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I do not intend to make a profit with this work. The characters, locations, concepts and histories recognized as creations of David and Leigh Eddings are for entertainment purposes only. All original characters, character names and fictional places, whether or not they are associated or included in some way with the Eddings-created characters/within the Eddings universe, are still the property of this author and should not be used without express permission. Pronunciations of original characters, places, other notes, etc, will be found in "Author's notes" at the bottom of each chapter.
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Prologue
Excerpted from The
Histories of Styricum
"Legend of the Lands
in Between"
Compiled by the
Ancient History Department of the University of Matherion
Long before Elenes and Tamuls ruled, the Styric peoples emerged to be fruitful, multiply and dominate the land. As their need for living space grew, primitive Styrics left Daresia, crossed the vast forests of what we now call Zemoch and entered Eosia It was after this great migration that Styricum emerged from the mire of prehistory.
Outside of Sarsos, there is no major enclave of Styricum maintained. So it was when Styricum entered the lands to the west. Instead, Styric society arranged itself into small villages headed by a single Elder or Council of Elders, depending on the size of the community. Traditionally, each village devoted their worship to one of the nine hundred ninety-nine Younger Gods of Styricum, rather then dividing their loyalties between multiple gods. That is not to say that Styricum evolved into a factional society, however, for regardless of the village and god to whom a single Styric belonged, the existence of all the Younger Gods was always acknowledged. By the second century BE (Before Elene Migration), Styric settlements were scattered throughout the Eosian continent.
As they expanded, Styrics placed growing importance on their origins, the foundations upon which Styricum itself was built. In the early centuries of migration, those that could made the trip back to Sarsos on the Daresian continent. Over time, it became a pilgrimage, and the practice endured until the spread of Elene and Tamul peoples made such travels difficult.
But in early days the connection to their homeland was still strong, and Styrics who never set foot in Sarsos still yearned to touch the earth of their sacred city. According to oral tradition, Elders pled to the Younger Gods for assistance, each asking for some miracle that would allow them to share the seat of Styricum with their people.
And the Younger Gods answered.
To their people they would allow this one miracle: When old in years or near death, a Styric who wished to see the place from whence they came could entreat the Gods. If the supplicants were pure of spirit, the Gods would allow them to pass through the Lands in Between to the land of their people. But this did not come without cost, for passage could only be made once. To attempt to return via this passage or make the journey more than once was expressly forbidden by the Younger Gods. It was also exceedingly risky; if travelers passing through lost themselves to the void, they would go astray and be forever in the Lands In Between, unable to return. Only the most confident and stalwart of Styrics, then, made this journey, while the rest of their brethren became content with life in their villages, far away from Sarsos.
Crossings could not be made at any random location. Those in tune with the Younger Gods located spots to his or her god's liking; usually a copse of trees or special rock formation, it was almost always natural rather than man made. Styrics are beings of nature, more than any society known today, so this part of the legend is certainly in keeping with the characteristics of this sophisticated, yet, superstitious civilization. A few gateways were occasionally constructed and consecrated to multiple members of the pantheon of Younger Gods, but this part of the legend has not been found in any of the oral stories collected, and is therefore not considered part of the Styric Oral tradition.
It was said that among the particularly learned, acolytes of the Younger Gods, and devotees of the Secrets there existed some who developed such deep knowledge that their ties to the land of men grew tenuous. When they tired of the toils and tribulations of this world, these Trapped Souls (as they were called) crossed over to the Lands In Between. Neither living nor dead, they communed with their gods until they passed into the beyond altogether. These men and women are known in Styricum as "Those that Went Before" and are featured prominently in a certain body of tales circulated throughout the Styric world. In such legends, after performing a deed and receiving the blessing of the god to which they are devoted, the hero or heroine does not return to their simple village, but rather passes beyond all realms of thought and knowledge to the Lands in Between. Such stories quite possibly saw resurgences in popularity during periods of particularly virulent Elene bigotry and violence toward Styric kind.
As the Tamul peoples began to push outward from Eastern Daresia, vast populations of Elenes were displaced, and began to migrate westward, even into the Eosian continent. The dominant religion of the Elene peoples, far different in its appearance and less hierarchical than the Elene Church of today, went with them. (It is this point in history that the Church in Eosia begins their official mark of time. Eosian scholars designate history following Elene migration as CE—Church Era— a practice begun by the Archprelacy in Chyrellos.)
Elene expansion westward inevitably displaced Styric settlements. Western Styrics and Styrics in Zemoch were largely cut off from one another, for rarely do Styrics (then and now) travel far from their altars. Unlike the populations in Zemoch, Elenes and Styrics on the remainder of the Eosian land mass live as they do in Daresia—separate and suspicious of one another. Pressure to survive drove Styrics and Elenes to intermarry, and lack of both Church presence and connection with Styrics in either Eosia or Daresia meant that no force was present to forbid it.
In Western Eosia, Styrics maintained their traditions through close communion with fellow Styrics to the exclusion of their Elene neighbors, and the Elene Church was very strict in enforcing what it viewed as heresy. Only with the formation of the Militant Orders and the then unprecedented decision to instruct Church Knights in the Secrets would a tenuous truce between Elene and Styric take root.