[CONCEPT ART] SOVEREIGN SWORD SAGA, CHAPTER VII

In Chapter 7 of Son of Swordo: The Sword is Mightier than the Spear, the swordsman with no name is held prisoner in the Drowning Pool and must fight for his life against Spear, the silent assassin of the Elil. But even if Swordo can defeat the Silent Scion of the Stalk Sword, how will he escape the cursed waters of the Drowning Pool?

A WORD FROM THE ARTIST (YUKA CROSS, 18TH, APRIL, 2022)

While I was listening to the soundtrack of Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, specifically “Aquatic Time”, I randomly thought of “What if Spear uses the Crane Sword to change the water’s gravity and it makes the water’s surface the ground and they fight upside down? And then I kept listening and feeling nostalgic. After that, the choreography came... an intense battle of bubbles (be it air or water bubbles). Flight, hydrokinesis and a frightening lack of air! Then came the background; the background being inspired by Geyser Rock from Jak and Daxter. Well, at least a little bit.

[LORE] THE DROWNING POOL OF BROKEN BAY

The Drowning Pool of Wonder Island is a tranquil lake of sparkling water located inland of the Broken Bay. But beware! For any whoso disturb the peaceful waters are instantly transported under the surface and trapped there by an ancient arcane curse. During a coordinated attack by Spear, Swordo is flung into the lake and becomes trapped. Unable to breathe or penetrate the surface, a fierce underwater battle ensues!

[LORE] THE IRISH ORIGINS OF THE FISHER KINGS

The Crane held great significance to the ancient peoples of Ireland. They were seen as a good omen and the living avatars of the war goddess, Rhiannon. The Cranes of Irish and Celtic myth stood tall as guardians to the treasures of Tir Na Nog and sacred guides between the secret trods and pathways between the Land of the Living and the Otherworld.

As the story goes, a beauty named Aoife was turned into a crane by a jealous lover and forced to be a slave to Manannan Mac Lir, the sea god, for 200 years, “always in his house with everyone mocking thee, a crane that does not visit any land.”

When poor Aoife died, Manannan (rather gruesomely) had “a good treasure of vessels” made from her skin; such as his shirt, knife and helmet. This crane-bag would reveal its contents only at full-tide, otherwise nothing was visible. The bag was passed on to various gods.

The crane/heron was also mimed in a form of magic called "corrguineacht" with a man delivering a satire standing on one leg with outstretched arm and one eye closed implying harm like the bird's beak.

Where once they were kept as pets by men of renown and kings, alas, the Crane became extinct in Ireland in late medieval times, sometime between 1540 and 1600. Only returning this year (2022) with their current location a closely guarded secret and high hopes that this will be the year they successfully hatch for the first time in over 300 years!

[LORE] AVINHERR, THE FISHER KINGS

Along the riverways and wetlands of Wonder Island, it is not uncommon to find the corpses of Auren strung up by the neck with their eyes plucked from their skulls to serve as a warning to other Auran that may stray too close to the shore. This is the work of the Avinherr, the Fisher Kings...

The Avinazi are a race of Avian Beastmen. They are without question the most diverse of the species, with some commanding the power of flight, others being flightless and all possessing unique cultures, magical affinities and native regions. While they lack the adaptability of the Races of Men, their diversity of form and function is matched by no other race on Wonder Island... except, perhaps, the chimeric Fluxlings.

In the ancient past of Wonder Island, the Avinherr (The Fisher Kings) had their quaint fishing villages from the Roughneck Rapids and Capsize Creek. Their role was to keep the hedonistic Tillip from growing too prosperous and bulwarking the bloodthirsty Garmen from encroaching too closely upon the Fomorian Empire... or so it appeared.

The true home settlement of the Avinherr was a vast venetian city called Kêr Ys, an impressive city of marble, cedar and gold nestled among the hidden rivers, reeds and causeways of what is now known as the Whirling Warp Zone.

In truth, the quiet Avinherr were once masters of Warp Magic with skill surpassed only by the Stone Singers of Mystic Mountain. Using the secret whirlpools and waterways, they could traverse Wonder Island wheresoever water flowed freely. Though these secrets are now lost and the spiralling pools of the Whirling Warp Zone remain uncharted.

