Of the Nasek

There were many Blades of Chaos created by the Ancients. Chief among these was the Umethar as has been foretold, which could open gates to other worlds, and The Blade of Isis, which harnessed the power of the sun and the earth. But there were others that have been lost over time, one of which was the Serpent Dagger, the most vile of all of the Blades of Chaos. The Serpent Dagger was called Nasek in the Ancient’s language and it was fashioned in the shape of many intertwined snakes and held a serpentine blade of unbreakable metal. Six spikes were thrust into the hilt to represent the six Ancient Ones who had each given it part of their powers, the power to command the serpents, worms, and belly crawlers of the land. Worms of the earth could be made to make infertile ground fertile for growing. Crop devouring insect hoards could be vanquished by calling forth the snakes of the land to destroy them.

Unfortunately the Uldurin, in their hatred of Men and Elves, used the Nasek for evil purposes the Ancient Ones had never intended. A scourge of poisonous serpents was sent into their lands, killing the young of both races. When Men discovered the cause of the infestation they waged war against the Uldurin. The Uldurin hated other mortals, but Men they hated the most and desired them to perish forever from Ammon. They bent their thought and will on the Nasek, stabbing it into the earth and commanding serpents to multiply and breed into new beasts of the Uldurin’s twisted thoughts. Of these new beasts sprung the bane of mortals in the Fourth Age, the Nasnad, dreaded flying serpents with black venomous blood. No mortal could survive the strike of a Nasnad. A plague of the winged serpents spread across the Great Realm and many mortal Men were slain. Elves also perished in the plague, but they retreated to the Underworld below Ammon, great caves with glittering jewels and metals. Elves called the underworld Barkonia and they hid there during the plague while Men and Uldurin waged war on the surface.

In the ensuing years of chaos the Elves, deciding that Men and Uldurin would forever be at war, made permanent abode in Barkonia and became the Dark Elves, rarely visiting the surface or seeing the light of Ammon. It was in this Underworld that they unraveled the mystery of steel and began to forge weapons and jewelry of great worth. Many of the world’s greatest metal smiths sprung from Barkonia at that time. The Ancient Ones often visited them there and before long they commanded the Dark Elves to forge the Ten Swords, of which other tales have been told.

In the Fifth Age Men defeated the Uldurin and seized the Nasek from them, but wherever the serpent dagger lay the dreaded flying serpents would be abroad. As with many of the other Blades of Chaos, the mortals could not bring themselves to destroy this creation of the Ancients, and thus they hid the enchanted dagger in the dark wastelands of Eastern Dagorlund where it remained for over ten thousand years. It was sealed in an impenetrable stone chamber concealed in the desert and belly crawlers and flying serpents infested the surrounding land. Thenceforth that place was known as Nasnandos, or ‘land of the black serpent’, and no mortal dared ventured there.

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 and ©2005 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).