The Tale of the Swords of the
Ancients And Other Blades of Power
A Mythology
By
Kit Rae
Toukol was a young Elven farrier and blacksmith and who
forged farming tools and horse shoes in the late years of the Fourth Age of
Ammon, a the time when the Great Realms were still young, long before the time
of Vaelen. Toukol lived in the North Kingdom of Deylindor in the city of
Ammoria, abode of both Men and Elves. He was an exceptional blacksmith who was
also schooled in the art of sword combat, for he had hopes to one day be the
weapons master for the KingÕs army like his father. Upon a day Toukol was
laboring over his fatherÕs ancient anvil, working an iron bar into the shape of
a scythe, an old man dressed in gray robes wandered into the shop. The man
looked about the place at the various tools Toukol had forged and then smiled.
He hobbled over to Toukol, reached into his robe and removed a chunk of molten
ore, about the size of a fist, and set it upon ToukolÕs anvil. Without a word
the man turned and walked from the shop. Bewildered, Toukol rushed out into the
street after the man, but he was nowhere to be seen.
The ensuing years leading up to the end of the Fourth Age
were filled with many wars and bitterness among the three mortal races, Men,
Elves, and Uldurin. The Dark One, who stirred much malcontent amongst mortals,
had caused great turmoil in these times. Toukol, now an adult Elf, had become
one of the greatest of Elven smiths, forging stunning works of swords and
amour, and he lived in the underground realm of Barkonia with the Dark Elves,
experts in the mining of ores and their crafting. Toukol was also a very
capable fighter who had fought and won in many sword tournaments using weapons
of his own making. He could have served in the Elven army, but Toukol chose to
study with the Dark Elven smiths. He had even adopted the Dark Elves practice
of tattooing ones body upon completion of a special work that surpassed
anything made before, as a sign of accomplishment. Much had he learned from the
Dark Elves in the working of steels, and much in the ways of forging had he
invented himself. The Ancient Ones walked freely these days in the caverns of
Barkonia, sometimes in the guise of mortal Elves so that they would go
unnoticed, and it was their wisdom that had taught the Elves much in the
knowledge of steel. In this time the Ancient Ones devised a plan to bring peace
and harmony back to the Great Realms and the mortals they had created to
populate those lands, and thus they commanded the Dark Elves to forge for them
ten great swords; and the Ancients would imbue these with special powers, and
through the use of these swords would balance and order be brought to the land
once again.
There came a day when the Ancient One known as Atnal walked
into ToukolÕs shop and examined his work. Toukol bowed and a smile strangely
familiar to him crossed AtnalÕs face. Atnal then turned to Toukol and commanded
that he forge for the Ancients a great sword, one which would be the grandest
and most powerful of the Ten Swords, and it was to be called Anathar. Only the
finest blacksmiths in Ammon were asked to forge these ten special swords and
Toukol was honored by this request. At once he ran to the back of his shop and
brought out the fist of special ore that had been given to him by the strange
old man when he was but a boy in Ammoria. He showed the special ore to Atnal,
for he had plans to forge AnatharÕs blade from this steel. He had stored it
away since childhood for a special purpose, for he knew in his heart that it
was enchanted; but Atnal told him to save the steel and use the Elvish ores of
Barkonia to craft AnatharÕs blade. Atnal then reached into his robe and brought
forth a reddish bone-like stone, which he called Thorcan, and he said it must
be used in the hilts of the sword. Thus Toukol began his work, forging Anathar
for nine moons. When complete it was indeed the finest of the Swords of the
Ancients; and when it came into the world it brought with it the dawn of the
Fifth Age of Ammon, the Age of Order.
