Friday, September 30, 2011

The Land-Rulers of An, Aum, & Hel

Once the three portions of An were three separate nations.  These three nations were constantly fighting, making An the bloodiest and most violent nation in terms of history. Each of these three lands had their own rulers and probably their own land-laws.  This changed when Oen of An became king.  He conquered Aum and King of Ustin of Aum died in sorrow.  He also conquered Hel making Farr the last king of Hel.
 
AN
The first king of An was Kale.  He scattered an army with a Great Shout uttered in despair.  The next known king of An was most likely Awn of An. He deliberately burned part of his land to keep it from an enemy and lost his land rule.  He hung himself in despair.  Later there was Fenel, a king of An who is said to have been almost to busy fighting to sire an heir.  He lived with the two hundred years of the witch Madir’s life.  His descendent was Oen of An the great conqueror.  He conquered both the lands of Aum and Hel.
“He was dark, sinewy, powerful; the hilts of his knife and sword were of braided gold; the rich coat over his mail was embroidered with the ancient emblem of An: an oak holding a bolt of black lightning in its green boughs.”
Oen built a tower to trap the witch Madir.  This may have been during the process of conquering or after he conquered Hel.  He swore that “as long as the Kings ruled Anuin, Farr of Hel would rule the king's midden."
"Oen's land-heir was not his own son, but the son of some strange sea-lord, who came into Oen's bed disguised as the king. Nine months afterward, Oen's wife bore Ylon, with skin like foam and eyes like green seaweed. So Oen in his anger built a tower by the sea for this sea-child, with orders that he should never come out of it.  One night, fifteen years after his birth, Ylon heard a strange harping from the sea, and such was his love of it, and desire to find its source, that he broke the bars on his window with his hands and leaped into the sea and vanished. Ten years later Oen died, and to his other sons' surprise, the land-rule passed to Ylon. Ylon was driven by his own nature back to claim his heritage. He reigned only long enough to marry and beget a son who was as dark and practical as Oen, and then he went back to the tower Oen had built for him and leaped to his death on the rocks below."
Oen’s land-heir was Ylon.  Ylon was the result of the Earth-Master Corrig trying to disrupt the land-law of An.  However, he did his duty as land-heir.

Hagis of An was the grandfather of Mathom of An.  He lost his life in a riddle game with Peven in his tower.  Hagis’ grandson, Mathom is considered one of the greatest kings of An.  His wife was Cyone who was considered a Great Shouter.  He, like many of the kings of An, can take the shape of a crow.  It is likely that he has some kind of premonition, some foreknowledge about the future.  He vowed upon his daughter Raederle’s birth that she would marry whomever won a riddle-game with Peven of Aum.

Mathom’s children are Duac, Rood, and Raederle.  Duac, who bore many of Ylon’s features, was Mathom’s land-heir.  He died during the fight with the Earth-Masters on the Wind Plain.  Mathom’s second son, Rood, attended the College of Caithnard and obtained the black of Mastery.  He is a friend to Morgon of Hed.  He becomes Mathom’s land-heir.  Raederle bears many of Ylon’s power, and Earth-Master’s power.  These current rulers of An are descended from the witch Madir.

AUM
The last king of Aum was Ustin of Aum who is said to have died in sorrow at its conquering.

The wizard Peven of Aum is a descendent of Ustin of Aum.  He killed seven of his sons with misused wizardry and then himself in sorrow and shame.  He was bound to his tower by Oen of An.  Auber of Aum is a descendent of Peven.  Cyn Croeg is another descendent of the kings of Aum.  Thisten of Aum is the current lord of Aum and yet another descendent of the Kings of Aum.

HEL
The third king of Hel was Acor.  He brought through force and persuasion the last of the bickering lords under his control.

Three more kings of Hel were Evern the Falconer, Nemir of the Pigs, and Ohroe the Cursed.  Evern the falconer trained hawks and falcons to battle against men.  He died with his falcons, defending his home.  Ohron the Cursed saw seven of his nine sons fall one after another in seven consecutive battles between Hel and An.  Nemir of the Pigs could speak the language of both men and pigs.  He had for his pig herder the witch Madir.  He most likely lived before the time of Oen of An.

The last king of Hel was Farr.  He swore that he would not close his eyes in his grave until those ruling Anuin were lying in theirs.  He was a stubborn man.  It is said that no man ever bargained with Farr.
“He was, as she imagined him, a big, powerful man with a wide slab of a face hard as a slammed gate. His beard and long hair were copper; he wore rings of hard metal at every knuckle, and his sword, rising above one of the glass moons, was broad at the base as the length of his hand. He wasted no time with words; the sword, cutting down into the thin air of illusion, nearly wrenched him on his horse.”
His skull was hanging over the hearth of Hallard Blackdawn in east Hel.  Raederle used it to bargain with him to assemble an escort of dead Hel kings for who she thought was Morgon.

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