The more recent history of the Deities of the Royal Basin is well recorded in the Churches of the Nine that have evolved throughout the millennia to dominate the Halls of the Azure Table and the Clergy. One of those Deities was once the mortal Yarrianne, she of peace and family, who ascended to the heavens through her adherence to the needs of the people. She has become a centre for the Dawn and is well beloved by the people of many faiths and walks of life for the beneficent and kindly nature that she represents. However what few knew for many long centuries was that she was married once in mortal life and bore many children to a man called Pracalam. His existence was uncovered by the people of the Royal Basin during the Shadow War and he himself rose to power through the power of the Unified Eleven in the disputed land of Kern: Pracalam was the husband to Yarrianne, he was a kind and tender man, dedicated to his faith, loving of his wife and the family that they soon nurtured. Five Children were born to the couple before they had even reached the age of twenty two: The oldest, a boy, was named William, next followed two girls, twins, Arialy and Mirelle, beautiful as the day, another boy called Taylfor and finally the youngest a boy they named Hanetnor. Both soared within the faith, so pure, so contented and so full of the light where they; Pracalam a soldier and his wife a healer, the children growing to understand with passion of both trades until the Daemons came and Pracalam was called to war.
In 122 AC (After Comet) during the time of the Gods a young and handsome Laird called Gurak Rayoshe Holint called upon the Church to create an order that was dedicated totally to the destruction and erradictaion of supernatural threats, most specifically Daemons and Undead. Gurak was in fact an enemy of all faith whose true name was Hurgoshe Torakaylin and both of these creatures represented a threat to his family.
At this point Deamons were effectively on the ascendency and were one of, what would become known as, the seven families. They would remain so until Orbolom arrived and opposed them.
By destroying them now the Torakaylins would be able to steal from them their fabric (their weave) allowing them to not only control two families but also to be able to influence weave around them The Undead are the false and empty men who the Torakaylins had little skill against. They were supposed to shepherd souls and the like and they were doing a this poorly. So the Deities, the heavens and all that came into being without them really keeping an eye on things and supervising it. As such the Gods put the souls of the dead out of their reach and out of their power.
The order was to be quite militant and quite small and to be made up of the elite of the Kalarinite faith. It was a move that Yarrianne herself opposed as the methods that were suggested in the creation of the order were dark and sinister and not something that she felt functioned in the Kalarinite way. This may be why her husband was chosen to head up the order and perhaps why his friendships, in the end, cost him so dear.
Regardless the Order was formed a year later and was made up of the following members:
- Pracalam Bane – Bloodied Blade of Kalarin.
- Sumelian Trove – Bloodied Blade, idealistic and passionate hero of various campaigns, competent warrior, pious soul and lover to Lycia Chase.
- Lycia Chase – Sister of the Faith, battle hardened priestess, all fire and passion and with nothing but love in her heart for her one and only.
- Armal of Phaedra – Warrior and bow of the Order, from distant Rhygahrea, silent and calm Yuirfarvallen.
- Vault – Sourcerer of the Order of Subjugated Will, indentured Sourcerer and daemonic destruction machine.
- Jonathan Winter – Rising noble, perhaps one day to become a house in itself, warrior and priest, husband to Nina Winter.
- Nina Winter née Blackwood – Snatched from a roving camp of wanderers she fell in love with Jonathan and now this dark ritualist supported the cause.
Together the Order travelled the lands and committed many fantastic deeds, driving their way into the heart of enemy territory, ever seeking Gabrak or Sarkith for to defeat. However it was Gurak Rayoshe Holint to whom they ultimately answered and it is his will that they followed: Strike deep into the heart of the Shadowed Lands and seek the House of Nov; take from them the Heart of Sarkith’s power and his story and return it thus and so they set off to do this. This was the end of the order. The action was catastrophic: Jonathan and Nina died in each other’s arms, Vault was controlled and turned against his companions. Armal was last out covering the retreat of Lycia, Sumelian and Pracalam but fell into Darkness. Finally as they tumbled through the portal to home Lycia was snatched from Sumelians fingertips and withered to dust before his eyes as the aperture faded.
Yet there was some success: The House of Nov lost the Heart, which fell, ultimately into the hands of the City of Blood Tears and Pracalam gained purchase on the Alkarik, which is known to control the heart. After the war Sumelian was a man possessed and returned directly to the battle, Pracalam on the other hand decided that he had seen his fill of warfare and changed his tack remaining a family man. During this time many atrocities were committed by the hand of Sumelian, all in the name of Kalarin and all the while Gurak Rayoshe Holint whispered in his ear letting the Shadow into this once proud man. And so the years rolled by and once again Gurak attempted to raise the Order but this time to strike at Zoranthyal, the City of Blood Tears, as it grew in the great desert.
