Breim Herd Origins

## Breim Herd (The Umare) Origins

The Gods war had finally come to it's end, but the damage had already been done; the capital city of Kin toppled and left in ruin at the Breim herd’s hooves. The few that remained stood among their fallen city, surrounded by the caring souls that had come to their aid after the assault. The war had left Breim with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Legend says it was then that Argus returned from the god’s victory, his head hung low as he watched his people cower beneath his godly form. His anger at Ignacio and the Kirins had done more damage than good, great holes punched into the surface of Sirith’s plains as his dark form crashed over the land he had created. Sirith was no more... at least, not as it had been. But a single horse known simply as Jin stepped forward to thank the god for his protection. Courageously, he called forth those that remained in Sirith, proclaiming to Argus that he would help these survivors rebuild what they had lost. Argus could only smile at the stallion, as his heart was too sore to speak. Still, the god admired Jin’s strength and came to him one night in a dream.

**“Go forth now, for beneath your hooves lies a sacred place. A place of quiet and of peace, a place you may heal. Even in the darkness, you will find life as the earth shelters your gentle hearts. Still even as you live in the shadows, I shall grace you with the gift of Sight.”**

It was the first Blessing Argus bestowed in the aftermath of the war, and with it, Jin took the remaining Breim herd beneath the surface of the rolling hills. The tunnels were vast and dark, and with each day without sun, the herd began to lose faith in Jin’s word. But then a the cavern opened up, its once narrow tunnels stretching into a great space lined with seams of gemstone the glowed lightly in the darkness. For the first time in a long while, the horses of Breim felt at home. It was here that a city began to grow, slowly at first, and then by leaps and bounds. Together, the herd made a pact, each one with their own duties that allowed the others to thrive. On the memory of the war now past, these remaining few made a truce to peace, both out of necessity and security.

Jin’s leadership gave rise to the first royal bloodline, followed by three others who shared the first leader's Blessing. Birds, being the bringers of fortune, were praised as gifts from Argus. As the years passed and the City of Nariah expanded, so too did the herd deep beneath the ground. For generations, they were content to live in peace and solitude. Yet time fades all memories and conflict tends to rise when ideals of the future try to incite change.....

## Kawaru Origins

.... It happened around 800 years ago, when some began to question the order of the herd's daily life. It was not that they were unhappy within the walls on Nariah, but something felt amiss; lost in  traditions and rules, Breimian had come to live without progress; Their lives seemed to stand stagnant.

It began with Jade, a simple, unassuming mare born and raised in an average Breimian family. At first glance there was nothing notable about her, for she did not stand out among her fellow neighbors nor had she ever accomplished great feats worth remembering. Yet, Jade was a skilled thinker and ideas bloomed in her head. She imagined ways she could better the life of her herd mates through invention and advances. But the mares ideas were met with resistance and even defiance, as the thought of changing their ways of life were unfathomable.

Refusing to give up, Jade took her ideals to the streets and gathered others who believed that the herd could use - no, needed change. There were many who wished to see the Breim bloom into the prosperous nation they knew it could be. But the resistance was greater and the horses who valued tradition more than the progress proposed were numerous. They were content with their lives and resented any who wished to turn their world on its head. As Jade’s group grew over the years, she watched those that advocated for advancement became social outcasts: members of the herd, but ostracized from the tight-knit community. The Royal Family, eager to see the herd harmonious again, sought to destroy their liberal agendas by passing laws that slowly pushed these outcasts to the bottom of their society’s ladder.

The unjust pressure to conform backfired spectacularly: the outcasts, it seemed, were hungry to push back. United by ideals and outraged by the monarchy’s oppression, the group gave themselves a name of their own as they stood confident in their defiance: The Kawaru. Not long after, an exodus from the main body of the herd led to the establishment of Sterling; a city that gazed upward into the vast blue sky - a city just for them.