The Last Bastion of the Warbear.

The last bastion of the Warbear The Last Bastion of the Warbear. History of the Warbear as told by Stut’war "In days past, before my father’s time, perhaps even before his father’s time, the warriors of my people would trek to this mountain. Each hoped to be chosen to join the Warbear, the Great Father , and thus bring honour to his bloodline and clan.  In war, through his deeds, a warrior may be reforged in battle.  Failures, personal and those of one’s kin, might be expunged should a warriors valour catch the eye of the Great Father .” “Given these stories and the chance at redemption, many young warriors made the pilgrimage forth from their villages to test themselves and prove their worth.  Those who succeeded, would join the great crusade across the stars.  Those who failed would spend the remainder of their days as vassals within HIS keep.” Stut'war pauses smiling ruefully. "Simpler times, before the invid, before we poisoned the sky, before we lost our way.” "None the less, the gods be favourable, perhaps there might be a star boat left that could return you to your clan?" Stut'war searches your faces, trying to read your body language before continuing.    Within the mountain of the Warbear. “Why are here again?” Lieutenant Tillman exclaimed in exasperated frustration as he pried a series of iron spikes from his armour.  This labyrinth of rooms and passageways looked to have no function, other to frustrate and hinder.  Secret passage ways, concealed traps, gave the impression of some form of medieval dungeon. “The legend mentions a Star Boat ” Section commander Xander reminded the squad. “Hopefully this shall provide us with a chance off this ball of ice.  Or a chance to reunite with the Cook. ” Though secretly he was starting to have misgivings, the dilapidated state of this labyrinth certainly did not inspire much hope.  On initial entry to the catacombs they had discovered the crushed remnants of some unfortunate aspirant lying almost completely buried beneath a collapsed section of roof. “This doesn’t make sense to me though sir, the lethality of these traps.  With so few survivors left on this planet, surely the death rate of any aspirant would be undesirable?!” Illustrating her point, Sara gestured to the roof.   Concealed within the roofline lay a spined pendulum, the size and weight of which would be more than capable of crushing a man, let alone impaling him. Oblivious to the conversation, Stut’war spoke in his native Karbarren tongue, his heavy accent drowning out the radio chatter.  “Never had I dreamt that I might live to see the likes of this!  For a warrior to be given the chance to prove his worth, I do not have the words for this.”    Seeing the confusion at his remarks, he walked over to where Sara was standing, waving her aside in the process. “Is Test!” he stated in pidgin English, stamping an armoured foot down onto one of the flagstones.  With a soft click the huge pendulum swung down, Stut’war quick stepping and twisting his body with martial prowess out of the path. Smiling broadly, he repeated his statement. “See, it Test!” “Yes, a test.” Xander dryly replied, taking care to speak in Karbarren.  “Faster than you were expecting?” A patern of thin, newly gouged, cuts evident on Stut’wars previously unmarred armour.  With some embarrassment the Viking Karbarren realized his folly.   “Apologies to you and your forge smith Xander, I had thought to deflect the blow as in combat.  This armoured plate does not behave as I had expected, no disrespect.”  Bowing his head slightly he continued, “Let your man know that I have wolf pelts, to cover his labour for any repairs, though I pledge take greater care.” “See that you do!” Xander replied, more curtly than he had intended.  Crawling around in this maze was consuming far too much time, there was a war waging out there. Here his team was, stuck on this frozen planet, cooling their heels and unable to assist. “Are we missing something here?” Jonsey enquired, breaking the awkward silence that had developed.  “The look to be a number of objects are missing, or damaged, but I would assume that these trials were meant to teach or highlight historical events.” “Several rooms have held ornate tapestries, clearly depicting moments on importance. There was that statue of the Karbarren King who was killed by his son.  There was the sarcophagus of what looked to be an fricken Energy Wizard.  Can Stut’war tell us anything in relation to these pieces of the puzzle sir?” Jonsey finished up, taking care not to further inflame tensions. “Yes, good focus Jonsey. ” Xander replied emboldened, this squad was made up of quality individuals, these were simply objectives to be overcome. Turning to Stut’war, he carefully translated once again. The battle of Longreach “Konito was the Warbears name, long before had won the honour of that title. The tale of the battle of Longreach, by virtue is just as old. It was late in the season, leaves were beginning to turn. For many years a bitter feud had developed between the villages of Hastern and Faustov. How and why, the story does not say, however the village of Hastern chose to hire Konito to extract revenge on the other. This was a custom of the time, when warrior such as Konito , would sell their services. The Jarl of Hastern village sent forth for Konito , it had taken them several seasons to afford his hire, but they were sure that a warrior of such renowned would be capable of inflicting crippling damage to their foe. The Jarl of Hastern was cunning, he instructed Konito to burn the grain stores of Faustov . With little food for the winter, the Jarl of Faustov would be forced to but food from the Village of Hastern, making the people wealthy.  In turn the Jarl expected that the impoverished Faustov would lose its capacity to wage war against his village. Konito was young, still gripped by the sense of invulnerability of youth, the story tells that he had yet to learn of the disgrace of defeat.  The grip of winter was fast approaching, that alone should have persuaded Konito to avoid such a contract, unfortunately it did not.  His raiding party undertook the long journey to carry out their task, there were many adventures on the way. Some warriors fell in battle with terrible and fearsome creatures of the land, but such was to be expected.  What they had not expected was that the village of Faustov , fates be fickle, decided on the same course of action. Ket’lan , though perhaps not as well known as Konito , was a formidable warrior. Faustov village had hired him to, in essence, carry out the same task against their enemy.  Thus it was that the two raiding parties came apon one another.  With Honour on the line, the conflict was fierce and very bloody. Evenly matched, the opposing raiding parties inflicted terrible losses apon one another, crippling losses.

