The Children of Triadus
"When the earliest humans came to Gaeis, they settled in the area which is now Egund. Cooped up behind their wooden palisades, the humans did what all humans do: they quarelled. A particularly troublesome feud erupted between King Eiris and one of his old friends, Mikal Triadus.
Eiris Danthoin and Mikal Triadus had been friends for years, from boyhood. When Eiris had ascended to the throne after his wife's father's illness, it was Mikal who had acted as his bannerman during the war that broke out over the right to succession. Some supported Eiris' right by marriage, while others backed the King's brother Argil, a ruthless man. When Mikal's wife was executed as a traitor by Argil, it was Eiris who brought back Argil's head to adorn the battlements. Eiris would jest to Mikal that their children should be wed, and Mikal would laugh and heartily agree. After all, Mikal's son Grahm was a strong and clever boy and Eiris' daughter Vela was kind to him.
One day Eiris was brought news of raiding from the West. The villages on the border of his land were falling to marauders from rival tribes. Calling on his old friend, the two of them journeyed into the mountains to the north to seek out the soothsayers men had rumored lived on the peaks. They found the soothsayers and petitioned them for a vision.
"The line of Mikal Triadus is destined for the crown." "The men in the West will take your kingdom from you." "The joining of Triadus and Danthoin will give rise to ruth."
And the soothsayers would tell them no more. Eiris pleaded for an explanation, and when none was forthcoming, grew aggravated and left shouting curses, for he was not a patient man and neither did he care for riddles. Before he chased after his friend, Mikal stooped to thank the prophets. In return, they kissed him on his head and welcomed him to return when his need was great. When Mikal told the King that they had kissed him, Eiris looked at Mikal with disgust and would no longer drink from the same cup.
Soon after they returned, Grahm's face was scarred by a strange birthmark that appeared on his 13th nameday.
Over the next few years, the King began to draw away from Mikal, consumed as he was with the growing skirmishes to the West, but Vela and Grahm had grown to love each other, despite Grahm's disfigurement and continued their courtship in secret. Mikal still stayed true to his King, but his guidance went unheeded and eventually the King sent him out from his court. The King, ever superstitious, saw a dark omen in the coincidence of Grahm's disfigurement, the riddles of the soothsayers, and the much increased unrest on the border. The King was becoming increasingly paranoid of the Kings in the West and of the strange creatures that lived in the forest of Qaeld. He became known for violent oubursts and bouts of extreme depression. When Mikal and Grahm came to him and petitioned for Vela's hand in marriage, Eiris entered a mad rage, declaring that his daughter would not marry "a hideous monster." Despite the pain his friend was causing him, Mikal reminded Eiris of the soothsayers' prophecy regarding their children. Eiris shouted that Mikal wanted the throne for himself, and declared that under him, the kingdom would fall to the Western Kings, as the prophecies said. He denied the power of the soothsayers, calling them accursed. They poisoned a man's mind to their ends, which were cruel. Ruth, and pity, he said, were not things he meant to know from anyone. He banished them both from his hall.
In order to preserve his kingdom, Eiris went west and arranged for Vela to wed the King of one of the more meddlesome and warlike tribes, hoping such a marriage would solidify the defenses of his kingdom. Truly, the addition of so many fierce warriors would keep the forest creatures within the borders of their own land. While Eiris was away, Mikal, concerned for his liege lord and friend, took a journey into the mountains to seek out the soothsayers once again. He was not seen again for some time.
As the King returned from the west to share with his daughter the news of her engagement, he found her in bed with Grahm. In his fury, he slew young Grahm by bludgeoning him with the crown he would never attain.
The murder was covered up and Grahm was buried in an unmarked grave. It was soon after that Prias learned that Vela was with child. She was wed to the King in the West within the month, to hide her infidelity. When no word of Mikal Triadus reached him for many weeks, the King's vigilance and grief began to wane. In the year that passed, a peace grew with the Western Kings, but children in the villages began to mysteriously vanish. All of the children were at least of Grahm's age, a coincidence the King did not fail to notice. His fear and paranoia reached new heights: he dreamed of his old friend Mikal Triadus and of spirits.
The baby was newborn when Mikal finally appeared, seemingly out of thin air, before the King and his court in his throne room one day as the King brought forth the child for his court to see. As the guards moved to seize him, with one breath Mikal blew them away from him to strike against the walls and lay in crumpled heaps of armor on the floor. His voice crackled and boomed like thunder as he addressed the king. He spoke of the wonders he had found in the mountains and how the soothsayers had been right all along. He spoke of the True Words, which held great power and had constructed the world and could destroy it. He told the King of how he had learned of his son's death and of the son Vela had bourn that was rightfully his. He knew of Vela's marriage to the Western King and her death during childbirth. He seemed to know everything.
The King grew angry. He shouted that Mikal's boy had pushed himself on Vela, that she would never dishonor herself with a disfigured monster. The King had brewed his justifications in his mind and they had stewed there for so long that he couldn't remember the taste of truth anymore.
Mikal simply smiled. "I will give you a choice," he told the King. "You may reach for your grandchild or you may reach for your sword. I will allow you only one." The King was still. With a growl, he reached for his sword, intending to cut Mikal in half and keep his baby to boot. When he turned to face his old friend, Mikal stood with the babe in his arms, smiling at the little one. "I know you would cut down my loved ones to get what you want, but I don't think you will cut down your own, but you may try to kill me if it is worth it to you." The King dropped his sword. Mikal walked toward him and kissed him on the head, just as the soothsayers had done to him. "I do pity you, old friend. Since you have lost yourself to fear I will relieve you of it. Your heart shall never be pierced with sword or arrow. Your body will heal all hurts, although you will feel their pain. You will not age. Poison will taste as sweet as honey and have no more lasting effect. Death shall have no hold over you. I give you this as a Gift. You shall be King as long as you like. Yet you shall beget no more children, and your lust will fail you. The only one who will release you from this life stands now before you."
The place where Mikal had kissed the King's forehead burned faintly.
"All the sons and daughters of Triadus are mine now," Mikal whispered and vanished.
And so it was that the Curse of Triadus was bestowed on King Eiris. He continued to rule for many years, until he finally offered his kingdom to the Kings in the West. Indeed, with many thanks, the King in the West took it from him.
