Ortueization of the Lovasz

In the year 1000 AR, the entire population of the recently-founded nation of **Karpania** converted from their former pagan religion to **Ortueism**. This is the account of that event.

## Stefan's Call to Arms

In a small abbey in the mountains of **Alemannia** lived a young orphan named Stefan. His parents had left him at the abbey as a baby, and the monks there raised him and taught him. When he became a teenager he decided to become a chef's assistant, as his passion was cooking. One day he went to the smithy in search of a new butcher's knife. The blacksmith was nowhere to be seen, but there in front of the workshop he spotted a simple sword with a straight cross-guard, its double-sided blade stuck into the dirt. He suddenly heard a booming voice coming from all around him, and when he looked up to the tree that shaded the shop, he saw an enormous eagle perched there, staring intently at him. It seemed to speak directly to his heart, saying:

"Pick up this sword, and follow me."

Stefan was struck with awe bordering on horror, feeling the overwhelming pressure within his chest that told him he was in the presence of something so much greater than himself in every manner. Falling to his knees, he cried out: "Lord, Lord, where go we? For I have food to prepare for the monks' dinner!"

Without averting its gaze, the eagle seemed to wait as the voice responded: "We go to Karpania. I have chosen you as My servant to bring My Light to the eyes of the **Steppe Nomads**."

Stefan shook with terror at this, for he was no warrior nor even a brave soul, having scarcely ventured outside of the monastery where he had been raised. "Lord," he pled. "I will be cut to pieces if I try to speak to those barbaric raiders!"

"Pick up this sword, and follow me." The voice repeated itself now, patient yet firm.

Giving one final sob of fear, Stefan looked up and insisted: "Lord, I am no warrior! Even with a sword I will be cut down in a heartbeat!"

And one final time, allowing no more doubt, the voice stated: "Pick up this sword, and follow me."

Stefan did as he was told, and made the trek on foot to Karpania from the mountains of Alemannia. It took him nearly a month to walk that far, to the capital city of Obudest, but whenever he began to grew uncertain of the correct way he looked to the skies and the eagle soared above to guide his steps. Along the way, none bothered him or even seemed to notice him, not even the animals he hunted for food, which let him approach and slaughter them with the sharp sword.

## The Revelation at Obudest

By the time Stefan arrived at the capital, his simple clothes had fallen to shreds, and in their place he wore the hides of animals he had butchered along the way. His muscles had grown more toned from the demanding journey, and he stepped into the square in front of the Chieftain's palace in Obudest with the sword in his hand. For the first time since he had started walking, people around him finally noticed him as if the cloak that had been obscuring him had been lifted.

A confused and suspicious murmur arose from the Half-Horses around him, but Stefan said nothing and instead thrust the sword he had been instructed to carry into the air. At that moment, the eagle swooped down over his head and released a piercing cry.

And much to Stefan's shock, every Half-Horse gathered around dropped immediately to the ground, prostrated before him. The Chieftain of the Half-Horses, Gejza of Karpania, came out of his palace at just that moment, and even he had dropped to bow before Stefan. When their surprising reaction had passed, they bid him to come to a feast prepared for him.

But Stefan refused to simply let the feast be prepared for him, and took over to dress and prepare the boar for the dinner himself. He asked for an apple from one of the Half-Horse chefs, who brought him the largest apple he had ever seen in his life. When asked where it came from, they pointed to the enormous apple tree that appeared to be the central point of the city itself.

When the feast was ready, Stefan insisted on cutting and serving the meat to Chieftain Gejza and all those who had been assembled. The voice told him to use the sword he had brought to cut the meat, and despite not understanding he did just that. Although there was only one large boar, he cut and served and cut and served until every single Half-Horse in the city had eaten his fill and still there was meat left over.

And finally he stood before the Half-Horses and let the words pour out of him as guided. He instructed them that just as the abundant food of this feast had satisfied them, so too had this land nourished their entire people. When they were at death's door and ready to be destroyed by the Bisseni army, the Living God Ortues took mercy upon them and sent His Son in spirit to fight to defend them against the evil at their heels. Just as he was slain for their salvation, so too had His Son come to lead all peoples of Anfang back to Him.

That sword which had been planted here to show them where to live had been put there by the Living God, and now that their bloodlust and vicious instincts had been calmed by the safety of their new homeland, Ortues wished to bring them back to Him.

## The Ortueization of Karpania

Upon hearing this proclamation from this humble serving boy, every single Half-Horse within the realm converted to Ortueism, with nearly frightening fervor. The word of Stefan's message and deeds spread like wildfire across the nation, with messengers galloping out to every remote town to share the account as fast as they could. The combination of the simple, straight-bladed sword with a straight cross-guard and the soaring eagle that swooped down over it called back to the **founding myth** of the city of Obudest, and the mysterious warrior who defended them during their retreat until they had arrived at their new home.

During the conversion, the Half-Horses did not destroy their old ways or religion, but saw the old gods and ancestral spirits now as heralds who had watched over them until they were given the message by Ortues and His chosen messenger, Paragon Stefan. Temples became cathedrals, shamans became priests, and Chieftain Gejza accepted an Ortueist crown from the Bishop of Kierstia who had been told in a dream to prepare it for a King who would lead his people back to the Living God.

After this event, Stefan returned to the monastery where he insisted on becoming a simple cook. He put all of his heart into feeding the hungry, often going without himself to ensure that he could feed those who needed it. His personal motto came to be: "The Living God shall provide, if you simply follow Him."