THE
RAWN
CHRONICLES
BOOK ONE
THE ORRINN
AND THE
BLACKSWORD
Unabridged Edition
P.D.CEANNEIR
This novel is entirely the work of fiction.
The names, characters, and incidents portrayed in it are
the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is
entirely coincidental
This edition 2015 (Unabridged)
1
Copyright © P.D.Ceanneir 2013
Cover Design Raider Publishing/P.D.Ceanneir
Internal Illustrations © P.D.Ceanneir
Set in Baskerville Old Face 12 pnt
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Reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
In any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
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This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not
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For my beloved wife
and best friend,
Jackie
…And to Alex Orr.
Thanks for all of your hard work on this edition.
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Havoc De Proteous Cromme-Crown Prince of the Roguns
Magnus Cromme- Havoc’s half-brother
Ness Ri-Consul to King Vanduke and member of the Ri Order
Mia-Havoc’s elder sister
Eleana-Handmaiden to Mia
Molna-Queen of the Roguns, Havoc’s mother
Vanduke Cromme-King of the Roguns, first of that name
Verna-Havoc’s youngest sister
Hagan Cromme-King of Sonora and Havoc’s uncle
Tilli-Havoc’s cousin
Letti-Havoc’s cousin
Kasan Cromme-King of the Vallkytes and Havoc’s uncle
Cinnibar-Countess of Sonora, Havoc’s great-great aunt
Soujonn-Kasan’s illegitimate son
Sir Udren-King Kasan’s Champion
Lord Rett, the Red Duke of the Rouge-King Vanduke’s Champion
Sir Gillem-Carras Knight and Havoc’s bodyguard
Plysov-Vallkyte General
Mad-daimen-Nithi Warlord, Overlord of the Wildlands
Jynn Ri-Havant Priestess
Kellborne-High Priest of the Havant Order
Saltyn Ri-Member of the Ri Order and Consul to King Kasan
Sir Colby-Carras Knight
Lady Vara-Former Queen of Sonora and Havoc’s aunt
Mulvend-exiled daughter of the Count of Haplann
Hoban-Owner of the Little Dell
Neiva-Hoban’s wife
Garth-Governor of Sloe
Powyss of the Hoath-Former Captain of the Sonoran Kings Guard
Lord Sernac-Master to Cinnibar and a mysterious and powerful Ri
Gunach-Dwarven Master Smith
Othell-Former sergeant of Sonoran Kings Guard
Whyteman-Falesti Archer
Little Kith-Former sergeant of the Sonoran Kings Guard
Furran- Former sergeant of the Sonoran Kings Guard
Jericho-Captain of the Tattoium Militia
Hexor-Soldier of the Haplann Army
Foxe- Soldier of the Haplann Army and twin brother of Hexor
Verkin- Former soldier of the Sonoran Kings Guard
Velnour-Sergeant of the Tattoium Militia
Linth- Falesti Archer
Brynd- Falesti Archer
Ethyn- Falesti Archer
Felcon- Soldier of the Haplann Army
Mactan- Soldier of the Tattoium Militia
Lo when the ruling tribes split asunder
And the wandering prince rages forth
The Blacksword will soon be fashioned
In the lonely pasture
In the deep dark forge it shall be born
Crafted by a son of Pelnier
In the right hand it shall wrought vengeance
In the left fear
The prince then rages not
His destiny looms
All enemies shall be vanquished
For he has the Sword that Rules
The Ancient Prophecy
of the Blacksword
Prologue
I
Annulos My’thos Orrinn
II
Gredligg Orrinn
III
The Roguns
and
the
Vallkytes
I
Annulos My’thos Orrinn
(The Book of the Earth Shepherds)
Extracts from the Annulos
Interpreted by Soneros Ri, chief historian to the Ri Order
These are the tales of the My’thos, the old gods, the Earth Shepherds, the ones who were here before all others. They were wise in power and noble in heart. Yet we know them little. Their knowledge is passed down to us by the Orrinns they wrote and by the stories that were told to us by the elders.
As far as we know, they had no names for themselves, and we do not know of their true form, for they were strange to us in body and in mind. It was the Elders who told us that they were their teachers in the Rawn Arts.
Genesis
The Annulos tells us that the Earth is a living thing representing a physical entity, which the My’thos called the Earth Mother. Long before the coming of the My’thos, the Earth was in turmoil. She was racked with pain. Her surface rippled and burst, sending up huge volcanoes and spilling out lakes of molten rock. Continents of black steaming land would send toxic fumes into the air, saturating the atmosphere with its bile. Rain would lash down upon the ground, eroding the mountains. The seas would boil and mighty waves that touched the sky would send down their corrosive acid upon the craggy shores.
