Tales of the Suneater: The First Sparks
There is a village, a small one, only a haphazard collection of stone and straw built upon the banks of the great dividing river, near an immense waterfall that flowed from within the mountains. The people living within were a varied lot, Beastfolk of many shapes and forms who had come and settled within the river valley. Their life was basic, gathering only what they needed from the lands that surrounded them. To many within, their fires were fueled by the lives they lived, and those who weren’t were few.
But within this village, a child was born.
With the fur and head of a hyena, and the teeth and tail of a komodo, the child quickly proved themselves to possess a greater fire than many had expected. He trashed about even when he had barely opened his eyes yet, the sun had not even begun to set and already he had begun to move about with an intense speed. The parents were ecstatic, their child had such life and will, there was no doubt in either of their minds that they would grow up to achieve great things. And so he would be named Tyryk.
It would be only 5 months into his first year that he learnt how to walk, his half scaled and half furred legs taking him anywhere he desired. It wouldn’t take any longer for him to learn how to speak, mimicking the words and phrases spoken around him by those in the village. By the time he began to engage with the other children of the village, it was clear to anyone who saw him that he was cut from a different cloth.
As the years began to pass, Tyryk began to grow a following amongst the village children. Whether it was through some sort of charisma or just the sheer strength that he showed, the other children would follow. Marching behind Tyryk as he walked through the village, acting like his own personal retinue. Whenever they played together, he would always decide the games and the winner, when eating the children would look to him on how to do it, and even when doing their chores they would gather round and show off to Tyryk to gain his praise.
It was clear there was a path for this child, he was to be a ruler, one that would be sung by the very gods themselves in their heavenly realms.
Or at least, that's the story that would be told.
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Tyryk stood near the edge of the village, upon a hill that overlooked that great river that helped give them life. It had been some time since his early years, now he stood as an adult, a warrior who had protected his people against the occasional threat. But yet, the fire within him was never satisfied, he knew that his calling was something far greater. He just needed to find it.
He heard footsteps drawing close, turning he saw his old friend, Konne. A half-blood by birth, she had been at Tyryk’s side since their births, being the only person he could openly speak to. She drew closer to his resting spot, her large orange and black spotted wings drawing closer to her body to avoid wacking into him. She was silent for a moment, looking out towards the river with him, though he quickly grew tired of the silence.
“Has something happened?” He asked, not even looking towards her.
“Not even a hello?” She unfurled one of her wings, lightly hitting him on the side. “But yes, the scouts have returned. They’ve found the lair of the goblins that have been giving us trouble.”
A low growl came from Tyryk. The ferals had been raiding their village for some time now, about time they found the lair. “Good, anything else?”
“Yes actually, some of the scouts also noted they saw a group of strange beings near the river.” She pointed towards the north beyond their village, towards the highlands. “They were strange apparently, almost crystal like, they headed off into the cave to the north.”
“Crystal, interesting. Did they note if they were hostile or not?”
“Didn’t get close enough to say. But they didn’t appear to be carrying weapons.”
“Hm, very well. You take the other warriors and go to the lair, clear out the goblins but don’t underestimate them.”
“And where are you going to go?”
Tyryk turned away, beginning to walk back down towards the village, Konne following close behind. “I shall go investigate our newcomers, Flame willing they are not dangerous.”
“Really? By yourself?” Konne quickly moved in front of him, a glaring look on her face. “What if they are dangerous?”
“Then I shall retreat and get you.” He gently pushed her aside, moving towards the stables. “Do not worry kestrel, I shall return by sundown, if not, you are in charge.
Konne wanted to argue, but she knew that he was far too stubborn to back down by now. So she relented, just silently nodding her head. “Fine, but you better return.” She unfurled her wings, lightly pushing herself off the ground and heading towards the other warriors of the village, leaving Tyryk alone.
He entered the stables, drawing near his preferred mount, a fairly large bipedal creature covered in a layer of exoskeleton, with a set of mandibles that moved about lazily as it looked up at his arrival. Konne was right, it was dangerous to go alone, but he had to admit his curiosity was too great, he just had to see what these newcomers were like. But the goblin issue was still important, it was far better if the bulk of their warriors were focused on that.
