The Siege of Dorstulon, the city of the Ten Walls
"Then, go to the city of the Ten Walls, because that is the will of the Gods, to send the strongest of all the humans to avenge the injustice commited against noble king Euron . If you succeed thousands of bards across thousands of generations will praise your deeds with beautiful poems and music, and your names will became sinonimous with piety and glory".Words of the Oracle of Cadmydia to the hero Metadion according with the Saga of Dorstulon, seris epic book written around 629 BP.
Davidion, son of pious Peuvlon and the most noble goddess Kelsia, daughter of Abbon Shabai and Tyr, hearing of king Lerimeus had challenged him to a duel, put on his bronze cuirass and after picking his weapons he mounted on his beautiful charriot with its two speedy white horses sending to him by the Gods, and went straight on to the battlefield. There he announced himself to his foe in front of everybody saying these words: "Oh King Lerimeus, who defied all the Gods, and was accomplice of the greatest of all injustices , here I am, accepting this duel that you so much dessire. And I'll not rest until i kill you with the help of the Inmortals and my spear, in order to bring divine justice to all who think that can do as they please without obbeying the commands that are given from Heaven. " Extract from the War of Dorstulon, written in the early Ikarian Language around 1.000 BPNo other Heroic tale have had such a profound legacy in the culture and psyche of the Davidovian peoples as this. Although it has been recorded in different books and each version has slighly variations of the story, the main plot is similar in every nation of the so called Davidovian peoples. Every person knows this tale by memory as there is the book that every children uses to learn how to read and memorize texts. It has also inspire many other legends that form part of the corpus of mythology of the Davidovian peoples.
Summary
The story tells us that king Euron of the kingdom of Passania (located in modern Lashel) was a very wise and pious ruler and because of that the gods greatly favoured him and made his kingdom prosperous and very rich. But these prosperity made his neighbour, king Elysias, very jealous. As his army alone couldn't defeat Euron's army, he formed a coallition with other human kings across the continent of Karia and the Dark Elves and gathered the best heroes of the region. Together they invaded Passania and besieged Euron's capital. But they couldn't assault it succesfully. So Elysias asked the Dark Elves to perform evil dark magic and created an army of "demons" who were supperior to every common human. They also called the God of Night and Death for help and he hid the sun with very dark clouds. With all of these powers in their side the army of Elysias assaulted the city and captured the queen alongside their two daughters and two of his three sons and killed them, thus neglecting the rules of war between kings and, and, as one of the princesses was the priestess of Abbon Shabai, defying the king of all the gods. King Euron and his youngest son Abraios could barely scape with the help of the God of the Sea and the bravery of the great hero Amasces.
He took refuge in Teria and there he sent heralds to all the kings and heroes of the land, explaining them what happened and asking them for help in order to avenge that sin against the gods and citting them to meet him in the temple of the Goddess Tyr in the Lake of Bareotis (near modern Blati). Almost every king and hero of Teria aswered the call, the most important of them were:
- Davidion, son of King Peuvlon and the goddess Kelsia , famous for his wisdom and bravery in combat)
- King Neseus of the Great Planes (who became the leader of the expedition alongside Euron himself)
- King Tecilder of the Realm of the Western Elves (famous for his archery skills and intelligence) alongside the heroes Tazlut and Iccida (who was the daughter of the elven goddess of Music).
- King Girzius of the White Elves ( considered a champion of chivalry) and his younger brother Ulzur and the wizard Gaodyn.
- Bulgur, king of the dwarfs (son of the god of blacksmiths)
And eventually during the adventure, the king of the Sun Elves, Narathet would also join these coalition.
Together with their armies they sailed to Karia in order to avenge the crimes commited against Euron and besieged the city of Dorstulon during 15 long years in which they fought against the powerfull enemy kings such as King Lerimeus of Zophron, the dark elf wizard Rucoc and his powerfull magic and his mythological beasts such a blue griffon which exhaled ice and the dragon Yzimir eventually prevailing and killind them and reinstating Euron as king and Abraios as his heir.
The key concepts of the story are piety (meaning respecting and worshiping the gods and not anger them), bravery in battle, friendship, justice and loyalty.
