Where Snarls the Darkness
A chronicle of the mortal deeds of wayfarers in a prototype of Armenground. Though now only semi-canon, this inaugural campaign was foundational to the world.
“Being a hero, in the moment, is an ugly thing—and the praise comes far too late.” —Cunvára to Alvswáithan, his daughter
The Tale
Where Snarls the Darkness began early in the year 994, when Êlbereth, Gladiwin and Thæni Heartsbane, lately escaped from the evil-stricken lands of Óthu, where evildoers had held them captive, straggle toward Thæni’s nearby hometown of Waternake. On the road, they were joined by a travelling godsknight, Alvswáithan. Their first small deeds for strangers along the way, including recovering a painter’s rare pigment from goblings and reburying a dead godsknight, set them upon a path toward inevitable confrontation with the forces of chaos. They spend a while on the Hursten Shore, where they collect gluskmoss and follow the trail of the lichwielder Nallulan, who was responsible for Thæni’s kidnapping into servitude. They turn back, however, at rumors of his power and sail instead for the great city of Pearlport to amass resources and allies for the mounting war against chaos.
In Pearlport, Thæni wins a tournament against a vain nobleman, drawing the attention of the lichwielder Yeatzom. They confront Yeatzom, whose name and body were stolen from an innkeeper, and slay him, henceforth being called the lichslayers. The group thereafter grows into greater fame. On their eastward road, they encounter various strangers and omens. The true nature of gluskmoss, which Thæni used to stave off the many ailments of half-dwarven birth, as a conduit of Olsevor are revealed, and each member of the party struggles to keep up their devotion to the gods. Sorwenden, a son of the ancient sorcerer Nithrend, reveals himself to them and tells them of the conductor of the evils afflicting the world: Dumníath, a shard of the corpse of Stornelwen who seeks to quench the light of the world, that he may shine again.
At Lissfall, Gladiwin departs the party in fear of their divine mission. Alvswáithan, Êlbereth and Thæni gain the counsel of King Undelm as well as gifts from the ghost Furnelm, whom they encounter in the Hall of the Foeslayers. They pass north, where, at the estate of the fallen knight Har Uthrendor, long a butcher of the forest-peoples, they slay another lichwielder: the Servantess, a chamberlain who had manipulated the Uthrendor household into serving the forces of chaos. Haunted by a bog-drake, they press further north into the deep woods, where Alvswáithan reunites with her father. It is revealed that Yeatzom was not properly banished, and mythical glassgates are used to return to the isolated port town of Delf Cove to banish him for good. They narrowly succeed and find that a mining operation to extract a chunk of Stornelwen’s corpse from the earth is underway nearby. With black powder, they blast the mine and collapse the living silver back into the earth.
The Lichslayers
Alvswáithan and Tarthar, by Nina, 2024.
Alvswáithan
Race / Class: Man / Godsknight
Alvswáithan, born in the year 973, was a Woodfolk swordswoman and mightsworn godsknight from the village of Arthrevmár in Fallen Morrethel. A Man who grew up surrounded by lightning-portents, she adhered to lightning-god Gluthrim: Tarthar in her native Entish. After leaving home in early 994, she took up arms with a group of escapees from Óthu, seeking to do good against the chaos of corruption.
While adventuring, she was disturbed by the silence of her patron god and strained to commune with him, eventually inviting Gluthrim’s thunderous rebuke of her doubt when the party passed through her home town of Arthrevmár. She often contrasted with, but had an affection for, Thæni, who possessed the fury of Olsevor through her use of gluskmoss.
Alvswáithan was distinguished by a fine web of permanent lightning-scars which stretched along much of the right side of her body; silver streaks lined her brown hair. Her greatsword Tartharíath (“thunderer”) was an imposing sight, as was her lightning-embossed gorget and shining plate armor.
“I have always known what I am meant to do.” —Alvswáithan to the party
Êlbereth, by Gabriela Zari, 2024.
Êlbereth
Race / Class: Elf / Wytch
Êlbereth was a high-elven wytch proficient in incanting galdered scrolls. Born in the august city of Pallâniel Mor and fascinated by galder, she grew disillusioned with the imperiousness of the high elves and sought to learn elsewhere.
Her travels ultimately led her to the monastery-town of High Frith, where she assembled an assortment of minute sorcerous scrolls whence she drew her galder and cultivated a relationship with Stornawil. She was one of a number kidnapped and imprisoned in Óthu in the year 994; in her subsequent journeys with the escapees, she deepened her relationship with Stornawil, with whom she communed directly.
Êlbereth was physically distinguished by her graceful elven features, flowing silver hair, and distinctive purplish-blue pointy hat (often prone to being swept away by gusts of wind). Her beautifully arranged galder-scrolls were withdrawn and cast from in a swift, almost artful motion.
“If I could … I would have my mother back.” —Êlbereth to Thæni
Olsevor and Thæni, by Nina, 2024.
Thæni Heartsbane
Race / Class: Half-dwarf / Wildling
Thæni Heartsbane was a half-dwarf from Waternake. Though a member of the lesser-known Heartsbane clan of hammer-bearing dwarven warriors through her mother’s bloodline, her father was a Sunhursten apothecary on the Hursten Shore. Her name was a Mathel-script rendering of a Dwarvish interpretation of the Mozh word for “honey”. She was one of a number kidnapped and imprisoned in Óthu in the year 994. Throughout her journeys, she grew to understand the depths of Olsevor’s infiltration of her soul and contrasted with Alvswáithan, a godsknight of Gluthrim.
Like all half-dwarves, Thæni had the stature of a short, sturdy Man, though featuring the odd-eyedness (having a green right eye and brown left) and bowleggedness which often accompanies half-dwarven heritage. Over her sunny yellow attire, she bore a hammer ancestral to her family; at her hip was often found a flask containing crimson gluskmoss extract, a liquid thrumming with the furious essence of Olsevor. She was initially unaware of her use of the power of Olsevor; it was only when a sage called Re-nam revealed to her the true nature of gluskmoss that she knew it, causing her considerable unease.
“The moss? It just makes me feel better.” —Thæni to Paxton, another Óthu escapee