lore

A nation founded upon the exploits of Sunna, goddess given flesh, our ally has developed far from its early days. The tribes Sunna unified have endured together, never forgetting her memory and glory, symbolised by her eponymous sword Sonnstahl. The core of human supremacy in Vetia, with Destrian wealth now united through marriage with its grand armies and economy, there is no limit to the Empire’s ambition. But, to command such a diverse nation, an Emperor must not simply conquer in battle, he or she must compete in the political arena, navigating the treacherous currents of rival families and churches, to unite the nation against its enemies. A true seat of learning, with magic and technology refined into effective weapons, the Empire has become a master of many trades and has begun extending its grasp to foreign lands.

Humanity is doomed by those who do nothing! Sunna calls on each one of us to play our part, and those who stand idly by sin in Her eyes as unforgivably as the worst of heretics. So believe me when I say to you truly, in the name of our saviour: if you are not with us, you are against us!

Sir, on behalf of Empress Sophia I hereby grant you a commission of 5,000 men and 27 galleons for the purpose of re-establishing control of the imperial colony of Aguadulce. You will set sail this summer to Virentia, where you will refortify and expand the encampment, and oversee the plantations’ immediate return to productivity.

As you know, the colony was recently abandoned after an encounter with a local species of giant reptile. This is what we know:

The ancient creatures known as saurians were thought to be nothing but legend until Captain Fernando Cabeza reported several sightings in the jungles around Aguadulce. The reptilians walk on two legs, carry weapons and other tools, and have appeared in varying forms, most growing to around 4 feet. When the animals reportedly provided our colonists with food during their first winter, Cabeza determined that their size and lack of intelligence made them perfectly suited to working in the plantation.

After several months of successfully capturing and harnessing the labour of many such creatures, Cabeza reported a number of plantation workers struck down by poisoned darts. The reptiles used a fast-moving, shifting formation that made it difficult to return fire.

The camp soon came under full-scale attack; the garrison of 300 mercenaries and the other colonists were ordered back behind the palisades. Using pistols and crossbows, the enemy were temporarily forced back, but soon returned in larger numbers, using what Cabeza described as “a huge, be-spiked monster” to break down the wooden defences. Only a handful of men returned to the ship.

This report no doubt explains the much larger expeditionary force with which you have been entrusted. The colony at Aguadulce is much too profitable to abandon – your services to the Destrian Empire are of the utmost importance to its future. The Empress herself has expressed an interest and will be notified of your progress. She expects great things.

An Age of Plague the Third of Ruin
Redoubled might, redoubled maille
We thicken armour, sharpen blade
We harden hearts, and bolster soul
Unknown to us new foes drew In
We paid it back the gift of men
Who came to aid when so beset
We shared the greatest gift of all
The gift of stone and mountain’s call
Thus we built great Avras’ wall

The Mountains White once lost to us
We marched upon and took anew
Alliance made at last with men
A peace to hold and carry forth
O’er earth and mount an honoured trust
At last we saw our hidden foe
As elf slew elf across the sea
Great sickness spread ‘cross ev’ry land
And vermin rose upon its wake
To murder men and dwarf to woe

The empire fell the rats took throne
Did murder life and poison land
They left in wake but Avras’ bone

The Sun Maiden came, in our time of greatest need. Let her mighty deeds be written here, that she might not pass out of memory, but be remembered evermore.

It was in the cold years, when the sun was pale and the summers were short, that the goddess came to us. In that time of darkness, the beasts of the wood, barbarians of the wastes and brutes of the mountains descended upon us, and we were swept before them as reeds before the flood. First to rise from the mass of foes was Bragh, the Black Bull, slayer of a hundred chieftains, shattering armour and bodies with his great mace.

The people of the Askar lay in the path of his westward rampage. Their King, Warin, saw all hope was lost. Still he marshalled ninety brave warriors to hold a ford over the river Gewache, and buy his people time to escape the approaching doom. The eve of the battle found him in a riverside shrine, deep in prayer. To Ullor, Father of Winter, he prayed for blizzards. To Volund, the Smith, he prayed for strength of arm and steel of spine. Finally, to Sunna, he prayed that his people would see another dawn. The alarm was raised as he finished railing at the silence of the gods; the beasts came as the daylight failed.

Each defender gave their life dearly. No man fell with his blade unblooded; a score of foes fell beneath their feet. Yet it was not enough, for Bragh then took the field. The Askar died to his mace, until only King Warin stood between the Black Bull and the western shore. Great horns gored valiant Warin’s horse, and a single blow shattered the King’s shield and arm both. The Bull stood ready to deliver the deathstroke, when a lone soldier leapt forward.

