Ashes
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To codify a myth and legend that is pervasive throughout Clan and House Vizsla.
- Image Credit: [x]
- Links: N/A
- Media Name: Lecan's Path, Founding of the Steadhold.
- Format: Manuscript | Oral Story
- Distribution: Rare (a limited number)
- Length: Short.
- Description: The story tells the tale of some Vizsla clansmen finding themselves in the Netherworld after their death. Fighting and killing for centuries on the Field of Blades and beyond, before realizing that their connection to one another makes them so much stronger than their separate cogs. They band together and carve out a large piece of territory within that strange realm, creating the Steadhold. A place where any Vizsla in the afterlife is welcome. Past, future and present. It goes into detail about how the Steadhold looks like, the various wars waged by the Clan against the spirits of the Force and the rites one needs to hold themselves to if they think to visit in the flesh.
- Author: Unknown. An ancient Vizsla Sage presumably.
- Publisher: N/A
- Reception: The story took root during the Dark Ages, when the Gulag Plague swept through the Galaxy and killed so many in its wake. The belief in the Manda, the Mandalorian Gods and beyond weakened, allowing other beliefs to strengthen. The legend has found a strong core audience within the House of Vizsla. Every members of it, some believe in it, others look upon it skeptically. But most of them have respect for the message it tries to convey. That a lone wolf is easily picked apart, but a pack will always thrive.
Prologue: It begins with a brief explanation on what the Netherworld is, what dangers lurk there and describes its state before the first of the Vizslas arrive. Much of it is done through Mandalorian allegory, terms and statements that have little to do with the Force, the Sith or anything else.
Part I: Briefly describes the despair the Vizsla warriors found themselves in. Being beckoned to fight every hour of the day with no release or break. With no other choice than to kill and murder anything that comes before their beskads.
Part II: Introduces Lecan Vizsla, the first tribesman who managed to shake the bloody haze off of him, when he moved to rescue a fellow Vizsla from a descending sword. This is when he realized that their connection, the very essence of their Clan, could be a boon that would save them from this endless battle with no stakes or purpose.
Part III: Explores the trials Lecan had to go through to pull his family (ancient and otherwise) from their madness. This part ends with Lecan embracing the last Vizsla warrior, coincidentally his great-great grandson, who would later take over his duties when Lecan retires to the wild wastes of the Netherworld's reach. Delves deep into the battles the Vizsla band went through to cut a swath of territory out for them and the future Vizsla generation to come.
Part IV: Contains detailed descriptions of Lecan's Steadhold, the mysterious fortress where they made their home. In text it usually comes with a drawing of it as well.
Epilogue: Concludes with the end of Lecan, when he retires as Clan Elder of the Steadhold and retires to the wastes. It is said that the first manuscript, from which the stories come from, was penned down by him specifically. They hold the rites necessary to join the Steadhold while living. The rules, the rituals to abide by, to ensure no offense is given.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The very first manuscript was written down by Vizsla clansman during the Dark Ages.
One night they woke up from feverish nightmares. Burning fires. Gleaming obsidian hills. Above it all? A fortress made of impossible lines, jagged edges and sharp stone. After he woke up he was caught by a frenzy. He just about managed to grab a pencil and paper, before beginning to write furiously. He kept writing throughout the night. His nails broke, skin burned, but his eyes were vacant throughout it all as he wrote his visions down.
Strangely enough?
The Sage was just a farmer, some said he had never even learned his letters. It found a receptive audience within the Clan, some who believed it to be a literal history, while others saw meaningful lessons to be learned there. It reminded them that even though the Gulag Plague had taken so many?
That while the Gods might have abandoned the Galaxy and the Manda seemed so far away from them?
There was still something out there. As long as they stuck together, forged through blood and iron. An inspirational story to be sure.