In the one hundred and twenty-eighth year of the Fifth Age,
the Battle of the Ancients had been fought against the Dark One. Six of the
Ancient Ones had perished in that war, but the Dark OneÕs body had been
destroyed and his spirit now stayed imprisoned in the Neverworld. His malicious
deeds could no longer be wrought upon the land. The newly forged Swords of the
Ancients were in use throughout the Great Realms, and the Ancient Ones gave the
most powerful, Anathar, to King Aghelm of Ammoria; but order had yet to come to
the land. In this time the Uldurin made frequent attacks upon the Northlands of
Deylindor, coming down from the frozen Isle of Ulioc. They were jealous and
desired those swords that the Ancients had bestowed with special powers, a desire
fueled by the malcontent stirred by the Dark One prior to the war, and it
infected their entire race.
Toukol had since returned to Ammoria a master smith and was
made the KingÕs armorer, and he forged many great swords for the King, his
sons, and the military captains and generals. A day came when word was sent of
an Uldurin attack upon the Eastern Kingdom of Volcemis. The Volcemites called for aid from
Ammoria, and King Aghelm did respond, sending the better part of his army East;
for he feared that if Volcemis fell, his kingdom would be assaulted next. This
decision would prove to be a fateful one for Ammoria. On the day the KingÕs
army marched East, a familiar old man in gray robes hobbled into ToukolÕs
smithy, admiring the great swords, spears, and armor that lined the walls. He
smiled at Toukol, a familiar smile, and spoke that Toukol had grown to be a
fine weapon smith, the finest in all of Ammon. Thus he told that now was the
time for Toukol to forge his greatest sword, one of perfect design and balance,
one to befit each of the numerous styles of sword combat, for the day would
soon come when this new sword style would be in need. Toukol was puzzled and
asked who would need such a sword, and the old man replied ÒMithrodinÓ, which
means sword-mother in the AncientÕs language of Aerlundtal, or literally,
Òsword protectorÓ. He told that Toukol must forge this sword in twenty-nine
days, and that Toukol himself would be the first to spill blood on its blade,
but that the weapon was meant for one other than him, this Mithrodin. He asked
if Toukol possessed a good ore with which to forge the blade, and smiled again.
At this Toukol rushed to the back of his smithy and retrieved the fist of ore
from his old storage chest.
When he returned he discovered the old man was again nowhere
to be found, but on his anvil lay a new iron hammer of the blackest steel.
Toukol hefted it and found it had good weight and balance, but was amazed that
it required little effort to wield. Thus he began to think on the shape this
sword would take, and that required long thought. Finally Toukol decided on a
curved form and thence he heated the fist of steel until it glowed the yellow
of a late day sun, and began to hammer and shape it; and he folded it over upon
itself for strength many, many times, until after twenty days he had folded it
over one hundred and fifty times. On its blade he engraved his maker mark and
ÒHonor ruled by steelÓ in the Anglecal runes, and ÒBy blood I am the protector
of the sacred steelÓ in Annundtal, the language of old Annundos. He stayed from
tempering the blade until he had completed the hilts, which would require much
work. He labored over these many long hours, for they were crafted with wood
scaled in black whale hide, hardened in resin, and bound in leather, with cast
and chiseled metal fittings. Now twenty-eight days had passed, but neither the
old man nor the ÒMithrodinÓ had come to check on his progress. Toukol was work
worn and questioned to himself why he labored so hard on this sword when he had
not settled on a fee, and he did not even know for whom he was working. He
decided to rest for one day before tempering the blade and attaching the hilts
and fittings, and he hid the unfinished sword in his basement. He thought that
since he had neither seen nor heard from the old man that a few extra days to
complete the sword would be of little matter.
In the night Toukol dreamed of a warrior fighting in a
massive battle with his sword, but when the warrior turned to him he saw the
face of a woman. He was stirred from this hard slumber by the sound of bells
and when he rose to investigate he found the people were running through the
streets in a panic, the call to arms bells were ringing throughout the city,
and the glow of fire was in the sky. Ammoria was under attack from the North by
the Uldurin, but most of the KingÕs army was far away in the East. The gates
had been broken and the enemy now ravaged the city, and some rode in on
terrible Snow Drakes from the North. Those white lizards were reaping great
destruction and death, for they exhaled a deadly gas that could be ignited.
