



Runners-up Continued Prizes 250 points

DorZa



Emirada



GirlMonstrosity



ISellMohs

An Ode to the End



Come ye exiles, gather round!

Einhar has a tale that will astound!

Of tracking down the First Ones four,

And clashing with these titans of lore. Spoiler

It all began on that Coast of sand,

Where I told an exile of the coming end,

With bowgun and nets of mine own design,

We captured beasts sick in body and mind.



We’d secret them to a faraway place;

A Menagerie unbeknownst to the populace,

By feeding the Blood Altar with ritual and gore,

The First Ones reciprocated with riches galore!



After enduring much hardship and pain,

We found the keys to the Gods’ domain.

Steeling ourselves with gear and good brew,

The shimmering portals we then stepped through.



Blade met pincer on murky cove,

But after some time his shell we clove,

And of Craiceann now there’s nary a trace,

Save for his shiny, sturdy Carapace.



The next One greeted us with contempt and disdain,

With pride fitting of the First of the Plains,

Although we stooped to the level of a cur,

Imagine our delight when we bagged his Fur.



His talons were sharp and the end seemed nigh,

As we traded blows with the First of the Sky,

It took a decisive bolt to pierce his chest,

Before we could away with Saqawal’s Nest.



Our final foe was the First of the Night;

Master of toxins, webs and blight.

We needed fleet feet to dodge pestilent clouds,

Yet we emerged unscathed with her coveted Shroud.



Such is how we prepared for the end,

When it does come, our ground we’ll stand.

And now that Einhar has regaled this epic feat,

He must return to feed Zana her meat.

Kantrov



Mongreil



Qque



red_foxie



skraww



Souse03



Torai_Kor



xxavierx



Zithuan

The Epic of Einhar and Exile



Lo, hear the might of the survivors:

one exiled from Oriath,

the other a son of Ezomyr.

Across Wraeclast they journeyed,

carving down men and beasts,

destroying foes of stone and spirit,

on the path to prove worthiness

to enter the Great Grove

when the First Ones return.

Famed was the mighty Einhar,

lone fighter of the final days!

So, too, was great the honor

of the Karui who was a slave.

Spoiler

Friendless save for stupid beasts,

was the Ezomyte the Karui saw:

eyes hidden behind a Rhoa’s skull,

wearing furs of ape and hellion,

festooned with bones and teeth

proudly proclaiming past conquests,

and carrying several strong rope nets.

He was clearly a survivor.

Tattoos of a son of Ngamakanui,

visible under a white simple robe,

wielding a bloody, rusted sword,

wearing jewelry of iron and coral,

and bearing a shield of corroded bronze,

he, too, bore the look of a survivor.



Fated was that day by the Riverways

when these two saw in each other

a kindred spirit, and together

they began their first hunt.

Many were the apes and silverbacks

that died that day. Ursae plummeted

and were crushed completely into the ground.

Cobras struck from the brambles,

but were slaughtered or captured.

Among heaps of corpses and entrails,

It was declared that no more worthy beasts

remained, and thus did the two part ways for a time.



Short was the warp and weft of fate’s loom

Before the two crossed paths again

in a forest on the northwestern shore

of Lake Constance.

The world had plunged into darkness

but that did not deter Einhar

who hunted the fearsome serpent Seleslatha,

lingering remnant of a past invasion.

Nor did the steel-eyed determination waver

of the Karui Marauder,

driven by prophecy,

to slay a powerful beast of legend,

the hairy bonecruncher, Kartarus.

Eons past, in a time of drought,

beasts were slaughtered,

and blood given to the earth.

The crops yielded corruption and madness

and the Lord of those farms, Yriel,

himself became as a feral beast.

From outside the wall of death,

his influence persisted,

imbuing Kartarus with icy rage.

But formidable were the two hunters,

their full might brought to bear

to the task of erasing these beasts’ names

from the hushed whispers of fear

of the forest encampment denizens.

Victory was of course assured,

the Ezomyte unleashing a hail of crossbow bolts,

the Karui striking with molten fury!

Again, however, their parting was foretold.



When Einhar next saw his trusted companion,

he barely recognized him;

entering Sarn as a still-wild Marauder,

his time there had not civilized him

so much as forged him into a living weapon,

a juggernaut of undeniable force!

The Ezomyte, too, had grown in power

but quietly and purposefully,

as the strength of a mighty tree.

Only his nets, now reinforced with iron,

gave outward hint.

They found themselves reunited

at the foot of Mount Veruso,

in a dried lake infested with vultures

and dust scrabblers.

Guided by the words

of the priestess of Hinekora,

the Karui continued to wage war

on the Feral Lord’s corruption.

From the plains of Vastiri,

Einhar had seen a hundred foot shadow

plummet to its death

and knew he had missed a glorious hunt!

