Daemon of War

Tysdagr

Norjyu Era - Late 900s

The Myth

Tyrsdagr, or Tyr as he was known by the vnou that survived encounters with him, was one of the more prominent deamons in the conflict between the Norjyu and the Shwazen. His ferocity and ability to slaughter on his own struck fear in the hearts of entire armies. Gracious historians would argue that Tyrsdagr is one of the very few vnou who would not fall within their traditional Shra range, but he surpassed it. An anomaly, a monster.

While many powerful high Shra vnou are capable of killing with naught more than a thought, Tyrsdagr like many daemon always made his killings particularly gruesome. Encounters with the Daemon of War were characterized with bloodied fields. Crippled vnou who would be strung up and skinned, put on display for their kin to find later on. Those that fought Tyrsdagr or met him on the field were often struck blind or dumb until his berserkers could get ahold of them - in which they would become butchered trophies or lobotomized slaves for the Norjyu tribes. Some of the most gruesome nightmares of vnou atrocities have been born and attributed to the daemons - one of the worst being Tysdagr.

The Man

This is one of the few cases in which the myths rarely do the man justice. Tysdagr was a tyrant and butcher, a monster to those he fought and self-proclaimed deity to those he ruled. There were only a handful of vnou that could actually deny him - his fellow daemon. Other minds he bent to his whim or broke to his needs, crafting entire castes of vnou into little more than rage-filled animals or mentally broken servants. Individuality served no purpose in his tribe. Strength and brutality ruled and he was one of the worst.

Scientifically speaking, an argument has been made that he was likely beyond the capabilities or range of the vnou around him. Perhaps he and the other few daemon were a mutation. However, because of their violent nature and eventual defeat by the Shwazen, whatever drove the daemon to be more would die out. Tyrsdagr would have a handful of children and live long enough to see them all to adulthood. It would eventually be age that slays the Daemon of War. Fortunately for the rest of the vnou, none of his children inherited the scale of his abilities.

Historical Basis

The historical significance and reality of Tyr is hard to deny when one of the days of the week - Tuesday - was eventually named after him. It was one of the concessions eventually made near the end of the Norjyu and Shwazen conflict. Though Tyr was not alive to be immortalized in such a fashion, the Norjyu would insist he be included in their peace talks as the legend of his ferocity persisted and is still one of the darkest examples of what a highly motivated vnou could be capable of. His gruesome acts, though unknown by the common vnou, are still listed as unacceptable conduct during actual conflicts amongst the Noble vnou and became part of the Opten Conventions - international laws that would dictate the legal standards of treatment in war. Though the Opten Conventions would not actually be created until later, it would still reference behavior and tactics the Norjyu used as examples of what would be barbaric and extreme. The Opten Convention would eventually include articles that would likewise provide protections for those of low Shra, generally vnou of Shra 4 or lower, insisting that they be treated as prisoners and cared for as such.

Cultural Reception

In areas outside of the Protectorate, where the stories of the Daemon are more myth than legend, the stories fuel horror movies and scary stories in the dark. They are the vnou boogie-man, the monster that lurks in the dark… But nothing that is serious. No vnou is truly afraid of the daemons, but they are a well-known and universal baddie. Those that deep dive into the darker end of vnou history might be able to catch some of the daemon names, especially if they land on the legends originating from the Protectorate and Oisvas, but a lot of the details are controlled. Instead, many stories are exaggerated tales that have largely been made up and twisted in the form of popular culture. Entire genres have been born out of the daemon myths - both of the true horror genre and the romanticized horror genre. Some find the idea of vnou so powerful they could lay out an entire battle field fascinating while others think it a thing of fantasy. Both, and everything in between, are stories frequently perpetuated by the Vyouz driven media.

by Midjourney

Spread

The impact that Tyr and the Daemons have had on the collective Vnou is something that the nobility could not scrub from the common vnou memory, no matter how they might try. The Norjyu daemons remain the figment of imagination and things of nightmares - the stories other vnou tell one another about the monsters in the dark. Some tell about the legends of monsters that vnou fought in older times while others insist that all the powerful Shra were wiped out because they were demonic tyrants that controlled other vnou. Not inaccurate though none of them know the true extent of what the daemons did or were capable of. History teaches them only of surface conflicts and that the Norjyu eventually succumbed to the might of the Shwazen, which became Shpazh. The connection between the Noryju and their deamons is simply not made.

The nobility is fully aware, however, of the true history. Oisvas honors their daemon ancestors through gladiatorial combat amongst themselves while Shpazh continue to attribute the civilizing of the horrific vnou as one of their larger achievements - never mind that they were one of the other brutalizers in the conflict. That side of the story is never told.

Variations

As noted, the Shpazh version and thus the one that is generally spread amongst the nobility paints the Shwazen as the saviors of the vnou. They brought the wild and tribal Norjyu to heel and eventually civilized the tribes. Liberating the slaves and scattering the collective Norjyu to the various cities they've eventually formed now, creating the Protectorate to oversee the land and make sure there wouldn't be another conflict. Shpazh is touted as the heroes of the story, often on the receiving end of whatever atrocities might be brought up and the heroes, overcoming the deamons and prevailing, saving their homes and lands even though it is never mentioned that they were the invaders.

Oisvas, the descendants of the Norjyu, tell the story very differently. There is a hero worship of their daemon ancestors and the mythical strength they wielded - that is now gone from the world. Their brutality is openly acknowledged and praised, for their strength was something that had, at one time, for a thousand years, held back the Shpazh. They hope for a return of that strength and seek to reclaim that bloody glory once more. In the Oisvas story, theirs is one of victory. They did not give up their land nor their homes.