Viunom, Fallen Guardian of Sonorin

The Legend of Viunom tells the tale of a warrior who fell defending his home, Sonorin, from an army and their master.

Sonorin and Argiclan
The city of Sonorin, as the legend goes, stood in the plains near the South-East edge of the Firewild Mountains and its surrounding forests during the time of the Eternals. The scouts would often listen to Astrasaz and Tarad on lessons of how to defend themselves and their city from dangers that they might find in the forests. One citizen, a student of Tarad who resided in Sonorin, would often times attend these lectures in hopes to talk with the Eternal of Magic to be praised for his works and studies in elementals and the creation of Life. But when he spoke of it publicly to Tarad, others of Sonorin took it as blasphemy and an insult against Risaltret. Argiclan was stripped of all nobility he may have had and was exiled into the Firewild Mountains. But Argiclan, through unknown means, enslaved the Elementals of the mountain range and prepared to lay waste to Sonorim with his army of earth and fire.

Viunom
Viunom was raised as the son of a line of prestigious scouts who dedicated their lives to the safety and prosperity of Sonorin. He trained daily in order to become the leader of the Sonorin Scouts, achieving his goal and wielding his father's bow, Forpha's Bow, he led missions out into the wilderness. When he witnessed Argiclan's exile, he watched his actions from afar. When he observed Argiclan's enslavement of the Elementals, he knew that he must warn his city of Argiclan's potential wrath, but his words were dismissed out of hand. What threat could an arcanist who was run out of town possibly pose to a city favored by the Eternals of Battle and Magic themselves? Still, Viunom prepared himself for one of the most dangerous threats that would ever oppose the fair city of Sonorin.

Viunom asked for help from the Eternals and he was given a recipe for a powerful magical artifact: the Oathbreaker Arrows. Viunom was told that an Oathbreaker Arrow that strikes something magically bound with an promise or anything of a similar nature will disavow all promises it has made or been tricked into. However, in order to make these wondrous arrows, an oath upon each one must be made.

"I swear an oath upon my strength, my honor, and my life that I shall protect the city of Sonorin from Argiclan and his army."

This oath made and the arrows forged, Viunom waited outside the walls of the city. His peers questioned him and tried to dissuade him and the people he swore to defend mocked him with derision. But still he stayed, waiting for Argiclan to strike. He waited until one day the trees of the forest were set ablaze and the rock and dirt of the land were upturned. Argiclan and his Elementals had arrived.

Viunom lept into battle. From his father's bow he let loose a single arrow, striking a single Elemental. The creature's body crumbled, freed from not only the control of Argiclan but also its vows to the realm of Faeyrellun, returning its soul from whence it came. Assured of his victory against the army of Wild constructs, Viunom let loose a hail, a rain, a stream of silvery slivers. Argiclan's army was slowly becoming nothing more than rubble as Viunom let loose his quiver. Soon, there was nothing left of the legion but the Elemental that Argiclan rode into battle on.

Viunom had but one more Oathbreaker Arrow, which he knew he must save for Argiclan so that he may never be able to reamass an army again. So he rushed the construct and the arcanist in melee combat armed only with an arrow and Forpha's Bow. The battle raged for hours. But eventually, throught the use of cunning and martial prowess, the Elemental fell without the final Oathbreaker Arrow being used, leaving only the two foes left. The two without hesitation leapt at each others' throats. As it crumbled to pieces, part of the body of construct crushed and killed one soldier who was watching the battle unfold before him.

"I swear an oath upon my strength, my honor, and my life that I shall protect the city of Sonorin from Argiclan and his army."

The oath was broken. Every arrow on the battlefield flew to Viunom with the intent to kill, and each one found its mark. Clutched in the hostile embrace of the other, Argiclan and Viunom found themselves pinned and filled with arrows.

His life taken, his honor tarnished, and his strength broken, Viunom died not the death of a victorious hero who would be remembered in the annuls of history as a staunch defender to the very end, but rather a defeated martyr who would be remembered as a man who only succeeded in forstalling the inevitable fall of Sonorin. Though it would not fall to Argiclan, as he died along with Viunom, it would eventually be swallowed up by the very world itself.

Thus is the legend of Viunom, the Fallen Guardian of Sonorin.