Most of the men captured by the Uldurin had been killed and the women, unless
elderly, were taken captive. Toukol knew there was no hope to resist this horde
without an army and that by morning the city would be lost. He determined that
he must flee Ammoria while he was able, and thus quickly packed his enchanted
hammer, forging tongs, and a few other precious tools into a sack, unsheathed a
light thrusting sword and headed into the streets. He made his way toward the
South gates, near to the KingÕs palace. After a frightful encounter with a
group of Uldurin foot soldiers, whom Toukol slew, he made his way into the
courtyard of the KingÕs palace; but the way was crowded with a terrible host of
Uldurin massing toward it, and one rode a Snow Drake across the yard, spewing
blue flame at the elf guards who protected the palace. There air was filled
with smoke and the screams of the unfortunate ones unable to escape the slaughter.
Toukol was shaken and retreated back into the narrow city streets in search of
a clearer way to the gates, and thence he spied a young girl and two old men
with swords, of royalty by their attire, and the girl beckoned him to follow.
She led them hastily through narrow, winding passages to the South gate wall,
but once there they were surprised by a band of Uldurin blocking the way,
corralling prisoners into a cart. The young girl was captured, and when Toukol
and the old men tried to intervene they were overwhelmed and Toukol was beaten
into unconsciousnessÉ
When Toukol awoke he found himself jailed in a cell with a
group of men, mostly young city workers, but the girl and the old men were
gone. The Uldurin had discovered that he was the famed blacksmith of Ammoria by
the tools in his pack and had let him live, for they would need his services.
Thus he was later jailed in his own smithy, always with a guard, and iron doors
of his own making were set to bar the exits. Toukol was at his spirits end in
seeing what had become of this great city, now overrun, blackened, and
crumbling. The glory of Ammoria was now gone and it was home to him no more,
only but a prison. Over time he discovered that the King and every one of his
guard and family had been slain, and the great sword Anathar had been found and
taken by the filthy Uldurin lords.
Toukol was forced to forge weapons for an Uldurin war
master, and this he did, but he only forged inferior blades that either bent or
chipped and shattered upon hard use. For many months Toukol slaved for the
Uldurin, until one day he told his captors he could do no more unless he was
brought ore to work with, for his stores were now empty. Now the Uldurin were
no masters of steel, and few of their kind were miners, so his master let
Toukol leave the city with ten guards and travel to the Ammorian mines in the
mountains, where he would fill his cart once a month with the precious ores
needed to forge steel. Now four long years had passed with Toukol slaving for
his captors in this way. He had hopes that the Elves of the East would one day
come to reclaim Ammoria, but that day never came, and Toukol feared that they
too had been slain. He often thought of the young girl who had helped him that
night and wondered what had become of her, and in his mind he imagined that she
had escaped her captors and fled the city, and this helped to pass the days.
Over time Toukol devised a plan of escaping Ammoria by
eluding his guards on one of his trips to the ore mines, and thus he prepared his
escape for weeks in advance. On the night before the mining trip Toukol was
brought his evening meal by an Elven slave girl. The Uldurin had kept many
young women alive to work in the kitchens, and he found this night there was a
new girl that he had not seen before in all of his time as a captive. To his
astonishment he recognized her as the same one who had tried to help him leave
the city that fateful night, though she was now no longer a girl but a
beautiful young woman, and Toukol was instantly smitten with her. She was
joyous to see him again, for she thought he had been slain. Her name was Estea,
and Toukol decided that he could not leave the city without her, for he had
already fallen in love. Thus he whispered his plan to her, and Estea told thence
that she was once a member of the KingÕs royal house, a caretaker of the KingÕs
possessions, and doorkeeper of the sword chamber where Anathar was kept. She
had tried to protect the sword when the King Aghelm was slain, but she was no
fighter and had to flee the palace. The Uldurin lords had captured the sword,
and Estea had since learned from palace slaves that it was still kept there in
the basement catacombs, though now guarded by many Uldurin. She told Toukol
that she would never leave the city without the sword, for she took an oath to
the King to protect it, and Toukol revealed to her that he was one who forged
Anathar for the Ancients. Astonished at this, Estea thence begged Toukol to
help her, and told that before the Uldurin had taken the city King Aghelm had
made a secret underground passage which connected the sewer ducts under his
palace to a winding cave that lead outside the city walls to the West, where it
opened to the mountain side, near to the ore mines. It was to be used as a way
of escape in case of attack, but the King fought to the bitter end when the
Uldurin attacked, as was the Elven way, and the passage was never used. Toukol
knew of many ways into the sewer duct system and he formulated a new plan with
Estea. He pledged that he would train her in the ways of sword combat, for he
was a very capable swordsman himself, and when she was prepared they would
recover Anathar from the Uldurin together.