Regardless, he would need to set off to reach there in time. Saddling up his mount, he leaped upward, straddling it and testing the reins to make sure they were secure. With a soft crack of the reins and a yelp, it trotted forward, and with a quick turn, they headed north. To see just what was going on.
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It wasn’t too far to the highlands, the trip itself was made more manageable by the mount, but Tyryk still wanted to reach it and return home quickly, in case the warriors would need help with the goblins. He doubted it, but it still wouldn’t hurt.
Scanning the hills, he quickly found the cave entrance he was looking for, it wasn’t too hidden away, but it took a fair bit of knowing the land to see. Whoever these crystal visitors were at least very perceptive. Drawing closer, Tyryk began to go over a plan in his mind, sneaking around would likely only bring unease to the newcomers, especially if they had previously dealt with the local goblins. So instead, he decided to keep more open, even if it meant risking himself to a surprise attack.
He dismounted from his mount, leaving it near the cave in case he needed to make a quick getaway. From here he could see the markings of something heading deeper into the cave, this was definitely the place. He patted his side, ensuring his bone knife was still at this side, and headed inside.
The cave was dark, luckily his vision aided him in being able to make his way through the caverns. Soon enough though even his vision would not be needed, as a growing array of glowing moss appeared upon the cave walls and ceiling. Tyryk had never been this far into the cave, the elders had always told the children to avoid it, so seeing now what was inside, it was certainly a sight.
Finally, he heard voices, he didn’t immediately recognize it, but he knew he was near. Creeping closer, he found himself at the entrance to a large cavern. Within there was an absolute plethora of the glowing moss, illuminating the area like it was daylight.
But that was less of Tyryk’s focus, instead what drew his attention was the six figures within. They were large and strange creatures, made entirely out of crystal that refracted the glow of the cavern, their features and forms were unlike anything he had seen before. With long forms standing upon countless legs, their orb-like eyes intent on studying the walls. They chattered amongst each other, and as he stepped into the cave Tyryk heard one say, “Gawos sho peaw-lyevenoskonko issest sho vawss en sawvo vwiz?”
They were strange beings, that was for sure, but no matter, they did not seem dangerous. Taking a step forward, Tyryk raised his hands, trying his best to make himself look as unthreatening as possible, a task made difficult by his own form. “Greetings newcomers!” He spoke, letting the cavern walls echo his voice towards the crystalline beings.
Two shot up with surprise, while the others glanced over more as if interrupted. One of the striders shouted, their voice also echoing over the walls, “Shit vwis tawaw lawyeg!” Another strider reached out to lightly hit them over the head. They silenced, and another Strider responded to the beastman, their tone one of questioning, “Vwhaw ilo zawye? Vwo'mo nomol soon sawvothend leko zawye.”
Tyryk sighed, he should’ve figured the actual communication would be difficult. “I,” he pointed at himself,“can not,” he shook his head, “understand you.” he made a mouthing motion with one hand, pointing at the striders with another. The striders stared at him for a moment, then once more began to chatter amongst themselves, ”Vwhit es ho sizend?”. Another responded, ”Entlawgyekend hevsolh, vizpo. Et's nawt sho sivo lindyeido, pyet sho pawgz lindyeido vitkhos.”. One of them mimicked Tyryk, and then, with an almost singsong quality, repeated, down to the hand motions with one of their striking arms, ”I can not understand you.”
They then repeated it once more, and the others crowded around the mimicking strider. As they whispered amongst each other, Tyryk could hear one of them speak, ”Et's sevelil, et chawyelgn't po tawaw hilg taw loiln. Vwo chawyelg demo et yo tlz.”
Then, they broke up their huddle, and the one that originally mimicked the beastman approached slowly, repeating once more, ”I can not understand you.”
Tyryk stood there for a moment, almost baffled at what he had just witnessed. “So you can mimic, interesting.” While he still couldn’t understand these creatures fully, it seemed like they were intelligent enough to deal with. He stepped forward slightly towards the mimicking creature, pointing to himself. “I am Tyryk.” He gestured towards the creature. “You are?”
