lore

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 man-kind’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 mag-nificent 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 sophis-tication. The mighty government marshalled the full resources of the vastness of the Empire. And at its centre stood the Holy Sepulchre itself, dedi-cated to the Goddess of the Sun and her pantheon.But like all lights, Avras attracted the vilest of in-sects and parasites. Its noble leaders fell to the in-fluence of such unspeakable abominations, com-ing 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 monstros-ity 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 cor-ner 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 styl-ings 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 preach-ing the blessed truth of the Goddess to those who were not there to bear witness.

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

Whoever said ‘know thy enemy’ forgot to add ‘from a distance’.

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 in-tercede. 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.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.

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 rain-ing 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 sun-light 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 en-emies 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 sym-bol of Sonnstahl, the sword of light borne by our saviour, Sunna. May we always live in her light.

Owing to its impregnable fortress built on a rock in the sea along the coast just south of the capital, it is believed to be the only province of the ancient empire to have survived, at least in part, destruc-tion at the hands of the Swarm. While it now relies on horsemen from the hills and other levies for its military security, there remains a small and secretive – but deadly – cadre of professional city guardians trained in the ancient ways. These traditions have been passed unbroken to new generations for thousands of years.

Long centuries did we suffer under the vermin yoke, and long were the great shrines of Avras left de-filed, 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 re-member the great peril of our species, and the danger of annihilation we faced, before the God-dess drove our armies through their defences and finally reclaimed Avras as our own. The Adver-sary 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 preach-ing the blessed truth of the Goddess to those who were not there to bear witness.

Q: We were told the Vermin Swarm overran Avras. Are they still proclaiming to be the false emperors or has the city been retaken since the 4th age?
A: In the first days of their emergence, the Vermin took Avras, and held it until the end of the 8th Age. They haven’t been observed in Vetia since Sunna slew the rat King, at least no more than a scattered handful of lone Vermin. In Sonnstahl it’s widely believed the Vermin were destroyed then as a organised force and only scattered remnants remain, but the Vermin have always been good at secrecy.

The rise of the Vermin was the result of a magic ritual, they are in many ways the children of magic. The survival and thriving of the swarm is the primary focus of all the Vermin’s activities – always pitted against their drive for individual achievement. The Magisters and Prophets who wield this power among the Vermin are driven by a conviction to find the right future for the Swarm, while the Vermin Daemons who rise for a time to rule use magic to guarantee their position and power.

There is no longer any doubt that vermin still live, but since being driven back into the earth by Sunna’s victory it is hard to gauge their strength. Unable to work beneath the light of the sun they must contest for the gloomy depths; no doubt some of their old tunnels remain, but without their former vigour, it is dubious whether they have been maintained. Scholars debate: did their defeat cause a weakness of the mind or did their habits, their lack of sunlight and fresh food cause a weakness of the body? Whatever the cause, they are a broken nation, and long may they remain so.

It is reported that in other lands, away from the light of Sunna, they have retained a fraction of their former hubris. There are tales from the north of whitefurred snow vermin, who live in cold castles of ice, still carrying the eagle standard. Likewise, the Daeb must be lax in their stewardship of the Westlands, for there are reports of vermin ships calling out of the ports of Silexia to harry our galleons. I am, as yet, unconvinced by these tales, but it is clear that there is much we don’t know about the former scourge of humanity.

It is interesting that you say the vermin were daemonic followers of the Dark Gods. Perhaps you do not realise your deviation from orthodoxy on this point. With the notable exception of the rat King slain by Sunna, vermin are mortal beings. Likewise as the scriptures state in Genesis 3: In the final years of the Avrasi the vermin came forth, born of a triple treachery. Gaius Dexion, the proud soldier, betrayed the Senate; and the high priest Quintus Augustus betrayed mankind. As Dexion and his everyoung Queen brought war to Avras, Augusts in despair treated with the vermin gods to bring their spawn upon the city, hoping thereby to stop the civil strife. The final treachery was that of the vermin themselves, turning on humans and devouring the entire city whole. These are the scriptures handed down to the Church. Note that it is the “vermin gods” who are mentioned here. Likewise two accounts of those who have spoken with supernals give the same testimony: that the vermin deities, foul though they may be, are not aligned with the Dark Gods in their opposition to mankind.

My father said he’d met one once, in some hovel near Ullsberg. A piteous thing, it spent the whole night trying to convince papa of the glories of Vermin "civilisation". It said that every citizen got a vote, choosing their leaders and their laws. That they elected a ‘senate’ and ‘consuls’ after the fashion of the Avrasi Empire. The rat even had the nerve to call us uncivilised for lacking the same rights!

Now, father listens for a while – how he manages not to laugh, I’ll never know – but eventually he asks what, if the glories of the sewer so outshine our humble kingdom, it is doing here. It transpires that the creature’s mate fell out of favour, and was assassinated, and it, a female, had to flee the kingdom. The best part is, its mate was killed by a ‘dusk senator’.

This glorious civilisation puts assassins on the legislature. And I thought politics here was cut-throat.

It is with some frustration that I must admit to never having seen a rat, despite all I write here. I have in a number of cities searched out the gloomy wharfs and taverns which those black marketeers are said to frequent, to no avail. Perhaps it is the final fading competence of the vermin that their illicit operations are so rarely detected. The vermin were ever fraudsters, unable to create anything new but forced to ape the great nation of Avras. They surely lack the ability to create anything the surface world would wish to purchase openly, instead subsisting off the transport of poisons, drugs, slaves, magics and weapons. Though I have never met the vermin, I have met many human smugglers that perhaps deserve the label. Some men have lost the ability to feel shame in dealing with them. While the rodents may find more reliable economic partners among goblins and infernal dwarves, there is surely no shortage of their "wares" found in Vetian cities.

