Clan of Embers Opening Story:
It is said that even the best laid plans of men will go astray at the whim of a god. What they do not say, though, is that even the best laid plans of the gods will go astray, on the whim of that most impersonal of forces: Fate.
In another world, another time, perhaps, The plans of Bhall, the Fire Mistress, come to fruition. All was in motion for them to succeed. The Orcish rabble had assembled at Braduk the Burning, the Preistesses had gathered for their undoing, The warlord Jonas was Preparing to take power from the Priestesses, Orthus was ravaging the Wildlands, and an angry Sheelba had been found by an old Orc Warrior, who was bringing her, on his back, to the great meeting at Braduk.
But it was not to be.
As Orthus approached the outer slums of Braduk, a loose roof tile fell from one of the ancestral buildings, striking the powerful Orc on the back of the neck, Paralyzing him for life. At nearly the same instant, Rantine, usually surefooted, even while clambering the sharpest cliffs, stumbled and fell, a deep fall ending in a freezing, icy, river.
And so all came Undone.
In this world, Orthank Endain, a wily, cunning Orc, cousin of the Fallen Warlord, who, in that other world, would have been forgotten and faded into oblivion, Took power of the Clan of Embers.
His aim was the same as Jonas’s had been, but he took a much less brutal, although much slower, approach to the task of taking power than his cousin had planned.
He knew he had to win the minds of the people, make them turn away from the Priestesses and turn towards him as a savior from the corrupt crones.
So, he quietly assumed the mantle of leader of the Clan of embers, leaving the other clans alone, instead of subjugating them as his Cousin would have done.
In time, though, rumors spread through these clans of twisted and terrible magic performed by the Priestesses of Bhall. Rumors that the Priestesses were hording the great treasures of the past, and preparing to Levy taxes on the Faithful of Bhall. This offended the naturally proud Clans.
As the years passed, more and more clans turned away from the Eternal Flame, and, among these, the Clan of Embers emerged as a Leader, with Orthank at its head. Now an Elder, he still had all his wits about him, and organized and trained a united rebellion against the priestesses. The Rebels moved on Braduk, and easily crushed the armies of the clans still loyal to the priestesses.
Though initially successful, the priestesses had forseen his victory on scattered to the wilderness, preparing, in their turn, to wage a guerrilla war.
But the Fire Goddess, seeking to Salvage something from her ruined plans, Intervened. Speaking in dream to the Crone, head priestess, and to Orthank, she organized a lasting peace, cemented by the marriage of Crone’s Daughter Erin and Orthank’s son Kristur.
Erin and Kristur, though Initially Strangers, Fell in love, with a love more powerful than anything a god could have forseen.
It was A love so powerful and full of hope, that it called on the Goddess most dedicated to Goodnes itself.
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