"He is not gone: In our Hour of Greatest Need

On the Winter Solstice under the Serpentine Star,

He will come again, with hair as black as night and eyes like fire.

The rune of the sun will rest upon his brow.

And bearing the Sword of Promised Victory, he shall bring peace.

And war shall be no more."

- Chanson du Roi

The Once & Future Emperor

Once upon a time, long before you and I ever walked the earth, there was a great Empire known as Thuille. Thuille was ruled by a great many Old Emperors, who were each buried in a Trialhall - dangerous crypts which held traps, puzzles, riddles, or tests of strength. It was said the first one to pass previous Emperor's trial was to be the new Emperor.

The last and greatest of these Emperors was Riavh Solais. He was born the son of the Sagelady Scathach and a male Dragon, whom she seduced with her wits and her earthy nature which he could never have. Scathach taught him songs of the earth and sea, but his father's ambition and fiery nature filled him always.

Riavh was a wild but clever child whose curiosity got him into trouble as well as back out of it. He challenged an Empyreal Lord to a game of riddles and won. The Empyreal Lord was so angry that he slew his Lady-Sage mother. Riavh was left then to wander the world alone.

The Emperor before him left an enchanted sword stuck in an anvil and said that only the Once and Future Emperor and his rightful heir would be able to remove it. Many strong men attempted to remove it. What these men could not see was that there was an invisible enchantment on the sword and only saying the sword's true name would cause it to release from the anvil.

Riavh Solais, however, was born missing his left eye. This gave him the power to see the Weave of the World. He was but a boy at the time, barely aged fourteen. Yet the sword called to him. He went to the sword, knelt before it, and said, "O mighty Fragarach, I am not the wisest nor the strongest, but I swear, upon names of my fathers and forefathers before them, that I will lead Thuille to its promised victory. Will you accept me as your Master?"

With that, he grasped the sword and lifted it from the anvil with ease. And from then on, he ruled as a fair and just Emperor. His rule expanded across the whole of the North. Under his rule, sealfolk, hornedfolk, men, and women all lived in harmony. And even the spiderfolk from west came and left peacefully. During his conquests, Riavh was often assisted by Dragons - sent by his father to watch over him.

One day, a beautiful woman came to Emperor Riavh Solais' court. She had hair the color of the sea and silver eyes and she moved with a ethereal grace so much so that every officer in Riavh's army proposed to her. But she turned them all down, saying that she would only marry the man who could guess her true name. They called her "Sitheach" meaning "Fairy", both for her beauty and her strange ability to predict the future.

Unlike Fragarach, however, Riavh could not read her true name for it was not engraved on her body. And so, he did not pursue her. Instead, he allowed her to safely adjourn in his court, asking her advice on all things and heeding her wise council. In return, he taught her magic and fighting. She came to admire him for his wisdom and humility, as well as his pride and temperance. And so, she wrote her name in magic on the ceiling above his bed. He was able to read it and the two were wed. On her coronation, the now-Queen announced her birthday "Yeultide" as a celebration of her coming to this land. When asked, Riavh admitted this was a hint to her name, but he never revealed her name to anyone. Maybe you will be the one to figure it out.

Their love was fruitful and soon, a son was born. However, shortly after his birth, Sitheach - mysteriously as she had arrived - left the court and vanished into the mists and the boy was motherless. In his grief, Riavh still raised the boy as best he could before remarrying - a Sagelady like his mother. The prince admired his father above all else and yet, he always stood in his father's shadow. He was jealous, both of his father and his father's beautiful new wife - who took all his father's love away from him, he thought.

One night, when the prince turned fourteen, he stole Fragarach and decided to kill the Sagelady Queen. He snuck into her room and found her in bed with another man, one of Riavh's best officers, Lanfrac. The prince dragged them into Court and demanded justice in his father's name. The two begged for their lives and Riavh couldn't bring himself to execute them. And so, he sent them both away from his court.

The prince was so aghast that he declared his father to be a weak Emperor and rallied half the Empire against him. A bloody war was fought in which hundreds of lives were lost. Riavh could have won easily by summoning the Dragons, but he did not want to force his father to choose between his son and grandson, and so there were no Dragon sightings during this time.

Riavh met his son on the battlefield at Cuilline and demanded that single-combat end this, to which the prince agreed. The two fought and the Emperor Riavh emerged victorious but he was so exhausted that his arms and legs both fell off.

As he lay dying, Sitheach returned to him with magical armor to replace his arms and legs. She revealed herself to have the power to see the future, and she foresaw his downfall and journeyed far across the sea so he would not die in this moment. She said the world was not ready for an Emperor so gentle and so pure but they would be someday. And she laid him to rest, promising to reawaken him when Thuille needed him the most. His awakening would be heralded by the return of Dragons to the North.

And at last, his heart could be at ease.

The Saegari

Song of the Sage King - A Saegen Song about the Last Thuillean King

O-oh once there lived the most greatest king of kings

And for his re-eign, the Dra-a-gons sing

He pulled a sword from trialhall's firm stone

A-And used his might to claim his northern throne

And then his kingdom ca-ame to cover far and wide

With the Dra-agons by-y hi-is side

And from the Empyre to the east

To the land of the-e spiderbeasts

Such was the Thuille of Saegari!

Long reign the Saegari

He was fair as fair can be

And he-e will rise to come again

And the whole world wide will know his name

Long reign the Saegari

He was fair as fair can be

And he-e will rise to come again

And the whole world wide will know his name

Hyr dit jav, rivanjan jaga riva vymrja

Or fet lir rivr yvjipa sirilin fava

Lir osjiert shan dren me'ar or jalrja

Aelni heime fet fadur or fo marja

Or av lir heime ael arlyrja

Il Yvjipen, lir vragmenrja

Dren Njynheime suringrae

A Hetheil Suraerae

Di Thul sehrja til Saegari