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Cortex-literature

This is the story of how Arden Vassa escaped his enslavement from the Urgoth masters and became the man to build the first javelin and the Fortress of Dawn all because he was taught the secrets of Runes.

Cortex Entries

Each excerpt from this work is obtained separately in the form of 10 cortex entries. Mentioning them above the excerpt would break immersion and flow. So they are mentioned in a separate list here.

Vassa and the Runes

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Grey-eyed Idris and his apprentice, a young Arden Vassa, were won in battle by loathsome F’Kark, whose urgoth temper was written daily on the hides of his servants. The beatings continued until Idris secretly planned to join the free people, for Idris knew the secret signs.

Under midnight's blue moonlight, Idris woke young Vassa and lit a fire near F’Kark's vault. The urgoth woke with great fear, and Idris and Vassa slipped away as the flames were fought. “But master,” Vassa asked, “how will we know where to go?” “There are markings to show us the way.”

Idris pointed to a rock that was seemingly plain, yet when the moon smiled, the rock smiled back. The apprentice Vassa noted the rock displayed directions to go west through the trees and look for the next sign. “Where will this lead?” he asked. “To the haven,” Idris said. “For that is the learning passed on to me. And now, passed to you, so that you may grow.”

Through the canopy and over many waters they sped, seeking shelter in caves and crevices too small for urgoth to enter. F’Kark pursed them upon his foul beast, but the runes revealed secret places that no urgoth would think to go. At last, Idris and Vassa came to the haven, and upon its entrance was the declaration “All are safe within these walls.”

The free peoples welcomed Idris and Vassa and, in time, the newcomers learned to gather secret ingredients and craft the beacons of hope they’d followed in the dark. They ventured south, marking canyons and forests, visiting other free peoples, gathering word, and whispering about the possibilities of freedom.

Vassa was no longer a boy when he met Helena Tarsis, and grey-eyed Idris had gone on to the great wheel. Tarsis, already called General, saw strength in Vassa, and she joined his wanderings, leaning secret ways and leaving the signs for those who know.

Years turned over, and Vassa followed the teachings of Idris and the Emberlings. Tarsis worked to thwart the urgoth, freeing all in her path, relying on runes to aid their flight until that day when Vassa crafted a suit of armor, plated in ember and hope. This would make General Tarsis stronger than the urgoth, than the ursix, than the titan. This would be humanity's salvation. A spear, hurtling towards freedom. A Javelin of Dawn.

And so, the free people grew from a few who dared to follow the moonlight, into a legion waiting for the sun to rise, ready for the bright rays of victory.

One by one, Vassa assembled the Legion's battery. For Magna Stral, whose fists were like avalanches, for the quick and stealthy Sanadeen, for Liatrelle the Unbroken, and for Midderon, the Legion's own son.

Gone was the rune instructions to hide and cower, replaced with the knowledge of weapons and armor that would force the urgoth to their knees. And soon, javelins designed by Vassa, but not built by him, struck at urgoth masters.

The day came when Helena asked Vassa to create a new haven for the people. Vassa imagined and worked before he presented a fortress made of light and crowned in gold, trimmed in the splendor of the world. Upon the brow of this haven—in secret writing that honored all that had come to pass—was a declaration. “All are safe within these walls.”

As the moon chased itself across the night sky, that declaration was revealed to the free clouds, and they wept.

Tarsis removed her helm to address the throng. “Free people. Know this is only the first of our cities. When the urgoth are nothing but ash, we will build palaces and gardens and homes. We, the Legion, promise you and your children yet unborn… all will be safe within those walls.”


— From The Volume of Tarsis

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