In the night after his return from the mines, Toukol climbed
to the top of his smithy, and using a rope and hook he had forged, made his way
by rooftop to the slave quarters where Estea awaited him as planned, and Toukol
smuggled her out of an upper window and down into a nearby sewer duct,
undetected. They made their way through those dark and dank tunnels by
torchlight until they came to a main intersection chamber near the palace where
fresh water flowed through, then Estea lead the way to the cave passage. Whence
they reached the caves exit in the mountain side Toukol left Estea with his store
of food and a sturdy knife. He promised to return, then swiftly made his way
back to the smithy before the morning guard changed. For two weeks Toukol
worked by night digging a tunnel from his smithy basement into the main sewer
duct that ran in the street beside his shop. Twice a week he would travel at
night to Estea and bring her provisions, and he trained her with wood swords by
firelight, as he had been trained as a young Elf. When he was able, Toukol
smuggled other female slaves out of the city into the caverns, and he trained
and armed those women as well. Over time Estea became very proficient in sword
combat and within a year she could best Toukol himself in practice, thus Toukol
taught her other forms of combat, and he forged for her a great bladed spear,
and it was called Allaxdrow. After mastering each level of combat, Estea would
tattoo herself as the smiths of ToukolÕs trade would, and soon she had many
tattoos displaying her great skills.
When two years had passed ToukolÕs host of warriors living
in the caves then numbered twenty-three and Estea was confident they were now
ready for real combat, thus she told Toukol of her plan to enter the palace
from the sewer tunnels and steal Anathar back from the Uldurin. Though it was
difficult to hide it from his captors, Toukol had resumed working on the
special sword he had begun to craft so many years before at the urging of the
mysterious old man. Now its blade was tempered and quenched and its hilts
complete. He greatly desired to wield it against the Uldurin, who so deserved
to be slain by its blade, thus Toukol agreed to the plan. One week following he
lead his host into the winding tunnels until they came upon four iron gates
blocking the passage into the catacombs beneath the palace, and Toukol broke
each with his enchanted hammer. Thereupon the women entered the catacombs
swiftly and silently killed the host of Uldurin that made their abode in the
lower levels of the palace, as Toukol and Estea hunted for the sword chamber
wherein the Uldurin masters kept Anathar. After a time they ascended many
floors and came to a passage with heavy guard. The door wardens fought fiercely
but were no match for ToukolÕs deadly new sword and EsteaÕs bladed spear; and
breaking the iron door they found Anathar on a bloody sacrificial throne.
Unspeakable horrors must have occurred at the hands of the Uldurin for there
were bones of Elves and rotting bits of flesh littering the chamber, and the
place stank of death. The alert bells now rang through the palace and Toukol
knew they could not linger. The warrior women had escaped fast to the cave
passage upon hearing the alert but as luck would have it, Toukol and Estea were
late and found the sewer intersection discovered and blocked by the Uldurin.
Thus they were forced to go by another way and return to his smithy with
Anathar.
