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The Story of Ikov

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AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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This could use a bump. I hope some of my fellow lorehounds will have the patience for this long fan*ic - I keep coming back to it because it contains a lot of thoughts that I hope will be helpful for our ongoing interpretations of and contributions to RuneScape's lore.

17-Mar-2016 02:56:16

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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Some more invented history of the Upper Woodland

Soon after the events narrated here the Upper Woodland fell under the sway of Zaros. Hevel and Aidos were destroyed, and Kathekontos was replaced by Lassar. The Woodland people were dispersed and absorbed into the peoples of the new empire. But the region of the Upper Woodland retained some traditions reflecting its ancient past. The southern slopes of Ice Mountain, where today stands the dwarven settlement, were for centuries called Vana; likewise the eastern slopes and the forests stretching to the Lum were called P(u)dor. These names reflect the etymologies of the names of the ancient settlements.

It is also said that a remnant of Aidos hid themselves in the forests of P(u)dor and endured there for thousands of years. Against all odds, these re-emerged in the early Fourth Age, living in a village called Streit. They preserved a tradition of mysticism and some of the oldest memories of humanity in Gielinor, until their village was destroyed forever by the dragon Garak. The mystics of today have pitched their camp in the same region as their ancient forbears.

Finally, an ancient tradition has endured in the Upper Woodland - when someone discovers a danger in the land which needs to be overcome, he indicates it by standing stones upright or by stacking them atop each other. This recalls Armadyl's defeat of Humus, the earthen giant, and his subsequent command to the Woodsmen to keep the plain level, symbolically interpreted as a command to keep peace in their lands and homes and hearts. The stones are then taken down when the threat is overcome. This explains why we find the mysterious Standing Stones north of Falador, though we do not know the meanings of the symbols with which they are marked or the dangers that they are meant to indicate.


I hope to post another major thread on sorcery, mysticism, and the other branches of magic and planar theory soon.

11-Apr-2016 01:21:13 - Last edited on 24-Apr-2016 23:38:14 by AttilaSquare

Aquamancer
May Member 2011

Aquamancer

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AttilaSquare said :
@Aquamancer: Hey again. I've given some thought to your suggestions, and I have a follow-up question: which memory mentions Kharid-Et? My internet is not working too well, and I'm only seeing Kharid-Et mentioned as a fortress. I know that Tumeken's Dream is considered suspect, though it does make mention of Al-Kharid in the Second Age - perhaps the modern day Al-Kharid takes its name from an ancient settlement.

Kharid-Et is mentioned three times in the memories. In Kharshai's memory, Kharshai explains that on the courtency of Sliske, the Mahjarrat betrayed Icthlarin and the Menaphite loyalists at the fortress of Kharid-Et and sided with Zaros. In Ralvash's memoery, Ralvash explains that the Mahjarrat followed Sliske and Duke Ceres through the gates of Kharid-et and turned our back on Icthlarin and the Menaphites. In Wahisietel's memory, once the Mahjarrat reached the fortress of Kharid-et, Zaros's offer for us to join the empire triggered a debate among the Mahjarrat, which lead to the first Ritual of Rejuvanation being held on Gielinor.

The exact location of Kharid-Et was never complately explained: we just assume that Kharid-Et is at the place of Al-Kharid, because of how similar the names are, and because it fits together with the facts that the Mahjarrat drove Zarosians away to the area nowadays known as Shantay's Pass or to the Menaphite borders and that there are no other locations where a fortress could've been. That said, the lore we have about Kharid-et is so vague we cannot tell for sure if it actually is the precursor of Al-Kharid.

Also, apologies for the long time it took to respond: finishing doing the research for the reply, as well as finishing writing the reply, kept being pushed back time and time again, and although by this point you've already reached the same conclusion as I have, I wanted to share what is known.

15-Apr-2016 00:39:29

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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Cool, thank you, Aquamancer. I did follow up on the research, and I think I'll leave what's there for now but keep a close watch for what we learn as the lore continues to be clarified.

Also, I've added a few appended bits since you last posted if you are interested, mostly for fun and texture and some further exploration of mysticism.

15-Apr-2016 02:10:58

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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Hey, everyone,

I'm working on a new story/poem/drinking song about the Armadyleans of the 3rd age in the region of modern Yanille. Part of it has involved inventing a few Armadylean holy days, in fact a calendar of holidays corresponding to events in the Epic of Ikov. As I was doing this, literally in the last hour, I realized that today happens to be one of them, a date I picked out four years ago: Ghost Day, the 11th of Novtumber, in commemoration of the victory among the Sea Folk. So:

Happy Feast of the Ghost!!

The only other I have referenced so far is a holiday unique to southern Kandarin, the Feast of Dragon's Shadow. I just now realized how fitting it is that the Dragon Inn in Yanille is represented with the head of a red dragon.

