Sivar

Sivar, called the Seven-Souled or the Riven Knight, is a mysterious figure from the end of Age Zero. When Irud began his slave revolt, the Azlan searched for some means to stop him. Yatavo Snakestaff counseled Queen Akhei to create a 'perfect' warrior as a counter to Irud. This warrior would be the fusion of the seven greatest Asenid heroes. According to the myths, the seven heroes were as follows: 
* Hanakarag, who climbed the bridge of jade birds to the Water Moon, and gathered the nectar of life within a crystal cup. 
* Jataran-Iba, who enslaved three seas for the Star Empire and brought a son of the Drowned King in coral chains to bow before the Silver Throne. 
* Sirabab of the Verdigris Teeth, who bit off the head of a feathered serpent in the jungles of Devana and covered himself in its rainbow scales and so became impervious to poison. 
* Lalatha the Wheel-of-Eyes, who traveled to the Wandering Isle and contested with the masked priests, seizing from them the song of leaping mountains. 
* Uyakpa, who stole a mirror from the Sleepers and with it conjured the city of Ejaga, which he filled with reflections from other worlds. 
* Onishara Cloaked-in-Moths, who became a swarm of sparrows and repaired a tear in the Skein with hair pulled from the head of the sun.
* Echo-of-Her, who walked the corridors of time into a far future epoch, and who sends her voice back as a shimmering tone simulacrum. 
These heroes had their anima bound into a single warrior, a 'man of metal' named Sivar, whose name meant 'Glory-of-God.' The Riven Knight was sent to battle Irud, and he won many victories against him at first. But Sivar, as a fragmented being, was also tormented by madness. One story relates how he turned on his own forces and slaughtered several hundred maedi before fleeing into the Worldspines to 'howl at the sky.' Nevertheless, Sivar did break Irud's spirit when he killed the Skyson's beloved companion Pela. The despairing Irud abandoned his cause and without him Sivar quickly defeated the rebellious chieftains. Sivar might have proven invincible had Irud not learned that his former comrades had been captured and slated for public execution. Irud thus went to the dwarves, great enemies of the maedi, and asked them for aid. The dwarves tapped the Hand of Asur and drew on its powers to create Revelation, a blade capable of harming even Sivar. With this new weapon, Irud went to confront his foe. 
Human histories claim that Irud defeated Sivar Seven-Souled with cunning and strength, trapping the maedi champion deep beneath Vathram. By contrast, the maedi claim that Sivar, his mind split and maddened, came to believe he was destined to rule Zakhema. He presented himself as an ally to Irud who, simple brute that he was, accepted Sivar’s conversion. Sivar and the Slave-King slew many maedi before Yekkat emerged from Navarao to punish this betrayal. At Asphodel Fields, Yekkat struck down Sivar, but the Riven Knight was not totally dead. His head was still able to speak, and he whispered a final secret to Irud, telling him how to kill Yekkat. With this knowledge, Irud was able to overcome the Beautiful One, the elven host scattering at Yekkat’s death. Thus, the maedi recall Sivar as a traitor, and the fall of Zakhema is attributed to his weakness and insanity. Yatavo, the brash and arrogant Serpent-Staff mage, is also blamed for creating an ‘imperfect’ champion for the elven people. Indeed, theories that Yatavo intended to destroy Zakhema from within and ascend to godhood are linked to Sivar's intentional failure. He was made flawed so that Yatavo could aid the slave revolt, not destroy it. 
Humans however recall Sivar as a powerful but worthy foe, who ultimately acknowledged Irud’s greatness once overcome by him. There is no suggestion in human texts that Sivar betrayed his duties or was afflicted with madness, though he is still named the Riven Knight, as well as the Red Ruin, due to the vast slaughter he inflicted on the slaves and their allies. The maedi texts present Irud as an over-muscled imbecile, a puppet of greater powers and minds, whether the jealous sky goddess or the duplicitous Sivar, whose split soul drove him to fits of madness and hubris, where he believed he was the true ruler of Zakhema and destined for godhood. It was for this reason he joined with Irud, intending to use the Slave-King to destroy his maedi rivals before eliminating Irud as well. This plan was thwarted by Yekkat, though Sivar affected one final betrayal by revealing the Beautiful One’s ultimate secrets, giving Irud the knowledge he needed to defeat the best of the maedi. 
Yet the Chains of Heaven, a fragmented and heretical text of unclear provenance, claims that Sivar’s affection for Irud was genuine, and that Irud returned the Riven Knight’s love. The pair intended to free all peoples, maedi, human or otherwise, from the machinations of god-kings and tyrannical powers, so that all might approach Paradise unhindered. The death of Sivar is treated tragically, and the Riven Knight consoles and encourages Irud, giving him the strength needed to defeat Yekkat, who is presented as an arrogant and spoiled boy-king. Naturally, both maedi and human purists would find the text unacceptable, as it ultimately posits a union between elf and man that transcends all limitations. The Aldani Cult of Sol was known for seizing and burning as many copies of the Chains of Heaven as it could find. 
Whatever the truth of Sivar, he remains an enigmatic figure, despised by the people he once championed, and respected by his former foes. His exact nature might never be known, if, as a divided being, he even had a single nature, and was not in fact enacting multiple forms of himself. He might very well have been all that he has been claimed to be: madman, monster, champion, tragic hero, savior, betrayer, pawn.
Category:Heroes