Sveta od Soyka

**Sveta od Soyka** (827-866) is the legendary founder of Berok, it was she who founded the principality and brought prosperity to a once haunted land. She did this together with her two bears, the equally legendary twin bears Ursun and Ursa who got propelled into godhood after their deaths. Sveta would be buried in the Church of Sveta the Liberator, which was destroyed in a raid in 895.

## History

### Early life

Sveta story starts out in a humble town known as Soyka. The town is lost to the ages but its said that is contained hot springs which attracted travels from far and wide. Sveta herself was a simple farmhand labouring in the fields. That is until one day a cruel trader travelled into town, with him he carried a cage within two twin bear cubs that were abused and neglected. Sveta couldn't help but to feel sorry for the two creatures and set a plan in motion to free them. Armed with crude hammer, that she had stolen, she waited for the merchant to leave town and followed suit attacking him and freeing the two bear cubs. She raised them herself, the cubs bonded to her and she named them Ursun and Ursa. The bears grew up with her and Sveta seemed to have a very natural ability to tame the bears, who soon followed her where ever she went. Sveta turned from an ordinary farmhand into the protector of the village. But soon things would be shaken up by the arrival of soldiers of realm that she resided in, because they were looking for potential people to sacrifice during the Soulstice.

### Liberation of Berok

The soldiers having heard of someone with the ability to tame bears were more than eager to sacrifice Sveta and her bears to the sun. For they must have a special spirit that would surely protect them from the evil. But to Sveta sacrifices were evil. So she resisted, protecting her cubs and the village from the men looking to sacrifice. Killing the soldiers, the town folk saw her spirit and joined her cause fully. This caused more unrest within the realm and soon Sveta had an army of peasants following her. She marched from town to town, city to city with her army and two bears. Liberating people where ever she went. The previous rulers were driven out and on the north bank of the river Dunaj she founded the settlement known as Bralutko.

### Ascension

But victory hadn't arrived yet, small pockets of resistance against her rule remained. Sveta set out with her bears to liberate the final areas, however this time would be her last. As she approached the rumoured camp she and her retinue were ambushed, fighting hardy but the enemy was too strong. Then a spear struck Ursun, moments later Ursa was also struck. Both mortally wounded Sveta was in distress and dropped all her weapons during the fighting to turn and care for her bears. She prayed to any gods that might listen asking to take her soul instead that of her bears. Her prayers were answered and a great beam of light came down from the sky, burning every enemy to a crisp. However, now a less powerful beam of light was revealed, focusing on Sveta and her bears. Slowly but surely Sveta's body started to disappear and her essence was transferred into that of her bears. Who in turn started to float upwards and slowly disappeared out of sight. The survivors declared that Sveta had sacrificed herself to make sure her bears would survive and so they did, with the survivors claiming that the bears had ascended into godhood.

## Legacy

The tale of Sveta od Soyka is still told to this very day in the lands of Berok. Plentiful statues, paintings and murals can be found depicting the events. The twin bear gods of Ursun and Ursa are still venerated and have grown out to become the most important dieties in the Berokian Pantheon. In addition to that Sveta's name has been elevated to mean something like leader, for example: the highest priest(es) in Berok is called the Svetikňaz.