The strider, the one that mimicked Tyryk, pointed at him with a manipulator arm and responded, “Tyryk.” Its voice was harmonic and lilting, each syllable coming from a different section of their body. It repeated, “Tyryk,” and then, another strider said, to its comrade rather than the beastman, “Ho iskog hawl zawyel nivo!”
The mimicking strider glanced back, and then gestured to itself, “Vz nivo es Polassar. Zawye ilo Tyryk, e iv bloisog taw voit zawye.” It pointed at the striders, in order, “Shoel nivos ilo, Tammuz, Marduk, Anu, Namtar, ing Nabu.”
The beastman nodded, now they were getting somewhere. “You are Polassar.” He gestured to the mimicking strider, confirming the name. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Polassar.” He looked around the cavern, turning towards the entrance then back to the striders. “Do you, need a place to stay? My village is down the hills.” He pointed first towards the striders, tried to mimic the shape of a house, then pointed towards the entrance. Hoping his intentions would be conveyed.
The striders backed into a huddle and spoke to each other once more in their foreign tongue. Together, they glittered brighter and brighter, reflecting each other’s light around the cavern until it was like daylight. Through the glare, the beastman could see them mimicking him once more, surely working out what he had said. Finally, after some deliberation, they emerged once more from the huddle and Polassar vigorously nodded its head, saying, “Zawye voin vwholo zawye lemo, ledht? Vwo vwell daw vwholo zawye lemo.”
Tyryk had to shield his eyes for a moment from the light of the striders. But upon seeing Polassar nodding, he returned the nod. “I will take that as a yes, very well, follow me then.” He gestured as he turned towards the entrance, checking to make sure the striders were following as he exited. They indeed followed, and what seemed bright in the cave was nothing compared to once they hit sunlight. As all six filed out, it was as though a new sun had been born. Even looking away, Tyryk could feel the heat of the reflected light on his back, and the brightness at the edges of his vision. The nearby trees were glowing, purely from the amount of light there was to bounce. Nearby grass smoked, wilting under the intense heat.
He didn’t turn, instead preferring to protect his eyes, though he should’ve figured this would happen. Hopefully they could find some hides when they reached the village to cover them up. Reaching his mount, he could see it immediately turn away with a noise of discontent. He gave it a pat as he mounted it. “Ya i hear ya, they’re quite bright.”
Luckily, he didn’t need to check that the striders were still following as they marched down the hills, the bright sun-like light at the edge of his vision being the only thing he needed. Together the seven of them traversed down the highlands, towards the village that sat near the banks of the river. It was clear to Tyryk that the village had seen them long before they arrived, as a collection of villagers stood near the edge of the buildings, covering their eyes as the striders drew close to avoid the light reflection.
“You appear to have brought us the sun Tyryk!” One of the elders, a full blood iguana, shouted.
“Indeed I have!” He shouted back. “Would you be so kind as to bring our visitors some hides, I fear their crystals are quite detrimental to our vision!”
The elder motioned for some of the children to grab some hides from a nearby building. Grabbing enough for the six striders as they finally reached the village’s edge, with some difficulty they began to drap the hides over the crystal bodies of their new guests. While it did not fully damp out the light that reflected from them, it turned down the heat and actually allowed the villagers to look at them without risking their eyes being reduced to ash.
“So who are these strange beings you have brought Tyryk?” The elder asked, his gaze entirely focused on the striders.
“These are some newcomers, that is Polassar.” He gestured towards the mimicking strider, then followed in line with the names. “Then Tammuz, Marduk, Anu, Namtar, and Nabu. I was hoping you could tend to them while I head after Konne and the warriors. Though they don’t speak our language.”
The elder gave a sigh. “Very well, I will do my best to engage in diplomacy.” He slowly walked towards the striders, giving them a wave. “Greetings! If you will follow me!” He gestured at the Striders, slowly walking down the main village path.
The striders whispered amongst themselves for a moment before Polassar gestured them onwards; they followed the elder, clad in their hides. Some of them had to waddle awkwardly, though none seemed intent on removing the pelts. Several times, the one named Marduk had to herd the rest of the striders back to the path, as they attempted to stray off to examine this or that. They seemed utterly fascinated by the village, and often spoke quickly to each other as they pointed things out with their manipulator arms.
