The Restorers
From the notes of Maren Abraith, Kinswoman of the Free Kingdom of Vall, Advocate (and first Kinswoman scout) of the Restorers.
Here is the official line on The Dead Kingdom, and what befell it:
"When the avatar Brevei first forged her Covenant with the first Kings, she warned them that they were to be caretakers of their land. They must not try and enforce their will and dominion on it, or the oath between them would be broken. Furthermore, the Kinsfolk line must not die out. There is no greater demonstration of what occurs when the Covenant is broken than the Dead Kingdom.
Long ago, Darei was once one of the most powerful of the Kingdoms. Many argue about what caused it to wither and fall, but all agree that the Covenant lies shattered and broken. Its land grows no useful plant life, and all its foliage is bleached pale and white. The animals have grown monstrous and wild. No living human dwells in the Dead Kingdom, and some rumor that the old inhabitants were kept from Afallon’s Gates and are trapped instead in their old home, forever doomed to wail and wander."
There are some of us who are not satisfied with these words.
What was the true cause of its death? Did all of its Kinsfolk fall to treachery, perhaps at the hands of Ceanas? Without the powers of the Kinsfolk to guide it, could the land have simply fallen fallow...but surely that would lead to the land merely becoming wild and uninhabitable like the Roughlands, not this bone-white, blighted thing. Or was the Covenant severed in some violent way that twisted the land itself? Did the Kinsfolk of Darei, misguided somehow, do the land itself a grievance and pay the ultimate price?
The Restorers aim to find out. More importantly, we aim to reverse what has been done. If the only way to make these dead lands live again is to make them a part of Vall, so be it.
Our counterparts in the Kingdom of Bann sneer at our efforts. They believe the only way to restore the Dead Kingdom is to recover Brevei's Covenant on a spiritual level. But--gods and avatars forgive me for saying this--Brevei is long-dead. There only exists now the Covenant she left behind, and to restore that, there is no divine force we can rely on. Only the Kinsfolk she imbued with her power, and the connection they hold to the land.
Some of my colleagues among the Restorers are deep in research, searching throughout Tulmayas for answers, for new lines of thought: examples of other anomalies that exist in the Roughlands and beyond. I'm sure it is valid work being done amongst scholars, researchers, masters of nature and alchemy. Not all of them have Kinsfolk powers, but they still pursue their knowledge with commendable passion.
But in my heart I know the answer is here, in the Bond I feel with Vall, and the Bond I am determined to forge with Darei someday. Have the others not felt it--the wrongness of the land, the moment you cross from the thick, green forest of Vall into the twisted pale forest--if it can be called that--of the Dead Kingdom? Any Kinsfolk that touch that border--they must know. Anyone who has ever felt the Bond to their land must feel it. It's not just that it's no longer our own domain--when I step over into neighboring Kingdoms like Bann, it simply feels like power that's not mine to touch, a land that isn't my own. Instead, the Dead Kingdom feels like something is sick, broken, pressing in on you with the scent of death. It's an anti-bond.
But I must admit, perhaps I put too much weight on the Bond because that is my own strength. Brevei's memory knows, I had to fight to convince the Abraith Kinsfolk to let me be a part of the Restorers, since Kinswomen are meant to be the keepers of the home...and yet, here I am, among the scouts, as we delve deeper and deeper into the Kingdom until we find the hidden Seat of its power, or the ruins thereof.
Others may fear the cruel and withered borders of the Dead Kingdom, but the Restorers do not.
Here is the official line on The Dead Kingdom, and what befell it:
"When the avatar Brevei first forged her Covenant with the first Kings, she warned them that they were to be caretakers of their land. They must not try and enforce their will and dominion on it, or the oath between them would be broken. Furthermore, the Kinsfolk line must not die out. There is no greater demonstration of what occurs when the Covenant is broken than the Dead Kingdom.
Long ago, Darei was once one of the most powerful of the Kingdoms. Many argue about what caused it to wither and fall, but all agree that the Covenant lies shattered and broken. Its land grows no useful plant life, and all its foliage is bleached pale and white. The animals have grown monstrous and wild. No living human dwells in the Dead Kingdom, and some rumor that the old inhabitants were kept from Afallon’s Gates and are trapped instead in their old home, forever doomed to wail and wander."
There are some of us who are not satisfied with these words.
What was the true cause of its death? Did all of its Kinsfolk fall to treachery, perhaps at the hands of Ceanas? Without the powers of the Kinsfolk to guide it, could the land have simply fallen fallow...but surely that would lead to the land merely becoming wild and uninhabitable like the Roughlands, not this bone-white, blighted thing. Or was the Covenant severed in some violent way that twisted the land itself? Did the Kinsfolk of Darei, misguided somehow, do the land itself a grievance and pay the ultimate price?
The Restorers aim to find out. More importantly, we aim to reverse what has been done. If the only way to make these dead lands live again is to make them a part of Vall, so be it.
Our counterparts in the Kingdom of Bann sneer at our efforts. They believe the only way to restore the Dead Kingdom is to recover Brevei's Covenant on a spiritual level. But--gods and avatars forgive me for saying this--Brevei is long-dead. There only exists now the Covenant she left behind, and to restore that, there is no divine force we can rely on. Only the Kinsfolk she imbued with her power, and the connection they hold to the land.
Some of my colleagues among the Restorers are deep in research, searching throughout Tulmayas for answers, for new lines of thought: examples of other anomalies that exist in the Roughlands and beyond. I'm sure it is valid work being done amongst scholars, researchers, masters of nature and alchemy. Not all of them have Kinsfolk powers, but they still pursue their knowledge with commendable passion.
But in my heart I know the answer is here, in the Bond I feel with Vall, and the Bond I am determined to forge with Darei someday. Have the others not felt it--the wrongness of the land, the moment you cross from the thick, green forest of Vall into the twisted pale forest--if it can be called that--of the Dead Kingdom? Any Kinsfolk that touch that border--they must know. Anyone who has ever felt the Bond to their land must feel it. It's not just that it's no longer our own domain--when I step over into neighboring Kingdoms like Bann, it simply feels like power that's not mine to touch, a land that isn't my own. Instead, the Dead Kingdom feels like something is sick, broken, pressing in on you with the scent of death. It's an anti-bond.
But I must admit, perhaps I put too much weight on the Bond because that is my own strength. Brevei's memory knows, I had to fight to convince the Abraith Kinsfolk to let me be a part of the Restorers, since Kinswomen are meant to be the keepers of the home...and yet, here I am, among the scouts, as we delve deeper and deeper into the Kingdom until we find the hidden Seat of its power, or the ruins thereof.
Others may fear the cruel and withered borders of the Dead Kingdom, but the Restorers do not.
Type
Research, Council
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