ELMAL AT THE HILL OF GOLD
In the Darkness, when the chaos winds had blown away most of Orlanth's
tribes, Elmal's past came to meet him once again. As all good Orlanthi know,
Elmal was once a member of the Sun Tribe, who left when he realised the
illusions and deceptions that the Sun tribe maintained.
In the center of the Darkness, a messenger riding a golden hawk appeared at
Elmal's stead. The rider was clothed in fiery cloth, and wrought in gold
tarnished by the darkness, and when he saw Elmal he spoke in a voice almost
as loud as Orlanth's, "Elmal Traitorsblood, your father, the omnipotent
Emperor Yelm gave unto you the powers of sun and fire, that you might cast
light upon the land. Now the Emperor lies dead, slain at the hands of your
adopted brethren, and the Sun tribe is weakened. Your brother, the
Destroyer, demands that you return your father's gift to the Sun tribe so
they may rule mightily again. Come apostate, make this easy upon yourself,
give me your gift without bloodshed."
Elmal, undaunted by the threats, knew that his light, his life breathing
sunbeams, where the only things keeping his tribe, clan and adopted blood
brothers from falling to the creatures of the Darkness. He refused the
messengers request.
The messenger came twice more, and each time Elmal sent him back. The third
time that the messenger came, he carried a different message, "Ho! Elmal
Traitorsblood, you have been deemed unworthy of your gift by the Court of
Shargash. Yield it, or lose it by challenge."
"I recognize no such court," answered Elmal, "But if my brother challenges
me to a duel I am honour bound to face him. Let him name the place to fight,
I shall come to meet him."
"He names the Hill of Gold."
"I recognize no such place."
"It lies north from here, if you cannot find it then you have failed before
you have even started, and must forfeit your powers without a struggle."
And, with that, the messenger flew off again, back to his insane master.
Elmal grew worried, it was true that since he had agreed to such a
challenge then he must appear or else fail by forfeit. He sought council
with Lhankor Mhy, the Lawspeaker and Map Learner. He gladly aided Elmal, and
searched long and hard for the requisite parchment, and produced it for his
companion. Elmal then mounted his wife, Hippoi the horse goddess, and
readied his armaments -- he took his golden armour that mirrored all that
looked onto it's surface, that made him invunerable to all magics and spells
for they were merely reflected when used against him. He took his
Stormblade, a gift from Orlanth, which crackled with airy might and storm
swirling energy. Lastly, he took his Sunspear, which glowed with his own
inner light. Whoever held the spear, held the powers of the sun. Then he
rode off, to meet his brother in battle.
It was not long before Elmal arrived at the foot of the Hill of Gold. There
stood Shargash, armoured in his dead father's apparell, not having the
strength of character to seek his own possessions but instead being willing
to merely inherit his ancestors. Alongside Shargash was his train of
worshippers and sychophants who whispered sweet nothings in his ear and
words of false encouragement in the hopes of becoming recognized in his
eyes. Shargash, true to his word, however, accepted no help from any of
those who followed him.
"Brother," he said, "You have left my tribe, and I demand that you return
that which is rightly mine."
"Destroyer," retorted Elmal, "You are no longer my brother, what is mine is
mine alone and the province of my adopted allies. I can no more return my
father's gift to me than I might gift you my leg, or my head."
Shargash sneered, "You may well have to, brother. Your head will do nicely
on my trophy display."
With that, the two gods clashed. Fire wrapped the two, encircling them in a
fireball of divine proportions, and they took to the skies. They danced in a
rite of sword swinging, maul clashing fighting that even entranced the
shallow, souless followers of the Destroyer. For three days they fought, and
in their carnage they laid waste to the hill, and it never again became the
vibrant cornucopia of life it once did. Yet finally, after all this
fighting, the two came to a standstill, each wrestling the other. At this
point, Elmal slid in his storm blade and injured Shargash who fled with a
scream of agony. The wound that was left was never totally healed.
Elmal was left, wounded, battered, exhausted but victorious. He rested for
some time, awaiting the time when his strength had returned so that he might
travel back to his stead and celebrate with his kinsmen. Yet, unfortunatley
for the Sun god, Shargash has been tracked for a long time by an old enemy
of his, the Black Lord. The Black Lord was rage and hate given form, a child
of Nakala the eternal darkness. He had long quarrelled with the Destroyer
for he desired his land. He had hoped to capture Shargash unawares after his
ardious fight on the Hill of Gold. Alas, for the Black Lord, he had come too
late to meet his arch enemy. Instead he spied Elmal, asleep and his wounds
only just staunched.
The Black Lord was overjoyed, here was the sun himself!! He would never
again have the chance that had been offered him. He crept up behind the
radiant Elmal, raised his poisonous club and swung. The blow forever
crippled Elmal's leg, and the poison nearly killed him if not for his fiery
blood that burnt the evil out of him. Elmal, now awake, went for his spear,
but discovered it had gone. When he turned he saw the Black Lord fleeing
away into the night, carrying it in his arms. Elmal tried to follow, but
fell under his own weight. Then the paralysis of the poison came. Without
his fiery blood powers, he succumbed and fell into a hazy slumber.
It was a cold time for Elmal, his body fell into a deep chill and ice grew
off of him. He felt that Death was approaching, but even then only worried
for his wife and children. Elmal turned blue, and began to fade as his might
over Fire bled from the wound in his leg. Alas, for Elmal the Black Lord too
was tracked by a foe. The evil Vaskal Krjalkson and his Monster Horde had
long followed the Black Lord in an effort to kill him, for the Black Lord
had long been a foe of chaos (as he was to everything in the Cosmos) and the
Devil had offered great rewards to those who could slay, or even stall him.
Vaskal had followed the Black Lord in the hope of catching him unawares and
wearied after a battle on the Hill of Gold and defeat him then.
However, instead they came across the body of Elmal. Vaskal grinned, with
all seven of his mouths, for he was a prize far greater than the lord of
Rage and Hate, here was the Sun!!! Vaskal made ready to devour him.
Fortunatley, Vinga the Adventuress, a companion of Elmal and a bonded
kinswoman of the Orlanthi tribe, happened upon the Hill of Gold. She leapt
into the battle without a word of warning, and quickly dispatched the evil
chaos lord who had lowered his defences in order to properly savour his
meal. In the passing hours she fought with vigour and passion and managed to
force back the monster horde. Vinga picked up the dying body of Elmal, and
healed the wound where his magic and soul seeped out of. She tended him, and
finally brought him back from the brink of death. As he awoke, and the
warmth returned to his limbs, the ice and frost that covered his body melted
and turned to life giving water. We can see this in the way that winter, the
dying sun, turns to spring, the return of life.
After this, Vinga returned Elmal home. Elmal tended to his stead, and also to his King, Orlanth, when he went on the Quest to Hell. Eventually most, but not all, of Elmal's powers were returned by his sons and daughters byrecovering them from the Black Lord. This is the sad story of the sun's lose.
- -------------------------------------------------Nick the Shaman of Thed
- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------
End of Glorantha Digest V3 #250
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
Powered by hypermail