Yet driven by Konito and Ket’lans unquenching desire to best each other they continued. The position of hunter and prey switched many a time, as the conflict drew on and warriors succumbed to their wounds of the perils of winter. There were less that a hand full of warriors on each side, half-starved from their prolonged battling, with neither leader of the warband willing to back down.  The fates must have looked down that day, for with no end in sight, another option was presented to them. Having squared off across an open field, a figure, quite unlike any they had seen before appeared between them. With both sides rushing forth for their final battle, neither was able to stop in time.  The tall thin stranger simply raised his hand and lightning from the sky was called down!! When the steam cleared, and their eyes had adjusted, only three remained. Konito , Ket’lan and the Stanger.  None were in any condition to continue their fight, however the Stranger did them listen unto him, for he foresaw another option. That spring the villages of Faustov and Hastern both fell, as did many others.  Konito and Ket’lan had joined forces. With guidance from the Stranger, they built a new realm as they brought village after village under their control. The Stangers name was Drog’No !  

Pausing for dramatic effect, a look of confusion passes over Stut’war’s face.  “That is correct, this the stranger before them, named himself Drog’No! ” Stut’war bellowed dramatically, trying to reinforce the point. Disappointment becoming evident in his body language, as he failed to achieve the reaction from his audience that he was trying to invoke. “Our people know nothing of the history or Lore of your warrior clans Stut’war .” Xander replied, choosing his reply carefully. The mission needed to progress, time as always was an ever-present issue.  Perhaps if Xavior , had been here…he had been successful in obtaining information from Rodar … Following the conversation and theme of the story, Jonsey interrupted Xanders train of thought. “Sir, could you ask him if this Drog’no is thought of as a god? Perhaps a mischievous character who could both help or hinder those who ask for his aid?” “Of course, I don’t follow your line of thinking…” Xander replied. “It may be possible, however unlikely, that there are similarities between this Karbarren Viking culture, and those of earths.” Jonesy replied enthusiastically. “If so it may help to close our knowledge gap.” “So, the question would be, What do we know of Viking mythology ? Specifically the characters involved.” Sara replied musing the question. “This Drog’no , does he represent a Loki figure from human Mythology?” “ Stut’war , please tell us, did Drog’no betray the warlords?” Xander enquired as tactfully as his patience would allow. “ Drog’no was famed for both raising up the alliance between Konito and Ket’lans and causing the rift between them that words could not heal.  It was hoped that at the end of days they might put aside their grievances and fight together once again.”  Stut’war  replied solemnly. “It was thought that perhaps that those who succeeded in being chosen to travel amongst the stars, would do so at the side of these mighty hero’s.”  Konito Famed for his fury and unstoppable force, displayed little subtlety in combat, choosing to crush his enemies. Ket’lans Smaller in physical stature than the mighty Konito , his ability to read the land and choose the time and place of battle was legendary. Fineclaw Many a mother named her son Fineclaw . A craftsbear unmatched in his skill at creating the armour and weapons for both Warlords, he was held in great esteem.  A lonely man, known to prefer his Forge over the company of others. Drog’no The legends don’t truly tell from where this sorcerer came, other than he appeared.  Behind his actions always lay some means of trickery, and no gift came without a price. Though often, at the time of the bargaining it was difficult to discern.