Hi!
Very interesting, although I think it does conflict a bit with other
material. The explanation of why thunder follows lighting is a nice
touch (I'll probably borrow that).
Thanks,
David.
>
> > The Lightning Spear is possibly gained on the Hill of
> > Gold?
> > Alternatively, I find Simon Phipp again.
> > http://www.soltakss.com/hquest09.html
>
> My personal preference would be to link it with Yavor Lightning. I
wrote the
> following but never really finished it and haven't ever really used
it. I'm
> sure it conflicts with anything written about this stuff too. You
might find
> something of use in there, though.
>
> Sam.
>
>
>
> The Mythology of Yavor Lightning
>
> Stagnant Age (early Golden Age)
>
> In the Stagnant Age, Umath was born, separating with the force of
his will
> Sky from Earth. With this act, Umath brought change to the world,
leading to
> the birth of other gods and goddesses, demons and humans.
>
> Umath's Age (Late Golden Age)
>
> Umath's Age is defined by the battles between Umath who sought
change and
> the Fire Tribe who sought stasis. Yavor was one of the foremost
warriors of
> the Fire Tribe, named by them the Great Fulguration. Umath was not
the Fire
> Tribe's only enemy, though, for others had seen change being wrought and
> sought to find a place for themselves. Thus, Yavor fought the Green
Tribe
> (??), casting fire at their warriors from afar and wresting a suit
of silver
> armour from one of their Gods. He fought the Dark Tribe too,
sticking fire
> in their bellies. His greatest weapon, though, was the bolt which
comes from
> the Sky above in search of the Earth below, scything through all who
stand
> in its path.
>
> Emperor Yelm ruled from the Golden City and sent a messenger to tell
Umath
> to stop being himself but the messenger could not catch up and so
the world
> saw the power of Movement. Umath had created the first Hospitality
Rites and
> so Yavor, as did many other Sky gods, followed these rites up to the
point
> where he could deliver his message to the upstart god, cutting
through the
> Middle Air with his skybolt to demonstrate how angry were Umath's own
> parents. As ever when one of the sky gods violated Umath's rites,
violence
> ensued. This time, Umath nearly extinguished Yavor but Yavor instead cut
> Umath's head off to teach him a lesson and so the god took himself
to the
> healing baths of Melimios in the White God's Palace.
>
> Yelm was angry that Yavor had let the upstart god escape and so sent
> Jagrekriand, the Red God and chief Defender of the Sky Realm, after
Umath.
> Umath had healed by now but could not move quite as quickly, so the
Red God
> was able to force him into battle, which he did many times. Eventually,
> Umath met Jagrekriand in battle at Highgate. Again, Umath was
wounded and
> took refuge with the White God, Zenfel, in the Healing Baths.
>
> This time, Zenfel, growing weary of Umath, plotted in secret with
> Jagrekriand to ambush Umath. One of Umath's warriors, though,
declared that
> this was not honourable. Having perceived that that his kin meant to
enslave
> the world (for Chalana Arroy had healed his vision), this god, who
was Elmal
> the Bright, left the Fire Tribe to follow his own path. Yavor saw
this and,
> seeking to use this new idea, Honour, yet not overly familiar with its
> workings, declared that his magic could only work in the open so he
could
> not participate in the ambush. Ever since, people have sought refuge
from
> Yavor in buildings.
>
> Now Orlanth, Umath's youngest son, was just a boy and the Wind
brought to
> him whispers of the White God's plans. These whispers he took to his
father
> who, with Orlanth's older brothers, crushed the White God's palace,
land and
> people, sending his sons out to hunt the survivors down.
>
> Umath was now in the open, though, and Yavor could attack him
without giving
> up his new idea of Honour. This he did, for the second time cutting off
> Umath's head, but this time extinguishing himself so as to escape
unharmed.
>
> Now Umath was truly wounded and had no place to seek sanctuary. When
> Jagrekriand arrived, the Red God turned himself black with fury at the
> upstart god who had so wounded his own father, the Emperor. Umath,
though,
> fought so hard that the land about them broke. With no sanctuary (having
> destroyed it himself), Umath was slain, his body dispersed among the
winds,
> although his enemy too was smashed into pieces.
>
> Yavor, coming upon the carnage, saw Umath's angry thoughts
dissipating as
> sparks in the breeze and thought to make darts out of the great
god's brain.
> So busy crafting these lightning arrows was he that he didn't see
the boy
> Orlanth creeping up and stealing a number of the arrows for himself.