Helm dislodged, golden hair flowed to the warrior’s waist, Warin was stunned to see a woman plant her boots in the bloody water between King and Beast. Dwarfed by the Bull, even a brave Askar maiden could not hope to hold back that enemy. But at this moment, the dawn broke, with a fire not seen in a decade. A blinding blaze of light from the eastern horizon ignited her polished breastplate and sword. The brilliance staggered Bragh as the woman struck. The first blow cut through Bragh’s heel, bringing him crashing to one knee. The second sunk deep into his chest, drawing a roar of pain that shook the earth. The third and final blow drove straight between the monster’s open jaws, and into his skull.

As the Black Bull fell, the beasts fled. Though only one in nine survived, the King’s men rushed to Warin’s side, pulling him from the river to face his rescuer. All clamoured to know the name of their saviour, yet the King stilled them by falling to one knee. He knew that face, lit by the dawn’s glory, and knew his prayers had been answered. He offered her his sword, even as he spoke: "It is Sunna. She has come."

To all that are in Avras, beloved of Sunna: May the dawn forever shine upon you. First, I thank my saviour for you all, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. In these dark times I counsel you to give thanks in turn for your holy life in the city of Sunna herself. The Goddess blessed the site of its foundation at the moment of mankind’s awakening, and from it arose the first great civilisation of humanity, a fearsome empire that held up the light of our species like a dazzling torch, surpassing even the brilliance of the elder races.

What a city was Avras of ancient times, that magnificent crossroads of East and West! The citizens strode gleaming streets; streets teeming with every goodly thing. Libraries overflowed and the great forums thronged with insight and sophistication. The mighty government marshalled the full resources of the vastness of the Empire. And at its centre stood the Holy Sepulchre itself, dedicated to the Goddess of the Sun and her pantheon.

But like all lights, Avras attracted the vilest of insects and parasites. Its noble leaders fell to the influence of such unspeakable abominations, coming to value power for themselves over the good of human civilisation. The conquering hero, Gaius Dexion, with his ageless, southern Queen by his side, came to blows with the Senate and its champion, the merciless Tiberian, and the Empire sank into civil war. Sunna abandoned those who bowed to the sinful impulses of our species, and at the height of the conflict there emerged a monstrosity greater than any before imagined: the vile rat Kings and their unending tide of vermin.

The pestilence devoured Avras with ungodly speed, and soon the rats had spread to every corner of the Empire, consuming all in their path and returning humankind to its primordial state of squalor and servitude. Heaping humiliation upon humiliation, the rodents proclaimed themselves the heirs of the Empire, preening and cavorting in their warped perversion of the customs and stylings of the Avrasi people and their rulers. Long centuries did we suffer under the vermin yoke, and long were the great shrines of Avras left defiled, before Sunna finally returned to rekindle the flame of human strength.

Coming as the mightiest of warriors, one whom kings and rulers followed naturally as disciples, Sunna lead our great crusade against the many enemies we so recently confronted. Always remember the great peril of our species, and the danger of annihilation we faced, before the Goddess drove our armies through their defences and finally reclaimed Avras as our own. The Adversary was slain by her hand. Friends, never forget the joy of these tidings! Sunna has liberated the holy city of Men and Women, and humans once more dwell among the mighty avenues, and once more pray in the Holy Sepulchre, where lies her sword Sonnstahl! Our task now is that of preaching the blessed truth of the Goddess to those who were not there to bear witness.

The Vermin in Avras saw the strength of humanity uniting and trembled in their marble halls. They sought to turn Sunna from her course, before she burned them from that noble city.

Sunna’s forces gathered in the halls of Warin to feast, weary from war. In that time came the emissary from the Vermin. Grossly bloated and adorned in finery of the Avras style, he was borne aloft by a dozen slaves, surrounded by a hundred black-furred guards. His proclamation echoed in the chamber: “Serve the Empire and be rewarded. Oppose and be destroyed.”

Sunna’s generals fell to discussion. Warin led those who would agree, and see their people spared another war. Arcaleone urged rejection of the terms. All counselled a united stance to defend Vetia. Sunna listened to all, then rose, drawing her sword Sonnstahl. At her command, the guards were slain to a rat, the wretched slaves dispatched, until Sunna stood over the corpulent envoy. "A message for your masters. The dawn is coming. " With that, he was lashed from the city, forced to drag his mass back to Avras.

Preparations for war were made, and the sun-blessed host marched the long miles to the heart of the Vermin lands, intent upon slaying the rat King. Three times were rodent armies, vast beyond counting, sent to bar their path. The losses mounted among Sunna’s followers, yet their holy mission would not be halted. The alliance pierced all the way to the walls of Avras, and plans were drawn up to storm the city.

