Sir Tyaethe Radistirin
Tyaethe stilled when the description of the stolen item was given. It was familiar,
far too familiar: an item from her favourite childhood tale. It was a story to aspire to and a drive to pledge herself to the Church later on, to one day do even a fragment of the story's heroine. It seemed that Gillian had the same idea and had delivered the tale in much abbreviated form... sufficient, perhaps, if not for lacking the extra details that might explain the mercenaries' selection, not that those were part of the common story. In the version she used to tell when asked, back when anyone knew that she liked it...
The paladin looked thoughtful for a second, then removed the helmet. Her secret was already out and telling a story whilst wearing that thing would just make it harder to hear what she was saying and
what story went well being told without clear emphasis? Though it might look a little strange, a child's head on such massive armour...
"As Sir Gillian suggests, it could be a Shard of Angroron. What his rendition of the tale lacks is a reminder of what this
means," Tyaethe stated, red eyes fixing on him for a second. A reminder, of course: aside from the rabbit, everyone from these countries should know the story, "Which means that a reminder is in order. To me, it seems unlikely that any other 'shard' would have such a violent outcome.
"Orodrunn's story begins as a divine spirit in service to the first Dark Lord, he that turned upon the other gods and first brought evil to the world," not that she would speak
his name. Such things had to be left forgotten, not called upon, lest some fragment bring more pain to the world, "Yet even in his defeat, many of his servants remained to gather strength and plot. Chief amongst them was his general, already a leader to the defeated remnants and more than willing to bring his divine strength to bear against the mortal races.
"Against a force that once sought to fight the Gods' themselves, mortal and immortal alike, and now sought nought less than the total subjugation of the world, what could one realm do?" Tyaethe questioned, arms spreading wide--her sword and shield were already on the ground for getting in the way. "No kingdom would ever be able to win alone. Pride would let each fall and be twisted in turn, a breeding ground for evil untold.
"But the world refused to submit. The world had not become
his and it would not become Orodrunn's. A grand coalition was assembled and marshalled to face against an enemy with more power than they could ever hope to match save for the Witch Queen breaking her neutrality in their favour. Yet with all the world to lose, who dare not stand and fight?
"In such a vast battle, a single life is but a footnote. Only the Dark Lord's presence over the battlefield would be remembered: vast and unstoppable; to see Orodrunn in the flesh before dying was simply to move fast enough to see your oncoming demise. One of Reon's knights was unfortunate enough to see the Dark Lord silhouetted against the sun and his blade raised and her comrades fallen. A valiant effort against an impossible foe held him off for longer than any now would find reasonable but against the divine and with nothing but her death to come the knight clasped her hands around the blade and raised her hands in prayer.
"The Goddesses wished no more than any other warrior on the battle to let Orodrunn triumph but it was Lilliana's faithful prayer that gave them a vessel. The battlefield blackened, the Sun and Moon aligned, and the knight rose to challenge the divine spirit. Orodrunn was an undefeated giant that nobody might harm and, in the high noon night, a single head of golden hair stood in opposition.
"Angroron, the army-slaying blade, shattered under the first blow," the paladin proclaimed, palm catching fist as she began to leave the children's tale, "But its evil was palpable, even unbroken. The dark shards would have broken most that dared step across them, killing those that it could not corrupt. Lilliana bore both the Sun and Moon within her and the evil could find no purchase, the sword's destruction bringing a small measure of equality to a battle that entire hosts could not win.
"Under an Eclipse, the Goddesses' chosen warrior could not lose. The golden flames that had lined her sword as it shattered Angroron blazed as the sun itself and moonlight fashioned into another layer of mail. Punches that would crush a man blunted against her body and armour immune to any magic was cut through with ease. The Goddesses' champion stood greater than even a spark of the divine, cleaving him in two, and won against a force the whole world could not defeat."
Tyaethe straightened, picking her helmet off the ground and beginning to clip it in place once again.
"If we follow a shard of black metal and its thieves have brutally killed an entire fort, yet a band that would merely be
corrupted by one of Angroron's pieces is sent out, then the stolen object appears far too obvious. The pieces were stolen and lost in the past, yet their evil is enough to kill or break any that dare carry them for long. No doubt, this would explain how drawn out the fort's slaughter became."