Toukol hid Estea and in his basement tunnel. The Mithrodin sword and Anathar he hid in the box of mining tools stored in the back of his horse cart, for if she were found with either she would surely be slain, and Toukol lover her more than anything and could not have this. When morning came the Uldurin soldiers searched every building in the city, but they discovered neither Estea nor the swords. Toukol knew he must take them from the city soon, thus he told his master that he needed travel to the mines once again for supply, and Toukol was granted permission without question for he was a long trusted servant. That night Toukol secretly packed his forging implements and great anvil into the box of mining tools in the back of his horse cart and Estea hid in the empty ore crates. Her spear Toukol fastened to the cartÕs underside. In the morning the guards came to escort Toukol, and he was surprised to find their number was not the usual ten, but twenty, but only two were on horseback. Perhaps he was not now as trusted as he thought. Though the guards rarely searched his cart, Toukol made to distract them by offering bread and mead, and to his relief they made no inspection before departing. Once they were far from the city and the guards had eaten all of the bread they began to drink. Soon they became sick, for Toukol had poisoned the mead with metal powder from his forge. With surprise Toukol and Estea leapt from the back of the cart. Toukol challenged the foot soldiers as Estea retrieved Allaxdrow from under the cart. Short work was made of four soldiers by Toukol, but he was hindered when his calf and chest were cut, and the others closed in. The two horsemen rode away fast but Estea made a skillful throw and speared both, for they rode single file. Thence she took up ToukolÕs Mithrodin sword and with amazing skill and speed that far surpassed his, she cut each Uldurin down to the last, and that one she beheaded with a quick stroke. Estea was amazed at the ease and fluidity with which she could wield this sword and marveled at how it felt in her hands. Thence she retrieved the horses and they rode fast with Anathar to the entrance of the secret cave in the mountain side. EsteaÕs warriors were there in waiting and they tended to ToukolÕs wounds, but he found two of them missing, for they had been slain in the palace battle, and he mourned for them.
Before the morning light shone an approaching horseman
discovered them and entered the cave entrance with such stealth that none heard
until he was upon them. Estea prepared to spear the rider and Toukol drew the
Mithrodin sword from its scabbard, thence he spied this was no Uldurin scout,
but an old man who he recognized. When the man approached his form changed from
that of a mortal to an Ancient One, tall and majestic, and Toukol recognized
him as Atnal, the Ancient who commanded him to forge Anathar years before, and
then later the Mithrodin sword in the guise of the old man. Toukol bowed and
presented the sword to him, but Atnal refused. Instead, to Estea he handed the
sword, and he spoke it was forged for her and her companions, for they were to
be the Òsword mothersÓ, the Mithrodin protectors of the Ten Swords of the
Ancients. An he also spoke that they were also to be protectors and servants of
the remaining of his own kind, the Ancient Ones, for there were now only but
three left in Ammon. Atnal told that the time of the Ancient Ones was soon
coming to an end and mortals must take charge of the talismans if order was
ever to come. They must protect
Anathar and each of the other Ten from falling into the hands of the enemy, but
they must also learn to harness the swords powers and use them wisely when in
need; and that knowledge Atnal promised to teach them. This trust Estea
accepted, and she bowed and kissed the hand of Atnal, thus he gave blessings to
her and her sword. To Toukol he charged to make like blades to the Mithrodin
sword, one for each of EsteaÕs warriors, but Toukol refused, saying he could
never make such a sword of its kind again without the special ore Atnal had
provided. At this Atnal laughed and said the ore was but common, the same as
any Toukol used in forging a blade. It was only special because Toukol had made
it such with his great skill and craft. Toukol marveled at this, for he had
always thought the steel enchanted, and he thus accepted his charge as sword
smith for the Order of the Mithrodin.
Atnal once again took the form of the old man and remounted
his horse. He turned to leave, but spoke one last time and told that the Elven
host from Volcemis was even now planning an attack on two fronts to reclaim
Ammoria from the Uldurin. The foot soldiers would arrive from the South, and
the great ships of the Volcemite mariners from the North. He warned that Toukol
had but twenty-nine days to prepare, for they would make their assault at first
light on that day, and they would need the aid of the Mithrodin. At this he
kicked his horse and rode away fast. Thus Toukol set himself to work, for he
had many swords to forge with his enchanted hammer and time was passing
quickly!
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).