Old Book 7: Six Shards of Sorrow

According to legend, after destroying several other kingdoms the True Rune, known as the True Conqueror Rune, appeared on the southern continent. When the Ancient
Armes King heard of this, he set a desperate plan into motion. He knew
the explosive force of destroying the True Rune would only extinguish his own land, but he reasoned if
he could divide it up into several fragments that could possibly save his Kingdom.

Using the knowledge he gained from possessing the Sun Rune he
wielded (along with the Runes of Dawn and Twilight), he sent his magicians and
runemistresses out across the land to find the only known weapon that could divide
a True Rune, which was the Rune of Night. This was the same True Rune that had once shared a link to his Sun Rune, until the Night Rune transformed itself into a
peerless indestructible blade that could break the bonds that connected those 2
Runes. He would call upon the sword's power to divide the Rune of Conquest.

After finding the Star Dragon Sword (the incarnation of the
Night Rune) and it agreeing to help, the ageless King used his own powerful 3
Runes, and according to some other stories, another True Rune user from one of
the previously destroyed kingdoms all combined their powers to defeat the
incarnated form of the True Conqueror Rune. While it was weakened, the Ancient
Armes King used the Star Dragon Sword to divide the True Conqueror Rune into 6
separate fragments. Their actions not only saved the kingdom, the continent,
but possibly even the whole world. Thus, the Rune of Conquest has been
divided and is still inert to this day.

(Also, the irony is not lost on this author, as only a few
decades later that same king after giving the Dawn and Twilight Runes between his
twin children, unknowingly would be driven mad himself by the curse of the Sun Rune
without the other 2 lesser solar runes to keep him balanced. As a result, he unleashed
the Sun Rune’s awesome power devastating most of the continent for nearly a
century until the mysterious Sindar arrived on the continent and restored the land
to prior lush green beauty.)

It is still unknown exactly what happened to those 6 fragments,
or the *Six Shards of Sorrow,* as some
famous poets have colorfully named them over the years. Moreover, many tales and myths have been told down through the centuries by the descendants of the Ancient
Armes Nation about what happened to them; with each retelling of the story more theatrical then the
previous.

However, one popular rumor that has appeared in recent years, if
it is to be believed, placed 1 of the 6 fragments not in New Armes, but in the
religiously zealot nation-state known as the Nagarea Theocracy. Why or how it
got there is also unknown. But, the most interesting part of the rumor says
that some time shortly after the recent Sun Rune War in the Queendom of Falena, a
mysterious sorceress from the Northern Continent, named Windy, appeared
seemingly out of no where demanding to study the one fragment they possessed.

After some negotiations, she was given supervised access to the shard for study.
Shortly after, a smiling and satisfied Windy disappeared as suddenly as she
had appeared. Before vanishing, however, she was overheard saying that now she had the
understanding *to make a rune that could conquer*. What she meant by this was
never clarified.

The True Conqueror Rune did, according to legend, have the power to dominate a person both in body and mind. Thus, some have speculated that's why she was studying the fragment. So that she could perhaps obtain the power 'to conquer' someone's mind or body on a smaller, but albeit still dangerous, scale.

In conclusion, this is all the valid information known about
the history of the True Conqueror Rune and the Six Shards of Sorrow at this time. However,
some things are better left unknown. This author's prayer is that the world will
never again know such a terrible blight as that True Rune. In this
case, the Six Shards of Sorrow are better off lost and forgotten, relegated to
the pages of mythology. Because heaven help us, if those 6 Rune Fragments are
ever reunited again.