That night, the Vermin came to Warin. They knew of his growing doubts and fears, for he had seen how few remained in Sunna’s force and how easily the numbers of the rats were replenished. They offered another way to save the Askar. One blow of the weapon they proffered, and even a God would be crippled. Time for the men to retreat and terms to be reached. Conflicted, Warin took the blade, though its inscriptions burned his eyes.

As dawn broke, the men attacked the city. On the walls, the rat King was visible, red fur and laurel crown marking his station before he fled into the city. Sunna was never parted from Arcaleone in this time, and Warin was given no chance to intercede. As planned, Uther and Genoveva fought a rearguard, buying time against the growing swathes of vermin reinforcements streaming in from across their empire, while the main force breached the city’s mighty gates. Fighting soon raged through the city, but Sunna and her cohort fought to the throne room, to confront the rat King himself.

What awaited in that place was not the same being. Surrounded by dead priests and shards of glowing rock, a towering beast, red of fur and toying with the tiny laurel crown boomed a thunderous laugh, pointing towards the brave humans. Dozens of vermin struck at the holy woman, but she could not be harmed by mere mortals. Elite rodent bodyguards clashed with righteous men, and blood flew. Arcaleone reached the King first, and fought bravely, but men cannot stand with Gods, and the great Rat tore the throat from the bold son of Myra. Sunna was buried beneath black furred bodies as she strove to reach her fallen disciple.

Amidst the pandemonium, with Arcaleone’s blood staining the King’s fur, Warin lost all hope. The cries of the dying surrounded him; from the windows he could see the rearguard fail and a rodent tide sweep toward the city. Grasping her arm, he freed Sunna from beneath the mound of the dead and dying – and thrust the Vermin blade into her side. The rats’ work was done; the blade twisted in his hand, and what was a minor blow became a thrust to the heart of the goddess made flesh. Sunna’s face pinned Warin, the betrayal filled her eyes. Before that stare, Warin fled, to pass from the history of Vetia and become a byword for treachery. Sunna wavered, and the King came on in triumph. But even wounded as she was, she did not fall, and met him blow for blow.

Their fight raged from the throne room to the walls of the city. Rats and men turned to look up at the legendary combat overhead. Flaming sword clashed with glowing scimitar, sparks raining down. A dozen wounds were traded, yet it was the woman who faltered. Sunna staggered, but with the last of her strength pulled Warin’s Vermin blade from her own body, and drove it through the creature’s chest. A hideous scream marked the King’s end, black tendrils spreading through his veins, and he toppled broken to the street below. Falling to her knees, overcome by her wounds, Sunna died steeped in golden sunlight and in the knowledge that the first city of men was avenged.

So passed Sunna, the Uniter, who brought a new dawn to the long night, and struck down the enemies of humanity. In the years after, her followers forged new nations to preserve her legacy. Uther would become a great King of Equitaine. Queen Genoveva’s descendants would thrive in the lands of Destria. Arcaleone would be eternally honoured, as the Glauca and Aeturi came to name their ancient fatherland in his honour. Greatest of glories was reserved for the Askar, the Breidar and the Gjothar, who would unite under the symbol of Sonnstahl, the sword of light borne by our saviour, Sunna. May we always live in her light.

Q: Are Vollund and Ullor worshiped outside of the empire?
A: Oh yes, the pantheon predates Sonnstahl’s foundation, and not all followers settled within the boundaries of the Empire. Many tribes went their own ways, and those beliefs spread into other areas. I’ve seen signs of worship of both Vollund and Ullor in neighbouring lands, along with Sunna herself. We historians believe that many of these gods may have been first worshiped in Åskland and spread from those lands. They can still be found there among several tribes, though I doubt their rituals or shrines would be very familiar to those in civilised lands.

Q: When was the Sunna Cycle put together?
A: Well, it’s not easy to be precise. Such works are rarely the work of a single individual, nor even a single lifetime. Collected from the verbal records passed down in story and myth, the Cycle unites the histories of those tribes which came together to form what is now Sonnstahl. The earliest versions were likely collated centuries after Sunna’s day, and your guess as to their accuracy is likely as good as mine. Those versions which are shared now have been reworked many a time since, some by well meaning Prelates, others at the behest of less savoury figures. I advise all my readers to read at least three editions before reaching any significant conclusions. A great deal of fine detail can be concealed within the broad brushstrokes of antiquity.

Q: What is the highest position in the Church of Sunna and who holds it today?
A: The Supreme Prelate holds the highest office in Sunna’s religion. Previously the office holder would be resident within Sonnstahl, at the cathedral or the city in most favour at that moment. However, that changed some decades back, and the current Supreme Prelate resides in the city of Reva in Arcalea. These lands are now held by the Church, largely independent of either nation. It would be a mistake to assume the Church is not politically active though - or that it lacks expertise in such matters.