History: There is a prophecy in the country of Skala, laid down centuries before under the warrior Queen Ghërilain I, spoken by the Oracle of Afra. It reads: So long as a daughter of Thalátimos' line defends and rules, Skala shall never be subjugated. After mad Queen Agnalain, generations past Ghërilain, began killing on whim, the people were relieved to have any other ruler - even if that ruler was male. The newly crowned King Erius took the place of his sister, Ariani, who according to tradition should have reigned. But any dissension was silenced, and women and girl children of royal blood were prone to lethal accidents. The implication was clear, yet it was spoken of only in whispers. As Erius reigned, war with Plenimar dragged on, long and bloody and vicious, and plagues broke out, widespread, in Skala. Droughts left fields fallow, and people starved.
But Ariani was spared death by the love of her brother the king, and married Duke Rhius. When she became pregnant, they retreated to Alestun for the birthing, and she had twins. A trusted old wizard, Iya, had received a vision from the Oracle of Afra - one saying that she must stand by Ariani's child no matter what, and keep her safe so that some day she might rule. That in mind, she enlisted the aid of a witch of the wilds, Lhel, who killed the male child, passing it off to the world as a stillborn. Using her arcane magic, she sewed flesh to flesh and made the female baby appear in all ways male, to ensure her safety until she could take up the crown.
That girl was given the male name Tobin, and from then on lived in the remote keep at Alestun. Ariani, his mother, went mad with grief, aware of the crimes that had been committed, and sewed dolls day and night - including one she'd sewn on the birthing bed, with the dead infant's bones stuffed within. The dead child haunted the keep, called only Brother, causing vicious accidents and attacking those complicit in its death. Finally Ariani committed suicide, jumping out of a high tower, and years later Rhius died in a doomed battle, sent by the wicked wizard Niryn, adviser to the king. Tobin was left an orphan with no idea of his destiny, or his true form. With his squire Ki as a close, trusted friend, and his father's guard captain Tharis to protect him, he set off for the capital Ero to join the crown Prince Korin's Companions, as was his birth right.
After training there for a few years and finding his place among the Companions, still haunted by Brother and the memory of his parents, blood appeared on Tobin's genitals. Fearing the absolute worst - that he'd caught the plague, and would infect the entire Palatine - he fled to the woods of Alestun, where Lhel found him and revealed the truth. She reinforced the spell that kept him as a male, and told him that the time had not yet come for him to take his true form.
Some time later, Plenimar invaded Ero, taking the nation by surprise. Elsewhere, at his true home and holdings of Atyion, Tobin released the spell that bound him to her brother's spirit and claimed her lineage before the entire city. With literal naked proof before their eyes, the people of Atyion pleged loyalty to her, and she marched back with her army to Ero to save the capital. But newly named Tamír was too late. King Erius was dead, the city razed to the ground, and Korin, as new king, had fled the city, Niryn spewing poisonous lies into his ears. Believing Tobin to be a crazed usurper, and worse, a traitor, he holed up in the remote northern keep of Cirna.
With the Companions, close as brothers, split by loyalty and war, it would take the fulfillment of a prophecy to unite Skala and save it from both Plenimar and itself.
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tripled_mods) wrote2008-10-31 11:47 am
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But Ariani was spared death by the love of her brother the king, and married Duke Rhius. When she became pregnant, they retreated to Alestun for the birthing, and she had twins. A trusted old wizard, Iya, had received a vision from the Oracle of Afra - one saying that she must stand by Ariani's child no matter what, and keep her safe so that some day she might rule. That in mind, she enlisted the aid of a witch of the wilds, Lhel, who killed the male child, passing it off to the world as a stillborn. Using her arcane magic, she sewed flesh to flesh and made the female baby appear in all ways male, to ensure her safety until she could take up the crown.
That girl was given the male name Tobin, and from then on lived in the remote keep at Alestun. Ariani, his mother, went mad with grief, aware of the crimes that had been committed, and sewed dolls day and night - including one she'd sewn on the birthing bed, with the dead infant's bones stuffed within. The dead child haunted the keep, called only Brother, causing vicious accidents and attacking those complicit in its death. Finally Ariani committed suicide, jumping out of a high tower, and years later Rhius died in a doomed battle, sent by the wicked wizard Niryn, adviser to the king. Tobin was left an orphan with no idea of his destiny, or his true form. With his squire Ki as a close, trusted friend, and his father's guard captain Tharis to protect him, he set off for the capital Ero to join the crown Prince Korin's Companions, as was his birth right.
After training there for a few years and finding his place among the Companions, still haunted by Brother and the memory of his parents, blood appeared on Tobin's genitals. Fearing the absolute worst - that he'd caught the plague, and would infect the entire Palatine - he fled to the woods of Alestun, where Lhel found him and revealed the truth. She reinforced the spell that kept him as a male, and told him that the time had not yet come for him to take his true form.
Some time later, Plenimar invaded Ero, taking the nation by surprise. Elsewhere, at his true home and holdings of Atyion, Tobin released the spell that bound him to her brother's spirit and claimed her lineage before the entire city. With literal naked proof before their eyes, the people of Atyion pleged loyalty to her, and she marched back with her army to Ero to save the capital. But newly named Tamír was too late. King Erius was dead, the city razed to the ground, and Korin, as new king, had fled the city, Niryn spewing poisonous lies into his ears. Believing Tobin to be a crazed usurper, and worse, a traitor, he holed up in the remote northern keep of Cirna.
With the Companions, close as brothers, split by loyalty and war, it would take the fulfillment of a prophecy to unite Skala and save it from both Plenimar and itself.