The elder took a pause whenever Marduk had to herd the striders, giving a soft chuckle as they all headed towards the center of the village. Tyryk could already hear the Elder doing his best to communicate with the striders, he was glad that he didn’t have to deal with that situation, the Elder was far more suited for that.
Still upon his mount, he turned and pointed towards one of the remaining villagers who hadn’t gone after the striders. “Where did the warriors head off to? I shall be joining them shortly.”
The villager looked up with a slight shock. “Oh um, they headed west, towards the forests.”
“Got it.” He tugged on the reins, directing his mount westward.
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With only a quick stop to gather his gear, Tyryk rushed towards the west, following along with the tracks that the warriors had left. It didn’t take him long to finally reach where they had left their own mounts, the bipedal bug creatures standing about uncaring. Quickly dropping his mount off, he dismounted and began to look around, hoping he could gain a sense of where they had gone off to. Luckily, the distant noises of fighting filtered through the leaves of the trees. Allowing him to rush towards where it was coming from.
Amongst the trees was an encampment, it was basic and barely standing upon itself, but it was a clear marking. Within there was intense fighting, with the feral goblins facing off against the beastfolk warriors, it was a losing fight for the goblins, but Tyryk never underestimated the ferals.
Charging in, quickly climbing over the basic camp wall, he entered the melee. Catching one of the feral off guard, he cleaved into it with his ax, tearing the creature in two as he drove forward. Spotting Konne deep within the melee, slicing several goblins with her bone blades, he rushed towards her. Reaching out a claw hand to slice the face of a goblin that jumped out at him, catching them and sending them spiraling down.
With another ax blow, he reached Konne, who sliced another goblin as it tried to stab Tyryk’s legs. “Glad to see you’ve decided to join us!” She shouted at him.
“Our newcomers were friendly!” He shouted back, cleaving a goblin in twain and tossing the body towards several of its former compatriots. “I figured I’d lend a hand!”
“We welcome it!” Konne quickly returned to the fighting, driving back several more ferals.
Tyryk figured the catching up could come later, he raised his ax, letting out a loud roar towards the warriors. “Come on then! To Victory!” A roar from the warriors joined him, the beastfolk feeling invigorating seeing their leader join them. They surged forward, their weapons crashing down upon the ferals, who lacking their traps and tricks, were nothing compared to the superior beastfolk. They fled deeper into the encampment, but there was nowhere else to go. They turned, forming a circle with their remaining forces, with the beastfolk surrounding them quickly.
Konne stood at Tyryk’s side, the two of them looking at the ferals, who looked between the various warriors, they knew there was no escape. “Shall we cut them down?” She asked.
There was a pause, he didn’t respond, instead he was thinking. Something felt strange within him, something deep. Somehow he knew that if he ordered the ferals slain it would vanish, and as he looked around, it only seemed to grow. In truth, the encampment was well stocked, he could see various weapons and goods around the area, and if rebuilt, the walls could serve as a formidable forward base. Then, there were the ferals, seeing them now, they were far less formidable than he had thought. They cowered in fear of the larger and stronger beastfolk. Perhaps, there was another option.
“No, find anything you can use to bind them, we will return to the village with them.”
Konne turned towards him, a look of shock on her face. “What do you mean? They’re ferals, shouldn’t we end their wretched life?”
“No,” He turned towards her, a new fire within his eyes, “I have found my calling Konne.” He gestured towards the goblins and the encampment. “This shall be our first conquest.”
“Conquest? You, that is your fire?” Konne looked towards the goblins, who merely stood paralyzed by fear.
“Yes, Conquest, this will be the first, the ferals, lacking as they are, will serve us well. From there, we shall spread beyond this land, and become something far greater.” He raised his ax towards the heavens, towards the sun above. “And I! Will conquer all under the sun! Let it be known!” He now shouted towards the heavens themselves, towards the Sun that bathed the lands. “That I shall be the greatest! I shall be! The Suneater!”
And as the warriors cheered, and the goblins were bound. A promise had been made, a warlord was born.
The Suneater.
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