
his rule, though many times he warred on enemies of many types; and at his
death he had counted six scores of years and five; but he had no known
children, and the land has since broken into individual clans and towns.
But many say that there were children, though Thorfinn never married, and
that if one of that line came forth with the Ravenhelm, he could command
the respect of the Wyvernlord Clans of the North, just as his ancestor did.

from RotI

Seldom does there come a time in the history of any people when one
leader can shape the destiny of all others.  But such a leader is
L'ytalo, the renowned clan-chief of the nomad maretasen who dwell in the
east.  Across the great desert that lies beyond the Darsian Rift, he has
united the scattered warlike clanmms of nomads, providing direction ands
singularity of purpose.
     L'ytalo ever seeks the great Orb of Dalinoar, a fact that is widely
known.  With it, he feels in his heart that the unity of the nomads will
be complete.  Bending the Orb to his will, he could force the great
desert, both friend and enemy, to cease its unrelenting assault on the
remaining grasslands of the clans.  Secure in the Citadel of the Orb, he
plans to rule the maretasen with a wise and firm hand.
     The Citadel is, unquestionably, a strange place.  Its newly-wrought
walls, made from stone painstakingly quarried at remote and secret
sites, already bear the harsh scars of wind-driven sand.  The clans do
not allow any but nomad clan members to enter the holy city, for it will
house the Orb when L'ytalo finds it.  None but L'ytalo himself may gaze
upon the actual resting-place of the orb, somewhere in the great temple
that rises above the city.
     The nomads have crafted great houses and workshops, many of which
tand empty, the sand drifting through windows and doorways.  The great
cats, true nomads that they are, are unwilling to settle into the city
while the Orb does not rest there.  Thus they roam the desert still, in
the clans they have belonged to for generations.  They await the
recovery of the Orb and the ascent of L'ytalo to power, at which time
they will unite.
     And who can tell what they might do then?  The designs of L'ytalo
for an organized nation of maretasen are unknown to any but himself...

That was it for now,

--
Aiko Gieskens
Delft University of Technology
e-mail: Aiko@dutirt2.tudelft.nl
        Goedhart@dutiws.tudelft.nl
disclaimer: Yep I'm Dutch so don't mind my English

References

Re: Legends
dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig)
Tue, 30 Jun 1992 18:36:43 +0000

Referenced By

Re: Legends
dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig)
Tue, 30 Jun 1992 18:36:43 +0000