The Ashen Canticle of Alaric

An excerpt from a forbidden scripture. It’s written in a mixture of reverence and horror. The indigenous races of Wyrmdream who oppose The Sovereign Light use the existence of this scripture to oppose the enforcement of their beliefs. Areionna Vaelenor vehemently denies the validity of this scripture and has sent out battalions to find and destroy it. It’s current location is a mystery.

“Do not believe the shining tale, for the Crown was not given—it was stolen.
In the days of war, when the heavens wept and the tribes cried out, Alaric Deyne walked not in virtue, but in hunger.
He snared the Heralds of Dawn in chains of iron,
and drank their voices until their throats burned silent.
He bound angels as cattle, and from their wings he tore the marrow of light.”

“His brothers-in-arms he led into the jungle’s heart,
but none returned, for he offered their breath to the Shadow between worlds.
Friend and foe, blood of kin, blood of beast,
all spilt into the earth until the earth itself recoiled.
And when no life remained to give but his own,
he bartered not his flesh—
he bartered theirs.
From the mountain of corpses, the Crown rose screaming.”

“So rose Illuvor, thief of light, crowned not by grace but by ash.
He wears the Sun as a mask,
but behind it is the hollow void of a devourer.
Beware the Radiant Crown, O seeker,
for he shines brightest where the blood runs deepest,
and his dawn is bought only by the endless night of others.”