Relic

Sunday April 19, Forest Heart

The old journal records that, during the Great War, Soulblighter trapped the Legion inside an artifact called the Tain. After two days of searching, the avatara Murgen discovered a secret exit. At the cost of his own life, he was able to free the Legion by shattering the Tain from within.

When Soulblighter fled after the Tain was destroyed, he must have taken some part of it with him, knowing that even a tiny fraction of the artifact would be useful in the future. Fate alone kept him from getting a sixty year head start on us. Had The Summoner been born during that earlier age, final victory would have belonged to the Fallen Lords.

King Alric has sent us with The Deceiver to find a piece of the shattered Tain. Once found, The Deceiver will lead us through its broken passages to find The Summoner and cut off Soulblighter’s access to the Myrkridia.

We have been looking for almost a week now without luck. There are those among us who feel that we are wasting precious time and manpower — that it will never be found. The Deceiver has no such doubts. He says he can feel it calling to him.

Soulblighter: Balor's second in command during the Great War. Arguably the most dangerous of the Fallen Lords, his cruelty and ambition knew no bounds. Many think that he was once Damas, one of Connacht's lieutenants. ↩
The Legion: An army of the Light, the Legion took part in many of the pivotal battles in the closing years of the Great War. Travelling across the continent, they broke through the Fallen lines, and fought their way to Rhi'anon, where they sacrificed themselves in an assault on Balor's fortress in order to give Alric time to defeat Balor. ↩
The Tain: An artifact created by the Smiths of Muirthemne during the Empire of the Cath Bruig. ↩
Murgen: One of the Nine. He was trapped in the Tain along with Cu Roi and the Legion. He did not survive the destruction of the Tain. ↩
The Summoner: Legends tell of "a man not yet born who would resurrect the myrkridia and visit horrors on the world without equal in history or myth." ↩
Fallen Lords: Six sorcerer-generals of dark and fearsome power, led by Balor during the Great War. Numbered among their ranks were The Watcher, The Deceiver, Shiver, and Soulblighter. It was thought by the Nine that their powers were derived from Balor himself, but plainly this was not the case. ↩
Alric: An Avatara of years past, Alric is the only surviving member of the Nine sorcerers who opposed the Fallen Lords during the Great War. Alric reclaimed his throne after defeating Balor. He has spent the last sixty years rebuilding the Province. ↩
The Deceiver: One of the Fallen Lords who served Balor during the Great War. His rivalry with the other Fallen Lords led to his downfall. He disappeared after the Watcher decimated his army at Seven Gates. ↩
Myrkridia: A terrible race of flesh-eaters with a limitless capacity for evil. During the Wind Age, the Myrkridia were trapped in the Tain by Connacht and thought destroyed. ↩