Orlanth
> 's anger at seeing his father slain was directed at the slayer
rather than
> at Yavor. So, the boy heaped up a mound of earth, now known as
Arrowmound in
> the Skyreach Range and stuck the arrows in the dirt. From here he
hurled his
> missiles at the remnants of the Red God, preventing his father's
enemy from
> reforming.
>
> Eventually, Orlanth tired of this sport. So, pinning one of
Jagrekriand's
> arms to the sky with an arrow, he allowed the rest of the Red God to
reform.
> As each part of the Red God reattached itself, though, Orlanth
pinned the
> new part to the Sky. Thus was the Red God bound to the Sky for eternity,
> unable to escape.
>
> Storm Age / Lesser Darkness
>
> Following the death of Yelm at the end of the Golden Age, Orlanth
set about
> vanquishing the rest of the ancient enemy, the Fire Tribe.
Eventually, he
> came face to face with Yavor. After a long struggle, he disarmed
Yavor and
> cut his head off, just as Yavor had done twice with his father.
>
> Unaware that Yavor had sought only to fight honourably with his father
> Umath, Orlanth chose not to send Yavor after the Emperor to the land of
> Death but instead to imprison him within his Great Hall. Having seen
Yavor's
> great gifts as a warrior, he imprisoned his parts as the lightning
weapons,
> the spear Gutburner, the javelin Treeburner, and the Stormspear bolt of
> power. These weapons he used himself on occasion or at times left
for his
> own warriors to wield.
>
> With Yavor imprisoned, Orlanth and his tribe soon forgot about him
for many
> were the foes they vanquished in those times. Yavor, though, saw his
ancient
> enemy grow in wisdom. He saw kinstrife tear the Storm Tribe assunder,
> leading to Orlanth's exile. He saw how Orlanth then returned to heal his
> Tribe. He saw Orlanth pondering his own mistakes and realizing that
it was
> he who had to fix the mistakes. Finally, in the Darkness, Orlanth
left and
> Yavor saw Elmal elected as chieftain, something which Yavor could
not have
> imagined happening before.
>
> With Orlanth gone and Chaos roaming the world, Elmal and the Storm Tribe
> were beset from all sides. Many times did Elmal save the clan, even
wielding
> Gutburner himself on occasion. Towards the end, though, Elmal faced his
> sorest tests, when Teller of Lies came and tried to deceive Elmal by
> exploiting his Pride. Yavor saw all of this and, when Elmal looked most
> likely to falter, chose finally to reveal himself to his kinsman.
Hearing a
> oice whisper in his ear, Elmal looked behind a scratched piece of
wood and
> saw Yavor's head hidden there. Yavor's beard had grown long with no
way to
> cut it so he was almost unrecognizable, but Elmal saw the rune on his
> forehead and knew him to be a kinsman.
>
> He chose to listen to Yavor's advice, which was to remember the very
idea
> which Elmal had shown Yavor in another age. With Honour, therefore,
Elmal
> once again saved the stead and this time, following Yavor's advice, went
> after Teller of Lies, using guile to trick his way into the Chaos foe's
> insides. There, he used Gutburner to rip the monster apart from the
inside.
>
> In Orlanth's absence, Elmal gave Yavor his arms back, the former
bearers all
> being dead. When Orlanth finally returned in the Dawn, Elmal handed
the ring
> of leadership back and introduced to his chieftain the new member of the
> Tribe. At first, Orlanth didn't recognize his ancient enemy and
thanked him
> for his services, offering him a place among his Thanes.
Fortunately, when
> he did realize who Yavor was, only Elmal and Ohorlanth were beside
him and
> they were able to calm his rage. Ohorlanth, in order to appease his
lord,
> promised always to follow Yavor lest the former Fire Tribe warrior
seek to
> betray his new Tribe. At first, Yavor was offended, but he soon grew
used to
> his constant companion and eventually the two became firm friends,
always
> going into battle together, but Yavor always a little in front, the
Thunder
> following fast on his heels.
>
> So did Yavor become one of the Thunder Brothers, performing many
great feats
> alongside his companions. He formed his own warband and built a
Lightning
> Hall for them. He armed them with Lightning Spears harvested from
the Ash
> Maidens' daughters in return for protection and led them against the
> Vingkotlings' enemies. In quieter moments, Yavor used his powers to
clear
> new steads for the Vingkotlings – the Aldryami always respected him
and so
> retreated before him – showing them how well plants can grow in ashes.
>
> Meanwhile, the Fire Tribe, jealous of their lost warrior'spowers,
named one
> of their Starcaptains after him, but this false god is but a shadow
of the
> true Yavor Lightning.
>