Misâsim Stake

The Misâsim Stake is the wooden stake that was used to kill the vampire Cain. Made out of a branch from the Misâsim tree, the stake is said to carry powerful properties that could end the vampiric nation of Cainaan once and for all.
== History ==
Cain had become a vampire in early 1108 while seeking out a cure for a great plague that had struck the nation of Tara Tranda between 1107 and 1108. Rumours of Cain's new form quickly spread throughout Tara Tranda and Cain's ancestral seat Castle Adescu would be besieged between November 1108 and February 1109. During the siege the Misâsim Stake would be created. Stelian Radu, cousin to commanding general Daria Radu of the Trandaan forces was foretold in a prophecy that evil would reign again and that only a weapon made from Misâsim wood would be able to stop. They set out to find the legendary tree, hidden deep in the largest forest of Tara Tranda. Seeking out the Misâsim Druids who guarded the secrets of the tree. Guided by faith alone Stelian Radu managed to find the tree, where the druids had already chopped of a branch for them. For they knew that Stelian would come seeking a piece of the tree. To fashion the branch into a stake Stelian Radu had to undergo a lengthy ritual. They had to adorn traditional Trandaan symbols painted on them by the druids and then meditate alone for two weeks under the Misâma Tree, only then could their hands use a knife to carve the sharp point. The carving itself took another two full days of labour. Afterwards Stelian had created a tip so sharp that even the lightest touch would make someone bleed. They travelled to Castle Adescu where the siege was already underway for four months. Its said that the power the stake wielded was so powerful that the walls of the castle collapsed when Stelian Radu arrived. Inside Cain was found hiding in a corner of his homestead. Cain tried to lash out but his attacked was stopped by a defensive blow from the stake, causing a severe burn on his arm. Stelian drove the stake straight through Cain's hart, causing his body to dissolve into a pill of ash. Any other vampires that were created by Cain the were in the castle were killed, however not all of them were around during the siege. They sought revenge, vowing to turn Tara Tranda into a nation for vampires.
After the end of Cain his ashes along with the stake would be put on display in Castle Radu home of the commanding general Daria Radu. The ashes would eventually be sold after two generations and later on granted to the court of the Tara Tranda monarchs. The stake however would remain with Stelian, urging their children to take of it. For even though they had defeated Cain, they kept having prophetic visions about an impending doom for Tara Tranda. When the vampires revealed themselves and created the nation of Cainaan in 1431, out of the ashes of Tara Tranda, the offspring of Stelian fled with the stake south to the nation of Berok. They were however attacked in the lower Zapno Mountains, were the stake was lost. The people of Tara Tranda that fled and the vampires of Cainaan both continue to search for the stake to this day.
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