Fifteen years passed, during which time Pracalam trained and Yarrianne worked the Chirugeon’s trade, before they were called upon to battle again. Their children grew and they enjoyed a calm and peaceful life, away from the violence raising and enjoying their family. Then one day Sumelian returned to the door of his old friends and spoke to them of the plans of Gurak Rayoshe Holint and how they would pluck the heart of evil from the land. Even Yarrianne was astounded by what could be achieved if the plan was successful, for all the world it would have seemed that they were to destroy the nest of vipers for the sake of slaying evil but in truth they were working for the Torakaylins. Only two of the original order survived however and the numbers needed bolstering; this bolstering came from the children of Pracalam and Yarrianne. It was not a decision that Yarrianne took well but her children were of age and that was as it was.
In the years that had passed each of the children had trained long and hard to become something that they were not. Not a Kalarinite, some not priests; each looking for something else. The family was a loving one who nurtured their children, bringing them to fruition and showing them that through the strength of family (The traditions of Yarrianne) they could achieve unity; as follows:
William Bane took an unusual road. After the Kalarinites had purged any corruption from most of the orders of Sourcery William accepted their power and teachings. Believing that with a free spirit and the training that was coming from the Colleges that he would provide an adequate weapon against the Daemons. The Twins Aryial and Mirelle became a Hospitallier and a Tempered Blade under their mother’s guidance whilst Taylfor trained among the nobles of the land and became a politician, in fact he became one of the early clergymen; trying to forgive Malicians and find them a place in the pantheon, showing them that all could operate under one roof. Hanetnor had retained his innocence, as the youngest his training was far from complete, he had dabbled a little but mastered nothing. He remained a symbol of the family, of hope and of the future. Together they trained again, like brother and sister, for this time they were and the strengths of their family and their unity grew. Here a link formed between the family as Sumelian was accepted by them, the training taking almost a year in total.
During this time both Pracalam and Yarrianne become discontented by the darkness that they saw in their old friend and warned their children against him. The Children were besotted with their “Uncle” however, seeing in him a sense of adventure that appealed to him that they did not see in their father who was becoming more and more calm and less interested in the violence.
What was unknown to all involved was the truth behind the training Sumelian was putting them through. The training was a ritual, a great ritual to tie Sumelian to the line of Bane and to allow him to prosper from their strength. Unimpressed by his continuous degradation as a person Pracalam eventually banned his children from seeing Sumelian. However they refused him and trained even the harder, with sorrow in his heart and with the hope that his absence would prevent the continuation of this plan he walked away into the desert to seek solace through prayer. His wanderings coincided with the fall of Kalarin, the war of the Gods and the rise of his own wife to the heavens. When this had all calmed down he decided that he would settle and meditate on what to do with his life. So he made a house of reeds and settled by a small oasis of water and he spent many days in meditation and called upon his wife to guide him for he was much afeared of what might have happened to his children. But he knew that the love of his life would protect them and he knew that she wanted him to wait.
In his garden he grew vegetables and ate well, he drew water from the oasis and he drank well but his life was devoid of colour and of life and so Yarrianne sent him seven flowers full of colour and of life to cheer him. One for each of the lives he had to give until he could see her again. One had already wilted for the day that she had risen up to the heavens his heart had broken. Meanwhile the group, led by Sumelian, tried to collect what they needed and enter the city of Blood Tears but without the wisdom of Pracalam they could not succeed. When Sumelian came to the City of Blood Tears he outlined his plan to his incomplete Order: To wipe out the corruption that he had been told existed there the order must destroy every soul that had heard the voice of the Wazirs of that great place: Kill everyone within. This did not sit well with the Bane family and so they challenged him and this is what became the Challenges of Sumelian.
William challenged his “Uncle” first to protect the rest of his family but Sumelian called him a coward like his father who walked away. He threatened to turn his brothers and his sisters to corruption and riled him to action: William unleashed the power of Sourery against him but found it had little effect due to protections placed around his soul by Gurak Rayoshe Holint. William is heard the calling of Daemon kind to make his give him the strength to harm him. Despite the moral dilemma and struggling that occurred to protect his family he took the plunge and accepted the corruption into himself. In order to save him his father, watching from afar and linked via the ritual, prevents his sons corruption and turned from the faith but as he did so a flower in the garden wilted and died. William collapsed from the exertion and Sumelian was free to continue with his evil.
Aryiel and Mirrelle rushed to the aid of their older brother but there was nothing they could do to rouse him and they feared that he had dies, knowing nothing of their Fathers actions. Sumelian turned to walk to the city but the sisters faced him down. At once Aryial tried to calm him with her magics but he was, again, protected leaving Mirelle faced with the choice of drawing her blade in anger or standing aside. Her Uncle indicated that he would make no move to stop her striking him down and Aryial reminded her that thousands would die if she took no action and Mirelle drew her blade plunging it through Sumelian. As this happened and she moved to become a Bloodied blade her father received the blow, saving her but another flower in the garden wilts. Sharing Pracalams fate Sumelian falls to the floor dying and begs Aryial to show him mercy and heal him. She refused, turning her back on him and so, once more, to save her from herself another flower in the garden wilted. The twins too colapsed and Sumelian was left once more to act.