Historical Basis
Although all the Davidovian peoples believe that this story was real. There are no contemporary sources for this event as writing had not been invented yet. But some of the places and cities that the tale describes really existed. As for many heroes, for example Davidion (who could be a sort of tribal leader during the bronze age, and could be a legendary figure for explaining the origins of the davidovian peoples and their language family and common pantheon) they seem to be fictional, although for example the earliest Elven stories do mention the names of the elven kings named in the tale and the period where they were kings.
As for Euron and his kingdom, the common believe among all the davidovian peoples (Oronai, Seris, ancient Ikarians, Blatians and Crorai) is that the kingdom was located in the territory of the kingdom of Lashel and some traditions point to the city of Autumwall as the legendary capital of Euron's kingdom. (Asurlan I seris Emperor even visited what was suposedly was the tomb of the fallen heroes outside the city, and inside it the tomb of king Euron).
Because of the context and the cultural aspects depicted in the Myth we can undoubtely place it during the middle stages of the Bronze Age of Yeia ( from 5000 to 2000 BP). Giving us a glimpse of the early practices, believes and customs of the early davidovian peoples before their Migration period. There is also some historical accuracies about the technologies of peoples of the western regions of Karia, for example, the myth tell us that the soldiers of king Elysias fought with war hammers and maces made of stone, while their enemies of Teria fought with bronze weapons. ( this is true, as bronze weapons were introduced by the Seris when they settle in the region around a millenia after the supposedly date of the War of Durstolon.
Spread
The War of Dorstulon is a very popular myth among the davidovian peoples and the Elves of Teria. Every Seris, Oronai, Blatian or Crorai and also the Elf knows the story by memory and can recite entire chapters. Books telling this epic tale are also commonly found in the houses of the people that can read, and in theatre, plays reenacting the story are very common and popular.
They are also bards who go from town to town singing the story in public spaces and taverns.
Variations & Mutation
Each nation tend to variate some aspects of the story, giving more protagonism to certain characters or adding characters that are not mention in other versions. For example, the Elves tend to set the main focus of the story on the elven heroes or for example the Blatians and Seris give more protagonism to Davidion, as he is one of their mythical ancestor. The Seris also added their ancestor, Kushi to the plot by stating that he travelled alongside his father Davidion and that he fought his distinction in every battle he fought. While the Blatians say that it was Ikaros not Kushi who went to Dorstulon with his father.
The Elves have also added some chapters, for example one lamenting the death of Tazlut or Gizius farewell to king Euron and the rest of the heroes.
Cultural Reception
This myth is extraordinary important, specially for the Davidovian peoples and Elves as it not only narrates the glorious deeds of their ancestors, but it also help them understand the world and the different peoples that inhabitted them.
They also consider this tale as the first great book of their litterature and also the origin of some of their cultural and religion practices. For example, the heroine Iccida, who was an elf, married Davidion, and that help the davidovian peoples explain why they are some of the few human peoples who marry elves and have usually friendly relations with them. The same goes to the Elves, who, because of this marriage and the deeds he did during the war, consider the davidovian peoples as the only humans they respect.
The tale is also the first mention of the use of magic among humans and elves, and it is the origin of the conception of the dark magic as evil.In Literature
The myth has been transmitted by several books depending on the people who wrote it. For example the Blatians have the book called The War of Dorstulon which originally was written in verse and it is considered the earliest version of the story. But they also have the Book of the Heroes in which they narrate not only the war but the things that happened before and after, focusing specially in the return of the heroes to their realms as well as their lifes after the war.
There are also poems, that in some versions form entire new chapters of the main story, such the mentioned Lament for the death of Tazlut or the Farewell of the Heroes.
In Art
The influence of the tales of the Durstulon War in art is huge. The walls of palace of the Oronai Kings in Oronia were entirely covered with paintings depicting various scenes of the story. A series of statues of all the heroes were built by the Ikarian Emperors on the spot near the lake Bareotis where it is believe that all the heroes gathered answering the call from king Euron. There , sacrifices were made in their honor in order to achieve the help of those who became demi-gods.
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