The Mortal Sword
The Mortal Sword is a legend in which Shubb'Ki puts their daughter, the Orc Yayla through a series of trials, in order to prove her worth. This is revealed to be a ploy in which Yayla is tricked, by Shubb'Ki disguised as the Beacon Surm Tutdrug, into gazing into the Far Realm, after priming herself via the trials, and being forcibly transformed into the first Lich.
It is a tale often emulated by prospective Liches, being the most widely-known, dangerous yet reliable method of achiving Lichdom on Apa Axas.
Summary
"It is said that Shubb'Ki, the ScarKing himself had many children upon Apa Axas, back when the Travesties could walk the waking world. Orcs were his favourite mortals; honest, strong, bloodthirsty. They would mark their skin for him, and let the wounds fester. The Dread Decay could spend hours watching the living wound rot in the sun as an Orc warrior held out his arm until it trembled, for that Orc knew that if his arm was to falter, and if his lord's view of the wound was altered, even for a moment, he would lose that arm as the Eternal Rot pulled it from his torso.
It was not long before a few of the ScarKing's children were born to Orc fathers. As was Shubb'Ki's wants, the men of his favourite orcish village had mutilated themselves in his name, becoming able to carry the Dread Decay's children to term. There were many victims of the cruel experiment, and only one survivor. The supposed "daughter" of Shubb'Ki and Manac, the Orcish chieftain. Shubb'Ki was impressed with the newborn's resilience, and he carved a mystic rune into the child's back, before leaving her outside an orphanage outside Falshune, eager to see what havoc a daughter of Shubb'Ki could cause.
The baby was soon adopted by a Human family living in a small village outside Quiet Mountain. She was named Yayla and the first fifteen years of her life were uneventful, despite the mystery of the carving on her back. This all changed when one day, she was approached by the Beacon Surm Tutdrug as she hunted for rabbits in the local woods.
The Dead Dwarf revealed that Death was coming for Yayla, and the only way to avoid it was to prove herself worthy of becoming one of his mighty warriors. Yayla, a headstrong young fighter, eager for adventure, leapt at the challenge, and she was whisked away from her home, never to return.
Yayla found herself in a blinding cloud of dust, her eyes stinging and weeping thick tears of blood. She could barely hold in the contents of her stomach, as she pawed through the mist. She felt her bare hand melt as she touched a purple, droopy flower, covering her in a flesh eating dust. As she watched her hand decay, she entered a rage, and carved through the mushrooms with a sharp root. Behind that mushroom was a door, of which she did not hesitate to walk through.
Next, was a spider-web made of human souls, on which Yayla now found her weary feet. A transparent crystal spider cluttered towards her, but just as it was upon her, it had rendered itself invisible, jumping on her from behind and sinking its teeth into her calf. The muscle began to flicker in and out of existence, but it only fuelled the Orc's rage. She rended the spider limb from limb and hobbled onwards, her nearly gone limb almost disappeared entirely into the ethereal realm.
She wandered for hours, until she came across a sleeping wyvern, wrapped around a shining sword. Without hesitating, she pulled the sword from the beast, and slew it before it could react. She then pierced its stinger, and drank from it. She looked at the sword, and felt it was hollow. Inside was a scream. She screamed alongside the scream, and then felt felt the knowledge of a thousand profane witches course through her mind. In that moment, she aged three hundred years as she learnt the meaning of madness.
When she returned to the waking world, she was plunging a stake into the heart of the Leeching Lord, and was drinking a quart of his blood. Alas, she was not to know that the Vampire fiend had infected himself with the purple flower and wyvern toxin, rendering his blood as foul as he.
All at once, Shubb'Ki was there to witness, just as he is to witness all of his children on their rebirth. In his grief, he opened a window to the Furthest Depths of the Orbis, and demanded that his ally, Kahildaman, aid him in reversing the hold of death. Together, they treated the wounds, and used a series of spells to unanchor Yayla's soul from her corpse prison. She was then placed into her sword, which was follow, and contained her scream, to echo through the past and present. Yayla then rose again, the first Lich, the first to die again and again and again.
Yayla still knew not what had happened, why Surm Tutdrug had driven her to such torture. It was then that the true Dead Dwarf arrived, invited by Shubb'Ki to witness a miracle. Shubb'Ki revealed to the Beacon of Death, and his daughter, that he had created a new death-form, mutilating his daughter's soul into a twisted parody of life. Surm was disgusted, leaving in anger, but not before he threatened to kill the confused Lich. Shubb'Ki revealed that he had been the Surm that had set Yayla upon her quest, as he wished to show the God of Death that Shubb'Ki was the true artist of Undeath.
Shubb'Ki barely noticed as his daughter began to cry. He cared not, for his need of her had finished. Without another word, he vanished, leaving his daughter, trapped within a sword, doomed to trap other souls alongside her, lest she return to face her father, for more of his games..."
Historical Basis
The historical accuracy of this legend is up for debate, but it is known that it is an accurate and reliable manner to achieve Lichdom, although it is one of the most dangerous.
It is also said to be the cause of Surm Tutdrug's noted hatred of Shubb'Ki, as the Dead Dwarf was impersonated by Shubb'Ki in order to turn his own daughter into the first Lich.
Spread
This story, and the method of Lichdom spawned from it, has not spread past Apa Axas. This is fortunate, as this version of achiving Lichdom, by completing The Ritual of the Living Pinion, can cause tears in the fabric of space time, and can expose material reality to Far Realm influence.
Cultural Reception
The legend has been seen to represent an accurate and reliable manner of becoming a Lich, with the plot points invoking the ingredients and manner of completing The Ritual of the Living Pinion.
The heroine of the story, Yayla, is turned into a Lich by completing trials, which represent the steps needed to ascend to Lichdom.
The first trial has Yayla descend into a toxic forest of mushrooms that decay her flesh. The purple mist and plants are representative of Belladonna, or deadly nightshade, a key ingredient in the Ritual, needed to form the necessary body death.
Yayla fights a possible Phase Spider in the second trial, which is a reference to the Phase Spider Venom needed to act as ethereal glue.
The third trial involves Yayla harvesting Wyvern venom, the main solvent in the potion of unlife. It also shows her first encounter with her phylactery, a sword containing a hollow hilt that contains what she learns to be is her eternal soul. The absorption of intelligence in this passage is also notable, as it is rumoured to the result of Orc censors. The concept of being a wizard is a notoriously touchy subject amongst some Orcish tribes, and it is rumoured that Yayla was changed from a wizard into a barbarian, but the censors had to justify how the non-spell caster could become a Lich.
Next, she is exposed to the Far Realm, as she experiences the time dilation common to Far Realm influence, as well as "Learning the meaning of madness." The prospective Lich must also expose themselves to the Far Realm. Then, she fights a vampire, which completes the trifecta of the potion of unlife ingredients, with vampire blood. They are mixed together within the vampire's body, and ingested by Yayla, killing her, just as the ritual entails.
Shubb'Ki is then needed to be summoned by the Lich's minions, often using a copy of The Crawling Dark and a sacrifice, to witness the Lich's birth. Shubb'Ki must then be beseeched to open a portal to the Far Realm, with the aid of his colleague Kahiladman, the Lich's corpse is exposed to the raw Far Realm, in which their soul is unanchored, and using a mixture of the spells Magic Jar, Trap the Soul and Enchant Item, and the soul is stored into a phylactry by the minions. The portal will then be closed, and Shubb'Ki will be appeased with the offer of a mortal soul. The Travesty will then disappear and the Lich will rise, as a full, but unrotted Lich, only to grow in power.
Date of First Recording
7273
Date of Setting
7273
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