Codex/Chronicle of the Wolf

### Journal 1

I've done it. I've taken the Monolith. And in doing so, I fought and killed the best person I have ever known.

I wish I could say we were evenly match and that our duel lasted for a moon's whole molt, new to full to new. It's that way in the stories. But it was decided before we ever crossed swords. Orin's forces were outmatched and so was my foolish sibling.

I ended a thousand years of war when I threw Orin off that balcony. It was a victory so inevitable it nearly broke my heart.

### Journal 2

I trampled a banked campfire as we changed Orin's lines. Cinders and grey ash, and a little flame inside. Had Orin and rested there?

We broke through. I found Orin in the Monolith's throne room as waves shattered on the rocks far below. Outside, the gulls came down for the bodies of the fallen. We did not speak. Everything had been said. We fought while the gulls screamed with hunger.

Orin was prepared, but it didn't matter. Orin was doomed. When the moment came, I drew the inner sword. I cast Orin down.

### Journal 3

After my victory, I ordered my warriors to search for Orin's remains. They brought me a wretched sea-bloated corpse in my sibling's ruined Valorplate. It smelled of Orin's true blood.

I wept for my victory. My beloved sibling, whom I had trusted above all others was dead. I screamed and beat my fists on the stone even as my warriors celebrated.

I now had the Monolith. I was ready to perform the Rites of Ascension. All my hopes could now be realized. And yet, I felt hollow. I would ascent to godhood without my brother, without the one person who would be the first of my divine host.

So our war ended here. Where did we begin?

### Journal 4

Each Archon fought according to their nature, be it conquest or mercy for the conquered. As the war dragged on and the Archons looked for every advantage, some of them turned to creation. We Valorians were such a success, they reasoned, that they should be able to do it again.

Thus they created the latterborn, the so-called Tetrarchy. The Vargul, Abyssians, Nyak, and Flameblood. The latterborn bastards were created to be weapons to tip the balance of power in the Archon' endless wars. But they could never outdo us Valorians, their firstborn champions. And though I was our strongest warrior, there was no Valorian more valorous than my dear sibling, Orin.

### Journal 5

Orin and I were separated when Silvermane and Hinterclaw broke their alliance. I was a fully fledged knight of Hinterclaw while Orin was just a newly minted warrior of Silvermane. Leaving Orin felt like I had lost the voice of my better nature. Still, I was a warrior and I needed to make war. So I rent my mark across the battlefield. None should stop me.

I had an idea that something was broken in the world, but I only looked for answers only in battle and in victory. It took my reunion with Orin to turn my eyes toward with Archons.

### Journal 6

I was at Anadole, laying siege to a plateau city build on the ruins of five others. I circled the walls, calling for a challenger to open the gate and fight.

Imagine my surprise when I was knocked to the ground, a blade of pure Aetherium to my throat. I recognized it then, a voice I had not heard for ten years.. "You and I could killed a god," Orin whispered, "but we would need victory worthy of an audience. Tell me Macros. Does this land look seismically sound to you?"

### Journal 7

Orin led me to fault in the earth near Anadole and I understood. We could collapse the plateau beneath the walls of the city. Then Anadole would be mine. I understood then what the arc of my life would be. Victory in this battle would become a victory so complete that I would be recognized by all of Aperion.

So we cut at the earth until it quaked and the walls of Anadole crashed down. And after my soldiers routed the defenders, Orin sat in my encampment and brewed me the finest cup of tera I ever tasted. Then we discussed the inevitable truth. That was long as the Archons remained in the world, we would have nothing but war and destruction.

### Journal 8

I lured Silvermane to the old tower where my warband lurked. The Archon believed that we were there to defect. Slivermane suspected nothing and walked right into the ambush.

Fighting a god, even with the advantage of surprise, is no small thing. The exhilaration of fighting against a force of nature was something I hadn't felt. I could not overpower this opponent. Silvermane was fast and strong and nearly invulnerable. Nearly invulnerable is not invulnerable, though. Our blades rose and fell and soon enough, the great Archon was no more.

### Journal 9

I stunned all Aperion with that first Godfall. We were villains and oathbreakers or we were the hope for freedom for all of Aperion. Or we were both.

The enraged Archons drove us into the wilderness. Had they united, we could have been ground to dust. But their natures didn't allow for cooperation. Even loving illumina or merciful Phoenix could not work together long enough to stop our rebellion.

As the Archons turned back to squabbling amongst themselves, doomed to do so by their divinity, the trickle of new followers became a flood. My fellow Valroians hungered for war. I would have plenty to give them, if we survived.

I took us into the wilderness as fugitives. But I returned with an army.