Godfall Lore Transcript Pt 2

Transcript from the the Godfall Lore Series from Byf
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​Tis an unthinkable thing to strike out at one’s family, be they family by blood or family by battle. But under the stewardship of the Archons all of Aperion would fight. It was said by the Valorians long ago, that when kings quarrel, they argue using armies. Thus, the Valorians quarreled amongst themselves as their gods demanded. Thus, the wars began. Thus, blood was shed. Perhaps it was in this moment that the Archons forged their undoing. This moment when they forced their children, be it of the first born or of the Tetrarchy, to do battle with one another, but to fight one’s family is unthinkable, and when faced with the prospect of war, the two would instead choose a path that would reforge the world upon which they stood. A choice that would end with the death of Gods.

It was here that that change upon the world would begin. The seeds of revolution, of defiance, of freedom, here they grew and planes did they brew. Desperate action was needed to cast off the worlds growing pal, and so the lion and the wolf would stand side by side in the ruins of Anadol, their belief that they would bring deliverance to all. And the name of that deliverance, the Upheaval, Godfall.

The names of the two, the lion and the wolf were Orin and Macros, and this would be the first chapter of their story. The binding force of these two warriors would be that of the Archons corruption. The Valorians saw how their creators had become changed as they continued to dwell in their physical forms. The Archons held the proof of their divine lineage, but mortal sin had begun to corrupt them as the strode forth across Aperion. It was believed they should have remained Gods of Idea, but such dreams were laughable in the face of the corrupting anger, jealous and ambition that had infected the minds of the Archons. Thus, as the war against the Kraven came to a close and the Valorians built their cities. The paths to the wears of tomorrow were also built. The Archons driven by the corruption that drove them to think only of themselves now, set about making war on one another. It was in this time that the Archons began forging the Tetrarchy, starting with the Abysians and ending with the Nyak. None of their creations surpassed the First Born, for none of them were created with the power of all twelve. War raged on with bloody stalemates and alliance of convenience marking mournful peaks between the widening troughs of violence. It was during one of these alliances between the Archons known as Hinterclaw and Silvermane, that Orin and Macros first would meet. Macros was a knight of the Hinterclaw, one of his fiercest champions and greatest servants. Orin on the other hand was a rising warrior of the Silvermane. The two of them saw the Archons chart potential paths to victory. And perhaps saw the strength that unity could bring Valorians. But this fleeting vision of a more hopeful future was not to last, as it would not be long before Hinterclaw and Silvermane broke their alliance. 

For ten years the two warriors would be separated by the allegiances of their Archons, and it would not be until the Siege of Anadol that they would be reunited, both in place and in purpose. By that time, Macros was the champion of Hinterclaw using his great skill in combat to defy the odds and defeat any who would challenge him. Orin was sent to Anadol by Silvermane to observe the weaknesses by whoever the champion of Hinterclaw might be, but Orion did not expect the champion to be Macros. Orin observed their old friend tearing their foes apart, they realized that the power before them was enough to commit to a plan of such ambition that had never before been witnessed before on Aperion. Soon Macros found himself circling Anadol’s walls and calling out to the city built into the ruins of its five predecerssors, calling out for a champion to challenge him. It was at this moment that he was knocked supine, and a blade was pressed to his throat, but before Macros could respond to this assailant, Orin’s familiar voice filled his ears and he heard seven words that would change the world, “You and I could kill a God.”

​The warriors were reunited, but for their plan to work they would need a victory worthy of an audience with one of the Archons. So, the two ventured to a seismic unstable fault in the land and brought down the walls of Anadol, striking the fault again and again until the cities defense were ruin. In the smoking remnants of their conquest, Orin and Macros sat and spoke on the nature of the peace that could be forged from the death of the Archons. Orin made it clear to Macros that as long as the Archons existed so would the wars that had long torn Aperion apart. So it was in this moment that the plans for the future of all would be laid out. And the Lion and the Wolf sought to create a band of Valorians that would join them in battling the Archons, this band was formed in secret and to maintain that secrecy Orin killed any Valorians who hesitated or who could be left in a position to reveal the plans of this new force. This was done at Macros insistence, and this was only the first of many actions that would one day haunt Orin’s conscience. And so, the plans were made. Orin and Macros would lure Silvermane into a trap under the guise of a champion and their soldiers willing to defect. The Archon of Courage suspected nothing and the trap was sprung successfully, and thus began a battle of titanic forces, with Orin Macros and their chosen Valorians on one side and a God on the other. Silvermane was far from defenseless and unquestionable could have bested any single Valorians who matched him, but the Valorians had numbers and cohesion and unity on their side. And even with the force of a God to rival them, they emerged from the battle victorious. Thus, was Silverman banished from the physical realm back into the realm of pure ideal. Thus, it happened. The first Godfall. 

From the remnants of the Archons Armor a great sword known as the Sword of Courage was crafted by the Godsmiths and was later presented to Orin for their part in winning the freedom of Valorians society. Macro’s blade, the Sword of Dominance, would later be crafted from his own patrons Gods remains, the remains of Hinterclaw. But it would be many moons before these gifts were presented. And it would be sometime before the world would come to know them as heroes.

The world of Aperion was left in shock. The unthinkable had become real. Orin and Macros were identified as traitors. As villains of a sort never before seen upon this earth. The Archons at first came after the war band, sending their forces to crush those who had murdered one of the twelve. But the Archons were once again betrayed by their nature. It was impossible for any of them to work together for long enough to effectively hunt these first-born traitors. Macros lead the warband into the wilderness, allowing them to slink into the shadows to fight another day and slowly but surely regain their strength. As the Archons returned to warring amongst themselves, the trickle of defectors moving to join Orin and Macros became a torrent then a flood.

The two had venture into the wilderness with a small war band, they emerged from it with an army, one that would call yet more warriors to its cause and would continue to strike back at the Archons. This time was known as the Upheavel, when time after time, Godfall after Godfall, the Archons were banished from Aperion. Silvermane, Phoenix, Greyhawk, Vertigo, Hinterclaw, Illumina, Mesa, Typhon, Armistice, Mobius, Aegis Horn, Bulwark. All of them fell before the forces of the Lion and the Wolf. The final three Archons fell just as the nine before had. With Mobius falling at the battle of the Unhinged Summer, with Aegishorn’s final stand at Brittle Rain, with Bullwork’s last defense of the battle of Halved Skulls.

​No matter the Archon, no matter their virtue, no matter power, none could stand against the united Valorians. Galvanized by their victories over the Gods themselves, the First Born had been forged into powerful army. The most powerful army on all of Aperion. It is here that Orin saw the shape of the future and realized that it was one filled with uncertainty. They asked Macros what would happen when the war against the Archons was won, when the Upheaval came to a close. Orin knew that the Valorians had never truly known peace, that there was a chance in their final moments of victory that the Valorians might turn on themselves. Macros knew this too, but as the Upheaval came to a close, at the final battle, the Battle of Halved Skulls, he saw a perfect target for the Valorians wrath. From the ruins of the Upheaval began the unification and with it the fall of the races of the Tetrarchy into darkness and servitude. Peace had not truly come to Aperion, not yet. Not while the Wolf and his armies still hungered.