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Welcome to Godbound: Fire and Blood

13:36, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Godbound: Fire and Blood


The Sleeper, Dolnis Somnus
"During the First Age the City of Khalymer was the largest within the Wyrmheart. Sitting on the shores of the Teardrop, it was a paradise on the southern edge of the unforgiving Ashen Wastes. During the Age of Fire it's ruler, Dolnis Somnus, left to fight against the Archdragons. When Dolnis returned his city had been decimated. The Elder Dragon vowed to protect the survivors, and thus did it's eternal vigil begin."

"It's a small thing is it not? The Protectorate offers food, coin, and saftey to you and your tribe. All we ask is that you allow our soldiers a place to barracks, and land for construction of a temple. Khalymer will continue as it always has, and you will still be Chieftain."

The Bishop finished his pitch by taking a small sip from the cup of watered-down ale they had offered him, the taste making his face pucker for a slight moment. The smell of brine that clung to the lands surrounding The Teardrop permeated everything, and even the drinks had a touch of salt.

Juvia took a long draw from her own cup in response. At over 80 years of age, she had grown used to the flavor, and even gave it credit to her long life. Her family had sat as the Chieftains of Khalymer since before the Second Age. Her own Father had fought against the Protectorate when they had Crusaded to bring the Southern Wyrmsheart under their heel, and now they dare ask her to join them willingly?

Several other tribes around the Teardrop have joined the Protectorate over the course of her life. None of them kept to the Old Ways for long. Where Temples of the Faith were built, their flock would always grow. If she allowed the Faith into Khalymer, Juvia would be the last Chieftain that would properly serve The Sleeper.

"A small thing you say? We ask for commerce not charity. We did not send traders to Bran Bal to supplicant before your Church; we sent goods and crops to barter for gold and steel. Why you chose to take this as an invitation to grace us with your presence I do not know."

As she spoke her eyes narrowed at a figure behind the Bishop, a young man in his late twenties with his head freshly shaven, and wearing a white frock stained grey by the Ashfall. Her grandson Mikael had been as smart as his mother and as courageous as his father. When a Desert Drake had taken them both from him, she had raised the boy herself. Juvia had intended to pass the title of Chieftain when he returned from the trading caravan sent to Bran Bal.

It had been over two years now since that Caravan returned, without Mikael. The other members of the Caravan claimed Mikael had collapsed while visiting the Well of Urzur with his wife after selling all the goods they had brought. When he awoke his eyes had been black as onyx, and a Priest of the Faith had invited him to enter the Sealed City within Bran Bal. Her grandson had bid farewell to his companions, and went with the Priest into the portion of the city that was barricaded from all but the clergy. After waiting another few weeks all save Mikeal's wife, Fyra, returned to Khalymer. Juvia had sent another group to find out more, but they only returned later saying that the Church had declared Mikael a Saint, and that Fyra had joined her husband within the Sealed City. That they were both safe and satisfied with the Faith.

"I understand your hesitance, the Protectorate has long been the thorn in the side of Khalymer. I cannot ask you to forgive the actions of my predecessors, but you of all people should know that times are changing. The Faith merely wants to act as a bulwark for humanity. Every year we lose more and more land to the monsters and beastmen. I hear even the Teardrop has been infested with Krakens that stop you from sailing too far from the shores. More Drakes and Sandworms appear in the Ashen Waste, cutting us off from oases needed to make the crossing. We need each other Chieftain, now more then ever."

Juvia slammed her cup on the table at that last remark. The Faith always claimed they only existed to protect humanity, but when push came to shove they merely wanted to control people. Were they defending men when they launched a holy war against all the Southern Tribes? Everyone hunted Drakes and Worms to protect their land, but only the Faith had the gall to say it was for some higher meaning.

"A nice sentiment, but like Ashfall it crumbles under scrutiny. Khalymet doesn't need your protection or faith Bishop. Yes we have our troubles, but so does everyone in this desert. You think the worlds ending, do you? You lot have been saying that since my Great-Grandfather sailed the Teardrop, and you'll be saying it long after my body returns to the Lindwyrm. Mark my words, and know that everyone in this town will say the same. Khalymet follows the Old Ways, and The Sleeper protects!"

The Bishop did not look offended by her rebuttal, and instead gave her an understanding smile that grated on her nerves even more. He rose from his seat within her house and motioned for his guards to begin exiting.

"Forgive my intrusion, I merely wished to make the offer myself, so that Saint Mikael can focus on saying his goodbyes to his family. Should you change your mind we shall be open for further negotiations until sunset. The Protectorate will always be here, for all mankind."