Together they hewed a path

through the living and the dead,

through beast and soldier;

none could withstand them!

But both men faced a reckoning,

a defiance of their ancestors’ vows

of allegiance to Voll’s Purity Rebellion.



A thousand tartans and banners,

great was the splendour of the Ezomytes

under command of Thane Rigwald;

their colorful garb, spattered with gore

as if bloody flowers upon the battlefield.

The children of Ezomyr hurled themselves

at the wall of Eternal steel,

three dying for each legionnaire slain.

It was here, in service to Voll’s campaign,

that Rigwald called upon the First Ones

and gave himself over to the Greatwolf

that he might personally slay general Sentari.

So, too, did the children of Ngamakanui

fight against the Eternal Empire during this war.

King Kaom led the invasion of Wraeclast,

collecting the head of Marceus Lioneye for his belt,

and Hyrri Ngamaku joined Voll to besiege Sarn itself.

The vows of their ancestors died with Voll,

and in undeath centuries later, these two sons

of Ezomyr and Ngamakanui

would engage in battle

with the withered husk of the former High Templar.

Even in death, the general commands his troops;

an endless number of corpses would rise

just to be sundered apart anew.

Deftly would the survivors evade

the High Templar’s powerful, deadly strikes.

The very earth wept at the destruction,

until finally the survivors prevailed,

allowing the emperor to join his dead empire.



What followed would be the greatest regret

of Einhar’s life, for what better chance

to prove his worthiness to the First Ones

could there ever be than had he aided

in slaying The Beast of Nightmare?

For he chose not to delve under the mountain,

he instead returned to Vastiri to hunt

the rhex, and scorpions, and serpents,

and to test his courage and luck

attempting to capture the legendary Basilisk!

But when the rivers that flowed from Veruso

turned red with blood and corruption

the Ezomyte knew he had chosen his path unwisely.

Returning to Highgate, he learned he was too late

for the Karui had taken his quest of vengeance

directly into the heart of Oriath.

Mighty Einhar wept, for he feared his destiny lost

but the seer Navali took pity

and told him that his journey was far from complete,

that the exile would return to Wraeclast

and they were both still on the path

to prove themselves to the First Ones.



Where the story began is where the story returns;

again in the riverways along the King’s Road

did Exile meet Ezomyte. Though the world had changed

their bond of blood had not.

The Karui said little but he spoke of a new foe,

one who was once a mortal man

who gave himself to Craiceann,

First of the Deep,

now known as the Lord of Salt and Scale,

the Brine King Tsoagoth!

Upon the ‘Black Crest’ did they sail

to the reef that was his throne.

Einhar redoubled his resolve;

the First Ones would surely find him worthy

when he slew this self-proclaimed King of Brine!

Just as Craiceann teaches us to watch the tides

did the battle begin in earnest;

each man striking and retreating

like the ebb and flow of the waves.

The First of the Deep teaches us

to seek no shelter but ourselves,

and so it was ultimately these two unyielding survivors

who withstood and cracked the King’s shell,

scattering his crustacean children

to the depths of Tsoatha.



During this time, many gods

in the forms of beasts

would have their blood spilled

and their divine soul consumed.

Abberath, the Cloven One,

Ryslatha, the Puppet Mistress,

Gruthkul, Mother of Despair,

all fell to these growing legends

survivors of Wraeclast,

and slayers of gods!

But there was another deity

who gave herself to the First of the Night, Fenumus.

She, too, had once been mortal,

before she was Arakaali, Spinner of Shadows.

But this spider queen did not follow

the lessons of the First Ones;

she was not worthy of the power

she now wielded!

The Exile and Einhar, together vowed

to annihilate this arachnid usurper!

In the days before days,

Fenumus was the first to brave night’s terrors,

so it was without any doubt or fear

that the hunters struck with a furious onslaught!

They slew her quickly,

but not fast enough to rescue Silk,

he who was her final paramour and meal.



Emerging into the sunlight

outside the ramparts of Sarn

Einhar chose not to enter with his friend,

“I am not popular in cities,

and that is fine with me;

those people are weak and ignorant!

They will not survive the end days

but you and I will, if we are worthy!

And Sarn and its Labyrinth

were unkind to my ancestor.

I know you would not betray

as Weylin was poisoned by Chitus,

but I do not wish to tempt fate;

if I am to die, let it be outside, in the wilds,

wrestling a beast mightier than Einhar!”

With hearty laughter, he bade farewell,

trusting that the Karui

would soon bolster his unflinching resolve.



Time passed, and the two reunited

on the edge of a boiling lake.

Einhar had tracked down the basilisk,

determined to claim it for his menagerie,

while the Exile needed some acid

for a purpose neither was quite clear about.

The one known as Sin tried to explain,

but neither man had the patience for detail

once the objective of their quest was known.

