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Song Suggestion: Darkmist Estate by Derek Fiechter & Brandon Fiechter
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One
The Three Kings of Angboria
In the ancient kingdom, before the Silverlands were as they are known now, men were greater. They were stronger, lived longer, and were wiser. They were meant to become the Luminaries, a divine race that would stand beside Dragons, Elves, and Dwarves. This promise was made to the first of them, born from the gods and given a mortal life that he might find his way to greatness. Aìreanshee is not the blessed lands, and this has been said before. Where in Inìsfail men are only a lesser race, one that climbed up out of the dark after the Shadow Wars, here they were always greater, a race meant for so much more than its beginning might suggest. In fact, there are some that believe that men were never meant to be in the Blessed Lands at all, but wandered there through an open door; once, there were many of those doorways and men could well have walked through to Inísfail as the elves and dragons passed into Aìreanshee.
The ancient kingdom of Angboria did not have a singular king at the height of its power. It had three. Brothers, they were, and each possessed a greatness within him that their father believed was needed to raise the race of man to its promised place among the immortals. They sat on three thrones, none higher than the other, and ruled as equals over their people, who loved them passionately, each possessing one of the Airmdhaiga, divine weapons made for the five greatest children of humanity, three of which were given by the elves to these kings.
The Eldest possessed, like his two brothers, strength, wisdom, and kindness, but his greatest blessing was his generosity. He believed that, in giving to their brethren, men found true strength. He practiced this for most of his life, and it must be understood that the fall of Angboria was not his alone, for his heart was pure, in the beginning, and needed much help to become corrupted.
The Youngest possessed wisdom in its highest form and was clever besides. He spent hours speaking with the dragons, Guardians of all wisdom, and was always seeking to better himself this way, but still he had strength and generosity; the first thing he learned at his father’s knee was that wisdom might well fall to ruin if it forgets to nurture the other noble traits. He did not bring the darkness which fell upon his kingdom, nor did he willingly sever the promise the prophecy had given to men. What part he had I will not tell here, only say that what fault there was in him, he resisted far longer than his brothers.
The Middle brother’s greatest blessing was strength of body and of mind. While his heart was full of generosity and he could easily give guidance to those lost on their life’s path, he most liked that which was physical. He was a hunter, this one, and he spent most of his time in the forest. The animals did not despise him, for he was careful in what he took from the forest and never killed more than was necessary. While the fall of Angboria does not lie fully on him, he was the first of his brothers to forget himself and his noble calling. And how far did he fall! For he did become, before his tale was done, the Master of the Grim Haunt, so cursed to wander until the ending of the world by Sira, goddess of death, hunting for the souls of wicked men to ride with him and suffer the punishment for their wasted lives and black hearts.
In remembering him, let us always remember that the advice of those we call friends might be far more ruinous than all the barbs we suffer from an enemy. Always should you question, even if the face be one that is trusted; those who would send you into action by the device of wounded pride. The greatest evil of all might grow from a seed planted by one who claims to only want the best for you.
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Darkwood 