Maniheim
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Type | Nation |
| Status | Active |
| Established | ??? |
| Organizations | Three Great Families |
Epithet: The Moon’s Shattered Cradle, the Cratered Isle of Raiders[edit]
In the year 1048 AC, the Emerald Moon was shattered, and the Dragons of Rhyst returned to the plane that they had once created. Many of them were in favor of mortals, however, one was not. Fah'nadir, the wind dragon betrayed by her people, would bear hatred like no other towards the betrayals that had been brought to her. While the other dragons spoke with mortals, Fah’nadir took to the skies and soared, spreading her curse to those who betrayed the Rhystian Eidolons.
“...In her view, these mortals could no longer hide their crimes, and after she was finished, she felled each and every isle within the sky. Her coil collapsed into the seas, and Fah’nadir left Rhyst for the Moon that she originally called home….”
The Isles that fell from the sky in the year 1050 Ac, however, were far from uninhabited. As earth was split from the clouds in the skies, forced to rain down, many of the society that had betrayed and captured Fah’nadir died due to the circumstance. Those that survived, however, found new hatred for Rhyst’s Eidolons, due to loss of many of their own, and the warping of their bodies into something more devilish, and once more donned the titles of those who had originally captured the Dragon of Wind.
The Dragon Slayers of Manihelm.
Mythos[edit]
Long ago, a group of Esche, known as the Sige, with legends told of their banditry, battle tactics, and brutality were met by persecution and being hunted by other tribes and groups for their frequent warfare. They moved, from swamps, to wetlands, through flooded valleys, trying to escape the ones who would trail behind them, constantly hunting them. Traveling alongside the water, eventually the Sige would have to part with it to make their safe escape from the rest of the Esche, following instead gales and winds. It was traveling along these winds that the Sige met Zephyr, who was one of the greater Spirits of Wind at that time.
It was Zephyr that would teach the Sige to be free, not just of being trailed by the rest of the Esche and other groups that they had been struck by, but also free of the land that they were beholden to. The specifics are not known, but Zephyr taught the Sige to create something that allowed for earth to be separated from its surroundings and be able to sustain itself amid the air. It was from this lost art that the Sige created the first of the floating islands that would become Maniheim, the floating isle of raiders.
Their goals did not stop, at a single floating isle, however, and as this floating land took to the sky, the people of Maniheim would begin to use it similar to a ship, finding new land to raid, escape from enemies, and carving out more slices of earth to serve as connecting isles.
“...Because of the convenience that her new domain offered her, Fah’nadir rarely descended from the heavens back into the world she had helped make, and yet, on at least one occasion, she met with mortals who had managed to gain the favor of her servants that had caused pieces of land to defy gravity itself…”
It was when the third isle had taken flight, that the Sige, now having adopted Maniheim as the name of their floating home, were visited by the shadow of the dragon Fah’nadir. It would be with the rise of the fifth floating isle, however, that Fah’nadir truly gave the people her blessing, turning them into wind Draconian. Much like how the Dragon created spirits and told them to be unpredictable, and disturb patterns, the dragon of wind found these people who disturbed and broke the mold of order to be fascinating, and reward them in kind. And so it was that Fah’nadir began to linger among the people, and teach them.
The people of Maniheim accepted most of Fah’nadir’s teachings, that change, uncertainty, happenstance, and chaos were all an important part of the world. As the Dragon came by more often, and even created her home, her coil upon the tenth raised isle, their bonds grew to the point where Fan’nadir felt it was safe to sleep within the coil, surrounded by the people that she had bonded with.
“Silently impressed, she visited them, and the Wind Draconians were given one of the only blessings that Fah’nadir would ever grant mortality. A creature who knew the fickle natures of the universe, the Wind Dragon forgot her cynicism for a time after forming some sort of connection with the fleeting mortals that had developed within the “experiment” she had assisted with, and she began to linger among these isles on a routine basis. Her coil was constructed as a giant tower on one of these floating masses of earth, and it was there where she would follow the other Eidolons of Rhyst into indefinite slumber…”
It would be in the interim, where Fah’nadir fell asleep, that the Zephyr, the Spirit who had helped to guide the people of Maniheim fell silent. During the 700 ac, as the people of Maniheim lost both their guiding figures, the capability of the Maniheim to float across distances, and had only the lessons of chaos to guide them, eventually the Devils of Nevanerro would find a weakness within the philosophy of the people and begin to lead them astray, to believe in greater change, greater uncertainty, and that ultimately the dragons, even the one that taught their ancestors, were relics of certainty that needed to be removed. This ultimately accumulated in the people of Maniheim, the Draconians descended from those taught by Fah’nadir, betraying and aiding in the capture of their Draconic patron.
“…And somewhere upon motes of earth that persist among the clouds did a society who had only ever been blessed and gifted by the world directly betray and defeat Fah’nadir the Wind Dragon.”
Those who captured Fah’nadir, would not say that they betrayed the dragon. The story would be twisted by their words, that their dishonor would instead be something great, that their disloyalty would be praiseworthy. Chaos was needed, change was needed, and nothing would bring further greatness then the claim of killing an Eidolon. Thus, the people of Maniheim claimed the titles of Dragon Slayers.
Trivia[edit]
Those of Maniheim do not know what happened to Zephyr that caused them to lose contact, and drop from the rankings of Greater Spirits.
The knowledge of how to make the isles fly was recorded on a slab of earth within Maniheim. Unfortunately, this slab was destroyed when the islands fell from the sky, being shattered from where it was held.
Whatever mechanisms allowed Maniheim to move in the past are unknown, however, they had stalled during the year 700 ac, and they were completely broken when Fah’nadir struck it from the skies.
Maniheim was occasionally spoken of in various histories, but due to the isles having been moving in the sky, they never were cemented or seen as a full nation by most, until they collided with the seas.
Honor is an important part of Maniheim society, which is why they had posed themselves as Dragon Slayers who slew the great Fah’nadir. By portraying themselves as heroes and not betrayers, the action was more accepted, and while the falsehood was revealed with opinions now varying on their ancestors actions, those who support opposing the Dragons still cling to the Dragonslayer name.
Leaders of Maniheim societies are known as Magnates.
Credit[edit]
Notyel https://forum.verdict.dev/showthread.php?tid=3265
Mani, the moon god of germanic mythology
https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6lsunga_saga