Of the Avoloch

The Avoloch sword was forged in the Elven city of Castel, of the Realm of Deylund, in the four hundred and fourth year of the Fifth age of Ammon. In that time Deylund was home to many great cities of Men and Elves, and the Dark One waged war upon them. The capitol of Deylund, called Deylund City, was ruled by King Elliasthol. The King was a great supporter of the Mithrodin, the protectorate of the Swords of the Ancients and warriors in service to the Great Realms. Many Mithrodin schools and temples resided within the walls of Deylund City. One of the King”s own daughters, Enethia, was a bright Mithrodin cleric in training to become a Mith-avoloch, the warrior class of the Mithrodin. King Elliasthol commissioned the skilled Elven swordsmith, Tethietol, to forge a Mithrodin sword for his daughter's seventeenth birthday. The seventeenth birthday of a Mithrodin was a special one, for that was the age a Mithrodin was given a true combat sword to replace the lighter practice swords used in training.

Tethietol was the Elven King”s personal swordsmith in Castel, a kingdom North of Deylund City, and he took it upon himself to create a unique Mithrodin sword for the King”s daughter, one that would stand out among the warriors of the Mith. He crafted a fine block of Elven steel with which to forge its blade. Typical Mithrodin blades were of a curved shape with a long handle for a wide-spaced grip, due to the fighting styles they employed. Tethietol kept this design element, but added a blade-grip just in front of the hilts, and a curved blocking blade on the underside of the hilt, to protect the hand and act as a shield to block enemy blows. The grip was covered in hardened chorian snake hide, wrapped in the finest tanned pig skin, and the sculpted iron pommel was crafted with a striking point. When the sword was complete, he named it Avoloch. The word Avoloch is from the ancient language of Thant, and it was the name used for the warrior class of the Mithrodin. “Avo” means soldier and “loch” means steel, and when combined meant “soldier of steel”. The sword blade was engraved with the Elliasthol family crest, and the side blade was engraved with “Avoloch will yield to none but truth”, in Anglecal runes, the common language of Men and Elves. Tethietol added his makers mark on the back side of the sword blade.

The year that Enethia was presented with the Avoloch was the same year the Dark One attacked Deylund City and overtook it from her father. Deylund City was a safe haven for the keeping of several of the enchanted Swords of the Ancients, and the Dark One was bent on finding them. When the King refused to bring them forth he was slain. Then, one by one, the Dark One killed the King's family, until Enethia, who was sworn to protect the Swords of the Ancients at all costs, broke her vow and revealed to the Dark One where the swords had been taken. She told that they were secretly removed from the city before the battle and were to be taken to the Elven Kingdom of Castel, for the Elven King Menolessar harbored many Mithrodin, soldiers, and they held a temple there. Thus the Dark One sent scouts and hunters to scour the lands around the capitol city to find these Mithrodin before they escaped to reach the Elven city. He kept his promise and did not slay Enethia, but he commanded that all of the surviving soldiers and male Elves and Men of the city be slain. Enethia was forced to watch this horror before she was set free. There were small factions of Dark Elves found living within the city whom the Dark One also had slain. All of the dead were hung on the outer city walls, as sign to all who would oppose the Dark One.

Enethia was allowed to saddle her personal horse and flee the city, and she managed to stow her sheathed sword to the saddle without being noticed by the Dark One's guards. Castel was several days ride North and she sped that way in hopes of finding the Mithrodin who fled with the enchanted swords before the Dark One's Barumen did, though she had to ride far around the Dark One”s troops and scouts, who were already marching North. Enethia hoped to right the wrong she had done by betraying her oath to the Mithrodin. On the second day she was discovered by a troop of Barumen soldiers, though these were not the Barumen of the Dark One, but were under the command of his general, Agnemmel. She had slain three of his soldiers before being captured and brought before him. Intrigued, Agnemmel questioned the young girl and she told that she was King Elliasthol's daughter, and from her Agnemmel learned of the Dark One's deeds in the capitol and the slaughter of the Men and Dark Elves of that city by his command. She told of being granted freedom by the Dark One after revealing where the Swords of the Ancients had been taken and thence being made to watch all of her people slain. This disturbed Agnemmel deeply, as he had just come from the abandoned city and had seen the slain Men and Elves hanging from its walls, and he did not understand why his master would kill Elves who had surrendered, nor why the Dark One would march on the Elven city of Castel. He examined her sword and asked how a King's daughter had learned to fight in such a manner. Enethia feigned ignorance so Agnemmel put her sword to her throat and made as if to cut, whence she broke into tears and begged mercy. Thus she told that she was in fact a Mithrodin cleric and that she should have accepted death before breaking her oath to protect the Swords of the Ancients by giving aid to the Dark One, but she was weak and feared for her life. She told that in shame she decided to follow the Dark One and attempt to right her wrongs, though she knew it would certainly mean her demise. Thus she asked Agnemmel to kill her and he moved to grant her that request, but his heart stayed him a moment and he removed the blade from her throat...

TO BE CONTINUED

The Tale of the Swords of the Ancients and Other Blades of Power and its previous versions, The Swords of the Ancients and its abridged excerpts, and other forms, are ©1997,©2005, and ©2008 by Kit Rae. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any other form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, computer networking, or otherwise without prior permission in writing by the copyright holder(s). Avoloch is a trademark of Kit Rae.