Throughout the thundering storms, the Earth screamed, for this was the Earth in her youth. Therefore, the Earth Mother brought forth the My’thos to calm the angry seas, to seal the broken skin of the land and to soothe the lightning-splintered skies.
Many thousands of the old gods were pushed out of the ground. The energy needed to do this must have been immense. The power that created them was the lifeblood of the Earth, the high energy conduits of power that we call the Dragon Lanes. These lanes crisscross their way under the crust of the planet and cover her entire surface. The old gods use these conduits to travel around the globe to stem the tides of destruction wherever they may find it.
The My’thos are made up of all four elements of the Earth: earth, water, wind and fire. They use these elements to keep the Earth in a harmonic balance, calming the planet and allowing life to flourish. For the Earth can be a great giver of life and a destroyer of an entire species.
At first, the My’thos had no form to speak of; they were like a funnel of shimmering heat on a desert plain. However, that was all to change. As the ages passed, they took the forms of the land they lived in and controlled. Some were like the trees of the forests, twisted branches, and twigs for limbs
and fingers, shaggy moss and bracken for hair. Some were like rocks and dwelt in caves; others of the sea had bodies of seaweed or were as transparent as jellyfish. Those of the sky were beautiful winged clouds of vapour that floated high in the atmosphere. In the deserts, they were tall columns of sand. All were giants, bipedal; with long, solemn faces, a thin mouth and a long, narrow nose. The eyes were the most striking of all, for they were deep dark pits, and at the centre were burning orbs of fire.
Some lived on their own; others in groups. Occasionally, they would meet at a My’thos Moot whenever there was need of them to repair damage or calm the pain of the Earth Mother. Otherwise, they would not see one another for many years.
Nevertheless, they could talk, though not as we do. Theirs is the language of the wind blowing, the waters crashing on the shore, or the land groaning with tremors, and, because of this, they could communicate at long distances.
Orrinns
We do not know when the My’thos wrote the Orrinns. It may be because they wished to share their knowledge and experience with others of their kind, for it is said that one of the old god’s wisdom in the life of mountains does not prepare them for the bottomless sea. However, it is also possible that, though they lived for many eons, they knew that they were not eternal, for calming the upheaval of the Earth was not without its casualties. Therefore, they wrote books; many of them we have found, but there are a great number yet to discover and to interpret, for the minds and language of the old gods are difficult to understand. They tell us of their lives, of the four elements and of their solemn piety to their duty, and of the love of the Earth Mother.
These books are neither of paper nor parchment, but are of stone. The My’thos encased their thoughts inside hard objects such as quartz, diamonds, jadeite and cobalt. They are held there for an eternity. In a sense, the Orrinns are their children, for we now know that the old gods could not procreate, so this was the continuing of their life, and faith.
The Dark Entity
Be warned, herein lays the doom of the world. In all the Orrinns they wrote, there was concern. Most spoke of the Dark Force of the Earth, a destructive entity that thrived on violence and would appear with every catastrophic upheaval of the planet. The My’thos needed to find a way to trap this force for eternity. The powerful thoughts within the Orrinns could be the answer, but not one book was strong enough to hold such energy; thankfully, though, in the past, the Dark Force had not appeared too often, because the My’thos kept the balance.
Nevertheless, a time would come when the old gods would gather to fend off this great foe and to create the most powerful of all the Orrinns.
Because the danger they would face would not come from within the Earth, but from without.
II
The Gredligg Orrinn
(The Book of Lost Souls)
Extracts from the Annulos
Interpreted by Soneros Ri, chief historian to the Ri Order
It was the keen eyesight of the sky My’thos that saw it first, a black rock out in space on a collision course with the Earth. This was not new to them; meteors and comets had struck the Earth on countless occasions in the planet’s long history. However, they were not prepared for one of this magnitude. Its sheer size alone would cause mass destruction worldwide. They knew it would also unleash the dreaded Dark Force of the Earth.
Time was short and a plan had to be implemented. One among the My’thos, who we know only as Hagan, the Wise One, commanded all of the old gods to gather in one special place, a small isle that we now call Carras, which sits near to our beloved homeland. There, on the Isle of Carras, they formed into a circle in their thousands, standing directly over the strongest concentration of Dragon Lanes. Their formation amplified their thoughts and powers, and there they wrote the greatest book in all their long history, the Gredligg Orrinn.
This Orrinn, an egg-shaped orb of quartz the span of a man’s forearm, was the receptacle of the entire old gods’ thoughts, wisdom and experience that they possessed. It would prove a valuable weapon in the coming fight.