All the outsiders, save her Grandson then exited her villa. Her own guards nodded when she waved them off as well. The two stood silently for several moments before Juvia sat up and walked to the shelf that held her pipe. After lighting the dried leaves, and taking a long drag she stared at the boy she had raised. Her head shook in dissatisfaction.

"You look like an egg boiled in tea, you fucking fool."

"Grandmother, I had a revelation..."

"A revelation!?!? Did it reveal to you to join the people who murdered your grandfather? Who chased the Drakes south that slaughtered our people and your parents? Poor Fyra, what did they do to her? Is she now one of those Silent Sisters? The girl loved you for years, and you get her wrapped up in your delusions as well?"

"Fyra did not join the clergy! Saints are allowed to have family, she is still my wife. She even gave me a daughter four moons ago, we named her after Mother. They are safe in Bran Bal, the Faith protects them."

For the first time today Mikael had finally sounded like his old self, and that caused Juvia to pause for a moment. The news she had a great-granddaughter was not enough to settle her anger, but it did give her a small sliver of hope.

"So you can still have a family, but came personally to say your goodbyes to the people you abandoned here? A nice family reunion you cooked up here lad. Although I fear you brought with you too many mouths to feed."

As she spoke she motioned at the exit, both knowing that regardless of familial ties, they could never be the same. The Bishop and his guards had been a delegation sent to negotiate terms, while an army of twenty thousand Templars surrounded the Tribe. Saint Mikael has started another Crusade for the Protectorate, and unlike the failed one that had taken her Fathers life, this one was succeeding at a startling pace.

"I didn't come here to argue, I came to make peace. Tell your men to lay down their arms and the village will be spared. We've already taken the outer ruins of Khalymet, and we both know you can't defend the inner borough. Please Grandmother, think about this clearly. With the Protectorate's support Khalymet could be made prosperous again. All the portions of the Old City we had to abandon can be rebuilt, just as grand as Bran Bal! We can be part of something greater."

"While giving up everything that makes us who we are! You preach about rebuilding, but you forget I've been to Bran Bal, and besides a few ornaments it's a slum just like everywhere else. Khalymet is a city built in the First Age, and it's ruins will live long past all of us. There is a reason the Protectorate never marched on us boy. While the other tribes fell or ran, they never dared bring and army to our doorstep. Cuz they know what awaits them should they dare. The Sleeper..."

"THE SLEEPER SLEEPS!!! It has not stirred once in generations! We bleed and toil this salt crusted coast, and it sits there and watches! Why should we be beholden to a rock? The Fatebinder spoke to me Grandmother, He showed me the way that a God can help his people. I will save this land that is crumbling from Ashfall and desert beasts. I will unite the people under the banner of the Black Blade, and we will forge a new Holy Empire to rival Belrand, and Oolinde."

As her grandson spoke his eyes turned pitch black, and an energy she could not describe radiated from him. It caused her to step back for the first time in her long life.

"If your men do not lay their arms down by tonight, I cannot say how many will stand in the morning. Go with God, Grandmother."

With that the man she once knew walked out of her room, and the boy she once raised was certainly dead. After a few minutes she collapsed on the thick rug that lay in the middle of her office and wept for the first time since in decades. As thoughts on what choice to make cycled through her mind, she thought of the story her Father had told her when she had been made Chieftain so he could safely go off to war.

'Our family has ever served the one true ruler of this land. This world is wild and savage, unfit for men to walk it, but beneath his gaze we prosper. We give service, so that in our time of need that power may serve us. Remember the Sleeper listens, the Sleeper watches.'

Outside her home the sun began to set beneath the mountains in the West, toward the lands of Belrand. In the sky above Khalymer ash began to fall, as it ever had within the lands bordering the central Wyrmsheart. The City expanded well past the borders of the Inner Borough that the current tribe occupied. The Old City was a collection of ruins that were only ever patrolled by the watchmen, but now they were filled with invaders from the Protectorate. They had come here to conquer the City that Ages ago had sat at the heart of a previous Empire.

Standing over it all was a lone mountain that existed since the Age of Fire. The Earth Dragon, Dolnis Somnus, upheld it's vow to the ancestors of the people it had once failed to protect. Since the end of the Age of Fire, to now at the peak of the Second Age, it has remained vigilant for over 2000 years. Khalymer endured, and The Sleeper slept.

Intro Theme: Snow in Summer