The traders in the east are unable to provide the same quantities as last year. They blame the vermin. As you know, in parts of Sagarika, men and rats live side by side, oblivious to the clear danger. Until recently, these vermin worshipped rat gods – twisted versions of the gods of old Avras. But when plague struck the land, they say a rat went among them, preaching of a new god, the Plaguebringer, who offers salvation through the touch of disease. The pestilence lingered around those who worshipped it and eventually the new cult was driven out, but not before inflicting terrible losses in men and cattle, dealing a crippling blow to our trading posts.

I suggest we redirect funds towards our interests in Qassar. They may not be as profitable but hopefully we can bolster our inventory for the coming year, and profit from the inflated price of spices.

Today I was most grateful to one Herr Himmelblau, a magnate of the League of Cogs, who sent me a device discovered in an abandoned space beneath one of his warehouses. The opportunity to examine such a find is a rare luxury, for I am in no doubt that the icy black crystals within the contraption are darkstone. Only the vermin swarms have mastered the substance - despite the claims of Eichtal’s alchemy professors (who swear their stricken colleagues are nothing to do with their experiments) and the insistence of egomaniacs like Oppolzer who believe the vermin incapable of anything more than stealing cheese.

I confess my own investigation of the device was hardly more successful than the alchemists’ bumbling efforts; a sudden surge of white energy has already demolished one of my bookshelves. Still, every indication confirms the evidence of my other researches - that the vermin are somehow able to magically empower the stone and use its electric properties to fuel their industry and armies. The captives claiming to be from "House Rakachit" swore under interrogation that theirs was just one of many guilds and families by which rodent society is organised - and indeed seemed to show pride that Rakachit was the greatest among these "houses" when it came to the use of darkstone. When my studies of the Book of the Dead are complete, I must turn my full attention to this fascinating field.

Q: Why do the Vermin Swarm have such an affinity for bells?

A: Stories vary as to why those men-sized rats took such a liking to bells that they would create instruments of magic and war from them, bringing them to bear in Sunna’s time. Some claim they took the symbols from the temples of Avras, the city of their "birth" and put them to use in all their terrible rites. Certainly, it is true to say there have been many groups of vermin displaying the arms and armour of that noble city.Another theory tells that in the Deeps, where few save dwarves and rats dare to tread, light sources are few and far between. Fire can turn air to poison or ignite pockets of gas with deadly consequences. In that world, messages can be communicated better by sound than using visible methods.For myself, it could be a combination of both, or perhaps they simply stumbled upon a magical ritual using a bell and decided to keep it. Whatever the reasons, no one can dispute that blood runs cold at the sound of those tolling bells.

Q: What happens if a Magister/Patriarch eats too many Dark Shards?

A: Good gracious! Do you think they eat that stuff? I’ve never observed it myself, but I have it from almost reliable sources that Dark Shards, those oddly empowered scraps of rock, are the source of much of the Swarm’s wilder technologies and practices. Somehow able to store energy, Darkstone is a fascinating invention. Consuming such a substance raw might be considered akin to swallowing a burning coal, or perhaps just an inert piece of rock. Their physiology could be adapted to such things, but I think more likely they have other means of harnessing Darkstone. The rewards must be substantial to risk working with such a volatile substance though, I’ve heard tales of rotting flesh and destroyed organs resulting from misuse or malfunction.

Q: Are Beast Herds, Saurian Ancients and Vermin Swarm connected? All of them are bi-pedal animalistic humanoids?

A: No doubt each would be horrified at the thought they should be defined by humanity’s standards! The Saurians have long been believed to be among the oldest of beings, unchanged from the times they claimed dominion over the world.Beasts have also existed for as long as written, carved or painted documentation can prove, yet theirs is a story of changing appearance. For reasons held closely among themselves, their forms have shifted and adapted over the Ages, never static, always advancing. It is speculat-ed that this ensures the growth and survival of the Herds, which I could well believe. By contrast to the others, Vermin were never documented before the fall of Avras. In those ter-rible events, the Swarm arose to dominance in Vetia, an empire forged with a speed that defied all expectation.I know of no scholar who has managed to prove any clear connection or shared root between these three very different species, but I look forward to reading such a thesis

A caelo usque ad centrum.
We have always known the world was ours, from the skies to its very heart. We know we will inherit the legacy of Avras, a world united under our paw, for the benefit of all. In time, the world must come to know its rightful masters.
Quod cito fit, cito perit.
We must be patient. Our kings once sought to walk before they could scurry. Now we take care to keep our strength hidden, and embrace mastery of the world below. Beneath notice, beneath secrecy, and sometimes in the very Deeps themselves.
Mors certa, hora incerta.
Our mastery is not unchallenged. A scout has returned from an expedition, reporting the strangest of encounters. A dwarf unlike any other. Bigger than a hulk, with the strength of many guards. Holding a tunnel against a legion, and sending them scurrying home. Surely the scout lies to explain his own failings. I shall investigate.
Volo non fugia.
It is true! This giant among dwarves, this foulness strides the Deeps as a titan. He blocks our passage, and his eyes glitter with hatred. For our glorious kind, or for any who would pass. Our weapons broke against his great shield. In the end, sacrifices were made to ensure my safe return, all two hundred are to be commended. We shall delve elsewhere in our future plans.

Q: We were told the Vermin Swarm overran Avras. Are they still proclaiming to be the false emperors orhas the city been retaken since the 4th age?
A: In the first days of their emergence, the Vermin took Avras, and held it until the end of the 8th Age. They haven’t been observed in Vetia since Sunna slew the rat King, at least no more than a scattered handful of lone Vermin. In Sonnstahl it’s widely believed the Vermin were destroyed then as a organised force and only scattered remnants remain, but the Vermin have always been good at secrecy.