Effortlessly successful, the pair

continued to travel together,

defeating foes with ease

until they unexpectedly encountered

another devotee of the First Ones!

Einhar saw it first, a giant egg;

“could this be a roc,” he asked?

But no, a large humanoid emerged,

calling herself Garukhan,

and commanding the winds

as though she had called upon

Saqawal, First of the Sky!

Einhar was worried, for when the sky burned

it was Saqawal’s wings that ended the great fire

and the Karui’s molten strikes may be weaker

against these tornado gales.

But this Garukhan did burn,

and the First of the Sky teaches unity

and selflessness is the path upwards,

so together, as always, they prevailed.

As she fell, and the exile plucked a single feather,

Einhar contemplated,

“We have fought a child of Craiceann,

and of Fenumus, and now Saqawal,

but the First of the Plains, Farrul,

is known to be the most elusive.

Surely this is a test, to defeat all four!”

But Einhar would need all of his skill

and focus to track down his prey,

so he left to begin his hunt.

Perhaps he could ask the priestess,

but even Hinekora is younger than the First Ones,

so he doubted she could offer any prophecy

that would aid his ultimate hunt.



Few know where all his travels took him,

some say he returned to Ezomyr,

others that he ventured north from Maraketh,

fishermen saw him near Ngamakanui,

pirates spotted him in Pondium.

Einhar traversed every mountain range,

crossed every lake and river,

scoured the wilds of Wraeclast,

but could not find Farrul’s tracks.

Eventually, he made his way to Oriath,

perhaps he would find his old friend

and together they would succeed

where alone he had failed.

Oriath square was crowded

with far more people than expected;

he had never been to a true city before!

However, his hunter’s instincts still served

and he spotted the Karui exile

speaking to a woman with blood-red hair.

Creeping closer, he heard the woman

speak of places not of this world:

verdant canopies that shroud the world in darkness,

colossal caverns, vast and silent,

fields of dancing flames that never rest,

mountain peaks perched on a meadow of clouds.

Einhar could not believe his ears!

But if these places were real,

then he knew where to continue his hunt.

Together the survivors explored these worlds,

dozens upon dozens of locations,

and every time they were different!

Einhar had never seen a tropical island

covered in icy ground,

nor a desert full of sea witches!

The Atlas that connected these worlds

was more than either could comprehend,

but following the connections

and with the guidance of the red-haired woman,

they learned ever deeper truths.



One day, their excursion took them

to a new map that felt unsettling familiar;

the first impression seemed like the riverways

where this journey began so long ago.

A dimly lit woodland area,

numerous streams that wove throughout,

felled trees that bridged these rivers,

all of this was similar

yet Einhar’s neck-hair prickled

for this place felt ancient and unwelcome.

Cautiously they explored a cave

that did not exist in the world they knew.

Emerging into the light once more,

they heard a voice that sounded like hunger,

“My prey draws near!”

And swiftly the battle was met,

a pack of shadowy wolves swarmed the pair,

forcing them to hide behind nearby trees.

And as soon as there was a respite

a massive wolf bore down on the Karui

tearing deep bleeding gashes with each bite,

and even their combined strength

did nothing to deter this predatory beast!

It barely counted as a battle yet,

for they had thus far failed to draw blood,

but the nature of the conflict changed again

when the wolf changed into a man.

But to Einhar this was no mere mortal;

if the tales were to be believed

the man before him was an incarnation

of the legendary Wolven King, Thane Rigwald!

Calling upon the might of the Greatwolf,

Rigwald again invoked a spectral pack,

and again the pair fell back;

the Karui’s armour did little to deflect the blows.

But when the ghosts faded

there was a chance to strike!

In an instant, the dire wolf returned,

the Karui called out to the immortals,

and neither foe could wound the other.

This time when wolf became man

the two survivors were ready

to unleash their full fury

until finally there was silence

save for a fading voice

“...First Ones, remember me.”



The end days were drawing near,

and surely Einhar’s worth had been proven!

But there were still greater beasts to hunt

and a debt to repay and a prophecy to fulfill.

The Feral Lord had cheated death

so many years ago, but Hinekora

would not be denied her claim.

The Mother of Death spoke through her seer,

“to the realm of dreams he flees,”

and pointed her chosen warriors

to a loathsome pool of mud.

Bubbling, gurgling, smelling of rot

where filth springs forth

like blood from a severed jugular;

there, their hunt would conclude.

Ruling over this festering wasteland

was the massive devourer, Tunneltrap.

But Einhar had slain many such beasts

and the Karui’s strength was unbreakable,

and they quickly continued to search

for the powerful, fiery Rhoa, Ventarus.

It, too, fell like wheat before the scythe

and Yriel, the Feral Lord

was forced to appear and face reckoning.

Carrying a legendary bow known to legend,

the “Reach of the Council”

would make for a formidable foe to most.

But a bow is a ranged weapon,

ill-suited to close, melee combat.

