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[hider=Background][sub][i]For countless eons, Yggdrasil has undertaken cycles of rebirth and death. Each cycle begins with the void, Ginnungagap, and ultimately ends with Ragnarök, the apocalypse.

Each cycle, although substantially parallel to the former, advances and expands. The Norns, the three goddesses of destiny, are the beings that influence the advancement of each cycle. With their endless knowledge of "what once was" and "what shall be" the Norns carve the fate of the nine realms. Each decision that they make, that they pass on, evolves the current cycle. Although the Norns make no mistakes they do learn from the choices they make.

The Norns reside beneath Yggdrasil in the Well of Urd. Very few beings have ever entered the well to lay eyes upon the Norns, because of this their existence is often questioned. When the existence of the Norns is questioned, the beings of the nine realms take fate into their own hands and this alters what the Norns had foreseen and affects the decisions that they had made to carve the fate of Yggdrasil.

In order to alleviate the chaos created by the other beings that harnessed fate for themselves, the Norns needed more influential ways to convey their decisions. The Norns bestowed upon several beings, humans actually, the power of the gods and the knowledge of their decisions (specifically of who should live or die upon the fields of chaos). These beings were named the Valkyrie, collectively. When the presence of the Valkyrie was first acknowledged, by both gods and humans, no one truly believed that they were what they claimed to be, their words were ignored. Finally, when the Valkyrie exhibited their powers to the other beings of the nine realms, the previous skepticism began to melt away. Over time the Valkyrie became accepted as godsend and they became essential to the completion of each cycle. No being could ever rival their significance.

As an additional note, there were beings created by the gods of war in an attempt to match the influence of the Valkyrie on the battle field. Initially the gods' plans did not go as expected and many of their creations rampaged on the battlefields; they were unstoppable and killed everything in their path. These violent beings became feared through several of the nine realms and they earned the title of Berserkers. The war gods became quite aware of the mistakes that they released upon Yggdrasil and they eventually took the time to correct them. So, cycle after cycle the gods of war slowly began perfecting the Berserkers, taming their wild nature but consequently dulling the Berserkers' powers. The Berserkers are still a work in progress and occasionally a few retain that original, defective nature.[/i][/sub]

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The following story is no tall tale. No word that is uttered is untrue. And it is true for the Norns decided. The Norns decided that the Gods would be helpless against this quandary and the Norns decided that the those countless battles would soak the realms in blood and the Norns decided that the Valkyrie would resist the fate of Yggdrasil. In the end, the Norns decided only that exists and without it, there would be no balance.

More than a year had passed since the Great Winter began and thus, in that time, the Gods had gathered their armies. Among the god-chosen warriors were the Berserkers and many other powerful beings. They all were to aid in preparation for the final battles, which drew nearer with each passing day. All was as it should have been with the exception of one detail.

The Valkyrie remained absent.

It was known that the Valkyrie were residing within Alfheim with the light elves. Unto the Fimbulwinter that was the sole fact of the Valkyrie; but once the winter began, despite messengers being sent numerous times (none of which returned), the Valkyrie remained unreachable.

The reason was unknown.

In order to retrieve the Valkyrie, for they could wait no longer, several Berserkers were sent to Alfheim. What they found there was beyond belief, even to the Gods.

One never thought that the Harbingers of the Apocalypse would Rebel against it.[/i][/sub]

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