Tale of Runes

Now that that cursed items had been dealt with, Mankar could focus on the chaos runes the Firstborn had gathered in their adventures. In some ways, he was even more wary of these things than the obviously inimical enchantments from before! He examined one cautiously but not deeply as each embodied not just corruption but a force that could literally unmake the world. He had no wish to gain a great understand of such an evil power!

Aud came in and noticed his brooding expression as he stared at the runes. “What are you going to do with those?”

“Much like the cursed coin, we have no use for these three things but I know someone who might. Obviously, we won’t trade it to those chaos tainted monsters that might actually use them. But those that fight the foulest powers would appreciate destroying these talismans. In that way, they would strengthen themselves and their abilities to fight. Of the children of Umath, one was the fiercest in this regard, the indomitable Stormbull!”

She wrinkled her nose. “Well, yes, the Stormbull followers are very useful for this but…” She didn’t finish the sentence and just shrugged helplessly.

He laughed! “Don’t worry, love, I’ll go and meet them rather than bring them here. While not chaotic, they are a bit disorderly.”

Unlike his trip to the trolls, the Stormbull followers were familiar to Mankar. Indeed, he found their forthrightness refreshing albeit impractical in a ruler. Their pure bloodlust, their noble slaughter! Even though he followed Orlanth, he appreciated Orlanth’s brother!

“Ha! So the youngest chieftan visits us!” A particularly large man hailed Mankar. Indeed, his head nearly topped the young man’s shoulder! Other than a loincloth, his only possessions were an axe and a sword on his hips. Even in the dark, the man could recognize Mankar with just a glance.

Mankar grinned. “Couldn’t you say, ‘the biggest’ or ‘the mightiest’ instead Argur?”

“Hmph! I’m only sure about your age… the rest you’ll have to prove, ha!” He suddenly stopped and sniffed. “There’s a taint about you.” He pulled out his weapons and seemed to gain twice his mass as his muscles immediately grew taut. “Chaos!”

“Stay your hand, friend, I haven’t been touched. But this has been.” He held out the bag of runes to the Stormbull follower who took a deep breath.

“Yessss… come, let us talk.”

The two big men sat by a fire that was roasting a deer for dinner. Other initiates gathered around as well as secrets were a stranger to those who followed The Bull. Mankar told three tales, one for each rune. The listeners sat quietly, but their jaws clenched and they gripped their weapons as if they wished to jump into his story to slay the foul creatures themselves!

“And so, as the mightiest destroyers of chaos, I knew that you would be able to dispose of these things to the benefit of the Lightbringers.”

“You are more right than you know! We do have one good use for these foul things… and you have brought us three!” He commanded that a bonfire be constructed far from their encampment using only particular woods. “And make it downwind! The rest of you, weapons out!”

A Stormbull Runepriest made sure the initiates prepared the fire properly. He was smaller than his bretheren but his aura was no less fierce! “Runes are the powers of the fabric of the world made manifest.” He smiled, but there was both mirth and malice there. “But, because they have a physical form, they are bound by Time as are all things in the world! They have a beginning and therefore they have an end!”

One by one, he drew the runes from the bag and crushed them into powder and let the powder fall in the fire. The sight stunned Mankar! The sheer physical strength to crush a rock was immense but one of the runes was inscribed on metal!

“Breathe deep this scent, brothers, you will not be harmed by it. Remember that chaos is a taint, it is nothing that can exist alone! So the traces can be subtle since they are almost right. Inhale and then snort it back into the flame!”

Mankar did his best to sense what the priest was saying. The smell of smoke and wood and ash were clear. But, after a time, he realized they weren’t quite right. The smoke has a weird sweetness, the wood had a tang, the flying ash bitter. Two chosen Stormbull initiates stood next to him and attempted to comprehend as well.

Argur laughed! “Normally it would take slaying and burning dozens upon dozens of chaos-tainted creatures to this end. You have done us a great service this day!” He raised his head and his eyes narrowed. Around the clearing, pinpoints of red light glowed from dark hollows where eyes should be. “Ah, speaking of the damned, and then they appear! Brothers, we have the lightning in our eyes, and the thunder in our arms! Trample their bones and leave none alive!”

As if released from a bow, both the humans and the broo raced toward each other! The priest and Mankar (being closest to the fire) were trailing the others slightly. The priest continued to lecture though he drew his weapons as well! “The smell of the destroyed runes brings the tainted to us. A grand feast, indeed!”

For the better part of four hours, Mankar and the Stormbull warriors fought off wave after wave of twisted mockeries of nature. Whenever a lull in the battle was nigh, they threw more wood and broo corpses on the fire to summon a new attack! After the first two assaults, Mankar realized the priest had cast some magics to support them that would last until the end of the battle. And, if the battle was ongoing, there was no need to recast it!

As dawn broke, so did the arrival of the chaos monsters. The bonfire had been renewed so many times that just the ashes reached half as high as a grown man and was five times as wide. After the fight, Mankar could pick out the scent of chaos, as strong as it was, with ease. Likewise, he could see the twists in what should not be and felt how uneasy the flames were even as it destroyed the foul flesh.

The priest, who looked more tired than anyone though he had not fought at all, waved his hand at the dying flames. “Make an end of it!”

The men raced to fire, heedless of burning coals and began stomping the remains! They crushed and danced and trampled until even the remaining bones were nothing but crumbled shards amongst the ash.

Mankar drew in a deep breath, found it clean of chaos, and laughed loud enough to shake the forest!

Argus laughed as well! “If you find more, bring them and we’ll have another ‘celebration’!” He left with his followers to return to their camp but, just before he reached the edge of the clearing, he stopped and looked back. “Perhaps not yet, but ‘greatest’ isn’t an impossible title, my young friend.” Then he exited, leaving the young chief to ponder what had happened in the night.