Taylfor was not a warrior and as a diplomat instead stepped forwards palms raised and clam. He appealed to his Uncles morality in the age old case of not the Greater Good whilst Sumelian preached the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. He reminded him of all those that died to provide a stable paltform for the current clergy, how not just the Sourcerers had been killed by the Church but also their followers, their families their friends. All that death lay at the door of the newly formed clergy that he was so ably supporting. Taylfor heard the words and despaired because in them he found a truth that could not be denied but could not find the rhetoric to fight it. With the words of the Clergy failing him Sumelian reached out his hand to offer him support and Taylfor accepted. At his dark touch the spark of life was to leave him but again the father stepped in and another flower wilted and Taylfor collapsed to join his family in the dirt.
Turning Sumelian showed Hanetnor what he had done and crowed about a return of the power of Kalarin: It is time he believed that Kalarin should return and that the power of the Clergy return to its greater strength, alone. He offered Hanetnor great power at his side but Hatenor refused and began to make his way to the city to warn the innocents there and bar the gates. Sumelian tried every method he could to corrupt him and bring him to his side but he failed time and again. Finally and for the first time, he ran his “nephew” through from behind and slew him but at the greater cost of failiure because now the ritual that holds them together begins to fail. Again, though, the Father intercedes and the penultimate flower in the garden wilts and Hanetnor falls.
As the last child falls both Sumelian and Yarrianne believe that he has now slain the family of his closest friends. He felt her grief and at the same time her forgiveness and her light drove back the corruption that the Torakaylins had placed inside him. As this happened Pracalam was to be rewarded for his merciful actions and to rise to his wife’s side as the Archangel of Mercy. It was as it was destined to be but Gurak Rayoshe Holint had made a pact with Sumelian and intervened. Alerted by his minions failiure he arrived and removed his power from Sumelian and ended him which also fulfiled the part of the contract between them and claims his soul and the souls of those linked to him.
As the last light flowed from his eyes Lycia Chase came to him and asked him through her tears what he had done. He told her in shame of his sins and for their love she forgaves him. She gave her eternity, joining with him and giving him the strength to break the connection between him and the family of Bane.
Now only their souls were now to be taken, to be fed the Torakaylins and used to fuel their hatreds. Pracalam felt his old friends redemption, death and ultimately their sacrifice through his love for them. Through his rising grace he came with his mercy and gave up the last flower in his garden to save them. So Pracalam passed, his soul coming to rest in the Oasis an Sumelian rose to the heavens in his place as the Archangel of Mercy with the love of Lycia Chase on his lips.
The Oasis became a Holy Place and eventually a small citadel sprung up around it and the Egarian Pantheon came to pay their respects. A small contingent of Priests came here of faiths of all the Daer Akmir Pantheons. Everything was formed around Pracalam whose body and Garden remained in a state of Grace. Throughout the Desert Pracalam became a place where the souls of children, orphans, who died here would travel. They would rest with Pracalam like one great family. Yet when Kyuss came to the desert the power of the place was damaged and its glory faded but one of the Monks from here travelled to Herrard Yanbu to rescue the soul of may lost children that they sensed there and bring them home but never returned. They left behind them a number of way markers that lead to Pracalam and explain the way to enter it.
During the Long Dark of the Shadow War the Deities staggered, reeling from the blows of the Torakaylins and the other families that sought us harm. The people of the Royal Basin and its Great Fleet under the command of the most wonderful monarch Dazak North were all but lost. But a group of souls from that Fleet found the markers to Pracalam and set out across the Desert to find the husband to Yarrianne. Here they learnt his story and restored his strength, returning him to Yarrianne. They witnessed the reaffirmation of his wedding vows to her and the love that they had so, so strongly in their hearts for each other and all hope of the people of the Fleet was restored as Pracalam promised to rise and protect the folk of the land and watch and guard the people.
Yarrianne reached out to accept her love back to her arms and into the Pantheon and yet….
The Primus of the Clergy on that day was a woman whose name was, by coincidence, Mirelle Silverlight and she herself had grown as a Priestess of Yarrianne of great renown. She refused her Lady the right to her husband and he was left aside of the Nine and forced to find his own way. This he did through the guidance of the Eleven in Kern where he rose to the prominent role that he now holds. Finally some five years later the Nine and the Eleven became One and now Yarrianne and her husband stand united in the heavens alongside their children.
Holly Goodall
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