28-Oct-2016 00:00:03

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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A brief retelling of the Epic of Ikov:

From youngest days we've told the tale
Of god most just and man most bold,
So that their mem'ries might not fail,
And we might honor heroes old.

Tumeken sun-god bound the two
To carry out a wondrous quest:
To many haunted lands subdue,
And then to settle in the west.

Yet from its start their quest was fought,
As they were shown the tempting stone.
But spirits' power came to naught;
Instead each chose his friend alone.

The holy pair first freed the coast
Beseiged by trolls and low with guilt,
In battle pitched 'gainst murd'rous ghost
Restored that folk in bonds once built.

The two next healed contentious land,
With wide support, did justly oust
The vengeful, bitter, haughty band,
And brooding knight in strangest joust.

Then third they entered forest still
And searched until they found the way
To see those shrouded 'gainst their will;
Then marched the cities to assay.

Their hosts then stormed the walls raised high
And banished bloody tyrants three;
A shadow fled into the sky,
And there was peace from Lum to sea.

Some hundred went with Ikov north.
Their god had stayed for one more foe,
Though soon appeared in land the fourth,
Where neither did the haunting know.

They waited freezing in the fen,
A home for witches cruel and pale,
Until they knew just how and when
To best the wicked fog and hail.

Then crossed they Forinth's vast frontier;
By sea they slaughtered foes possessed,
And freed their settling friends from fear,
And drove the demon deacon west.

They watched and fought, all grim and keen,
the maddened monks on frozen coast,
Escaped the portals in ravine,
And sealed away infernal host.

Through hills and cave of wyrm and woe,
Then Ikov slew the twisted seer,
And freed the homeward pass of snow
For journey to the western mere.

A season passed for them to rest
And bid farewell their loyal friends;
The time had come to see the west.
Their southward journey hither tends.

07-Nov-2016 04:31:02

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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The god and man were then received
By grateful lands whence both would go.
The one his flock he soon retrieved;
The other hunted one more foe.

From north to west and south and east,
Past gnome and man and dwarf and elf,
The man bewrayed the shadow least
Until he knew to die to self.

And then the protodragon came
To deal the man its deadly blow,
But Ikov quickly knew its name
And humbly smote his final foe.

Then forth he went in dragon scales,
To search the land for spirits more,
So we might know them from our tales;
And then he left the world of yore.

From youngest days we've told the tale
Of god most just and man most bold,
So that their mem'ries might not fail,
And we might honor heroes old.

07-Nov-2016 04:31:23

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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Some Proverbs (for a new thread)

The Law of Sorcery: we are ruled by that by which we rule.

The Law of Sorcery: we submit to the spirit by which we act.

Things move us. Different things move different people. Sometimes coming to understand what moves us, i.e. by grasping its elements, deprives it of its power to move us. If understanding itself moves us, it may move us to overcome anything else that moves us, so that our hearts are subject to it alone. Then we do not act of our own accord. This is the fate of the mystic.

Things matter to us. Different things matter to different people. Sometimes we give up one thing that matters to us because a second thing matters to us more. In fact, one thing might matter to us so much that we give up everything else that matters to us. Then only those few for whom the same thing matters may understand us. This is the fate of the mystic.

We describe things. Different people describe things in different ways. Sometimes we must choose one way to describe something even though we recognize that it can be described in other ways just as well. Many such choices may divide us from others, even if we agree with them. This is the fate of the mystic.

Beware lest you be like the dove who feeling the wind against its wings desires to fly through airless space - should you leave the light, you will discover your dependence upon it. This is the fate of the mystic.

Power lies in contingencies, not necessities; power lies in planes.

Many know the universals; the particulars differ.

11-Nov-2016 20:08:40

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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Friends, another song for the coming thread:

The Song of Lamanda, Sorceress of Lesarkus
or, The End of Circleblade Bog

Come forth, I pray, good spirits old,
For tidings grim have I been told:
Before the sun is set tonight,
The ogrish horde will come to fight,
To pierce the thick forfending fog
And burn away the circling bog.
My lords, prepare thyselves to save,
For shamans seek to you enslave -
Some dozens now, behind them more,
With plans to compass sacred shore.
Take no offense with me, I ask,
For taking on myself the task -
To enter ancient holy ground
For centuries in song renowned.
I would not see you spirits pressed
To serve at enemy's behest,
But bid you fight or hide or flee.
And if it's pleasing also see,
Your servant sent by safer path,
For of the bog I've borne the wrath;
I kneel here now but limp and bleed
And to survive your aid shall need.
And please excuse one last request,
If ye would put my heart to rest:
For all my life the songs have told
Of spirits locked in contest old
But none revealing for what sake
You twain do battle o'er the lake;
That I might know the reason why,
And why from us you're ever shy,
And so to show that here I came,
That I might know from each thy name.

27-Nov-2016 19:32:06 - Last edited on 27-Nov-2016 19:32:29 by AttilaSquare

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