And the Karui, unstoppable with his anger,

leapt into the fray, merciless with his rage,

vowing to return this foe to Hinekora.

Einhar even threw a thumaturgical net,

not to capture, but to prevent escape,

and so entangled, and bombarded

with projectiles of fire and force,

the Feral Lord fell, leaving a fragment

to his hiding place, outside of death.

Einhar knew his path would not follow,

but he had done his part in this quest

and it was finally time to re-focus

on proving himself to the First Ones.



Countless worlds were explored,

many together, but most when they split up

to cover more ground.

Ever further from the reality of Wraeclast,

deeper and deeper into dream did they press.

Einhar captured untold numbers of beasts,

performed numerous blood rituals,

all to try to track down the First of the Plains.

Weeks turned into months without bearing fruit,

until one day the Karui came with news:

he had encountered another exile,

a merchant by the name of MakeMeABrandWitch.

She had managed to capture

a mighty Farric tiger alpha

and was willing to sell the beast.

Einhar was reluctant, “This is no hunt!

How will the First Ones find us worthy

if we complete this challenge by buying it?”

The Karui pointed out that the end drew near

and that they had little luck of their own,

“besides, the components for the blood ritual

are only the first step; the true test

will be in Farrul’s Den itself!”

Begrudgingly, Einhar agreed and began preparations.



The two gathered at the blood altar

and released the captured beasts.

“The First Ones are watching survivor.

Don’t disappoint them,” Einhar cried out!

The battle was swift and bloody;

the captured tiger put up a fight

but ultimately was no match.

As the dust settled, a blue portal appeared

that surely led the way to Farrul’s Den!

The two found themselves in a dark jungle

with a short path leading to an ancient arena,

a symbol of the First Ones drawn in blood

on the jungle floor.

First appearing grey and ghostly,

the tiger’s form glowed and materialized

and as soon as it was solid, it pounced!

Savagely clawing and biting,

Farrul tore chunks of flesh with each strike,

forcing the exile to retreat and quickly quaff

potions of healing and defense.

The First One eyed his prey

and called forth a stampede of shadow beasts!

The Karui deftly dodged to the side

but he was barely able to attack,

spending as much time avoiding

as getting his own attacks in.

When he would fall back to catch his breath,

the tiger would fade away

then reappear behind him with a swipe!

Slowly, attrition wore down both combatant.

When the exile dared hope

that the tide was turning in their favour,

a bright glow surrounded the two survivors

and whisked them into a dream-like realm.

In that blurry, shadowy place

they were assaulted by beasts of all types,

members of Farrul’s Pack!

Though severely outnumbered, the Karui smiled.

These weaker beasts posed little threat

and would allow them to catch their breath.

Carving a path through the dream,

when the last beast fell, the bright glow returned

and they found themselves in the blood area again.

Filled with confidence, for they saw Farrul’s wounds

had not healed in the intervening time,

they pressed the attack.

Farrul, First of the Plains, was still a dangerous foe

and the two warriors had to remain wary.

Savagery met savagery, and the arena

became dyed with gore.

The tiger never wavered in its fury;

Farrul had no fear of death here.

The First Ones were there in the beginning

and would inevitably be there in the end.

It is good that this struggle

took place far from the realms of man,

for the grisly song of battle

would bring terror to all who heard!

The arena resounded and shook

with the din of bloody conflict

until suddenly, the beast was culled.

Looking down upon their bested foe,

the two remained silent for several moments.

“The First Ones know you are worthy, Beastmaster,

what will you do now, before the end days?”

“Einhar is not certain, but there are always more beasts to hunt.

Perhaps Einhar will seek the other First Ones? What say you, survivor?”

“This was the final challenge I had set for myself,

so for a time, I think I have earned some rest.

But we will hunt together again, my friend!”



And so it was that these two mighty survivors

outlasted every foe that stood before them.

Great were their deeds, and long were their tales,

but greater still is their worthiness

to enter the Great Grove in the final days.

We've started this thematic competition as an experiment and we're very happy with how it turned out. Thanks to everyone who participated, see you in the next competition! Last week we announced the winners of our Einhar-Themed Talent Competition. Today we're happy to award more competitors with Runners-Up prizes.Come ye exiles, gather round!Einhar has a tale that will astound!Of tracking down the First Ones four,And clashing with these titans of lore.Lo, hear the might of the survivors:one exiled from Oriath,the other a son of Ezomyr.Across Wraeclast they journeyed,carving down men and beasts,destroying foes of stone and spirit,on the path to prove worthinessto enter the Great Grovewhen the First Ones return.Famed was the mighty Einhar,lone fighter of the final days!So, too, was great the honorof the Karui who was a slave.We've started this thematic competition as an experiment and we're very happy with how it turned out. Thanks to everyone who participated, see you in the next competition!