The foresight of the My’thos shows us that they understood the danger that was hurtling towards them from the unknown vastness of space. The elders tell us that the old gods had no care for this other domain, for their thoughts and wills were always with the Earth Mother. So they always looked inwards to her needs, and continued to administer to what they could understand. However, the Annulos Orrinn teaches us a different story to what we know in the past; we have learnt that the My’thos were busy preparing for the oncoming disaster.
They all stood in the path of their fate, and accepted the doom that awaited them.
When the day came, it was hot and bright, plants bent gracefully in the warm breeze and animals grazed on the verges of mighty forests blissfully unaware of the oncoming peril. And the My’thos stood ready.
However, even in all their long months of preparation, they were not ready for the sheer violence of the impact.
The rock splintered into thousands of flaming shards as it hit the Earth’s atmosphere, showering forests with fiery rain. Nevertheless, its main bulk was still large and solid enough to push air from it, leaving a vast vacuum in its wake.
The sky My’thos tried to slow its descent. My’thos on the land softened the ground to try to cushion its landing, and those of the seas raised the oceans to quench the burning mass.
Needless to say, it was to no avail; the impact was tremendous. It sent shockwaves throughout the planet, wrenching open fissures that spilt out lava on the other side of the world. A gigantic plume of dust and debris jettisoned into the air; taken up by the wind and spread over the sky, blocking out the sun for many years.
Anything within the blast radius was incinerated and, in time, most animals became extinct.
Many of the old gods died.
As expected, the Dark Force of the Earth manifested in all its destructive glory, inflicting great pain on the Earth Mother, and many more My’thos died in the war that followed, a war that would last for several thousand years.
Throughout all this, the old gods endured and, in their perseverance, they calmed the Earth Mother’s pain, and battled their foe to submission.
Then, there, on a battered, rain-washed ground, they encircled the Dark Entity and trapped it inside the Gredligg Orrinn, where it stays, trapped and dormant, to this day.
The earth recovered, plants grew, animals evolved and life flourished, although this took many ages. The My’thos survived too, but they were greatly diminished, and only a handful remained. As a result, they could only tend to the Earth Mother in a minimum capacity. Their work on Earth needed to continue, so a solution had to be found.
So, while some took it in turns to sleep the eternal sleep, others searched the world for an answer, an answer to the Earth Mother’s succour, to carry on their work, when they would exist no more.
Many long years they wandered travelling vast continents of time. Then, when all hope seemed to be lost, when no answer seemed to prevail itself, they found what they sought.
Out from the pre-dawn of our time, but many a long age for the My’thos, came the answer and an end to their quest, and that answer was man.
III
The Roguns and the Vallkytes
A short history
By Ness Ri
Tutor Seneschal to the academy of the Citadel of Aln-Tiss
The Eldi
Many stories are passed down to us from that long ago age, when the elders met the My’thos and called them gods. They revered them and made themselves humble in their presence, bestowed great gifts, had rituals and sacrificed animals in their name. However, soon they learnt that this was not what the old gods had in mind for them.
Twelve Eldi were taught the knowledge of the four elements of the Earth – earth, water, wind and fire. They were shown how to govern, control and enhance these precious gifts, how to live in harmony with the Earth Mother and how to spread this wisdom to others.
Thr
ee of the old gods were known to the Elders in those days: the one of the seas, they called Kwi-aqua, the one of rock and mountain; they called Arcun, and Tri-nut, of the forests.
It was the latter two who taught the Eldi how to use the elements, in what was to become known as the Rawn Arts. Nevertheless, it was a difficult task at first, for the old gods did not understand the language and the minds of men for it was far different from their own. So they developed a way of reaching though man’s subconscious thoughts and developed the ancient language of Skrol so the path to comprehension became easier for both parties.
Tri-nut and Arcun took separate groups of people to teach. And, as the years of learning stretched to decades, they were finally reunited again, as one tribe.
However, it soon became known that the teachings of the two My’thos were different from each other, or, more likely, man’s comprehension of his education and understanding of the arts differed with certain aspects of its worship. So a schism emerged within the tribe. Although the knowledge in the use of the Rawn Arts did not change, the elders understood that recognising the marked differences of the implementation in it worship would have to be addressed.
History now records that, at this time, the tribe of our elders split into two separate factions. Those who worshiped under the teachings of the My’thos god, Tri-nut, called themselves Roguns, meaning the ‘Green Land Worshipers’. Those who were taught by Arcun called themselves Vallkytes, meaning ‘Stone Venerators’.
In those early days, the tribes lived together in relative peace, for they shared the use of the arts. Wisely, they did not force their worship on one another.
Then it came to pass that Tri-nut and Arcun left the elders and their people. Where they went to, no one knows, but it left a void in their lives and they were afraid for their loss.
The Rawn Chronicles Book One: The Orrinn and the Blacksword: Unabridged (The Rawn Chronicles Series 1) Page 1