Speaking rarely and with a secretive nature, the stoic stalks held tradition and family in the highest regard, hiding their nests and chicks in the secret city of Kêr Ys. A place free of the supervision of their Ogre Masters and their oppressive Lordly Voice.

What appeared a stoic race of quiet sailors and fisherman was in truth, a vast spanning network of spies and assassins that did not brook with nonsense. Their swiftness and deadly precision was legendary, with their skills in marksmanship, speed and grace rivalling, and some even say surpassing, even that of the Eagle-Eyed Alfar of Evermore. Though the Avinherr did not seek fame or glory, such things are antithetical to their nature. They seek only peace, isolation, non-interference and the freedom to hunt and provide for their chicks without imposition.

This isolative and fiercely independent aspect of their nature drew the attention of the rebellious God of Hares and Father of the Auran, Elilrajah. Who, in his mischief and cunning, came uninvited upon the doorstep of the King of Cranes in Kêr Ys to barter for an alliance against his oppressors, the Fomori.

However, seeing the breach of their secret city as a threat, not only to their way of life but to their chicks and all Avinherr that might hatch thereafter, the King of Cranes declared the Auran an enemy to all Avinherr and took up arms against him.

But Elilrajah was cunning and with his newfound Omen Eyes, he had seen a hundred ways to victory where King of Cranes knew but one. The cunning father of hares circled the king three times in his scorn and laughed, and his words rode on the wind and into the ears of his kin who set about weaving three great tapestries of such profound beautify that the Ogres could not help but covet them and hang them in her halls. And upon these tapestries was the promise of treasure and the secret way to the shores of Kêr Ys.

Soon, all Wonder Island knew of the great city of Kêr Ys. Many came, but the worst of them were their Masters, the Ogres, who felt the King of Cranes had kept from them great treasures that were rightfully theirs. A faithful servant, the obedient King gifted the Formori the finest bred hippocampi and swore a hundred of his finest to their armies, but the peace and prosperity that they had once enjoyed could not be replayed by beast or service. And the lives of the Avinherr would never again be remote, tranquil or their own to govern.

Furious and haunted by the mocking farewell of the arrogant Auran, the King watched, helpless, as the covetous Ogres plundered the homeland of his people and argued in the Lordly Voice -- bringing chaos, catastrophe and cacophony upon the once still and silent shores. Until, at last, with nothing but secrets left to plunder, the great venetian city was sunk beneath the waters and the Avinherr were forced to find new nesting grounds.

But as the King of Cranes departed, in his despair, he raised his voice in anger, and swore a great vendetta upon Elilrajah and all his children! So, that in all the futures they might see, in none would the Avinherr be their friend or lend them reprieve, but in death!

And this is why the Avinherr were called to join the ranks of the Elil and given the 7th Sword of Slaying, and this is why, to this day, they hunt the hares foolish enough to approach their shores or breach their hunting grounds.

[LORE] SPEAR AND THE AVINHERR OF THE CURRENT AGE

With the Fomori Empire displaced and the Beastmen decimated during the War of Beasts, the Avinherr retreated to more remote communities, with their nesting settlements hidden deep within the Bygone Bayou and the Endless Everglade. Where once they'd been expert sailors and fishermen, many found themselves forced into the lifestyle of Rangers and Mercenaries. While their time-honoured war with the Garman continues and the two maintain a healthy respect for one another, the Tillip were quick to forget their past transgressions and though a few mocking songs and phrases remain in their vernacular, most Tillip do not even know the Avinherr used to eat them. Which can be quite dangerous for the boisterous Tillip, because the Avinherr have little patience for their pranks or play and continue to see Tillip as something of a delicacy.

Similarly, while the fleetfooted Auren know to avoid the Elil (the Predators of the Lepus), they no longer retain any real knowledge, stories or history regarding the the source of their conflict and the legendary tapestries they once wove leading to Kêr Ys are long since lost and forgotten; coveted treasures hidden in the troves of the Spider Queen of the Araneas in Spidersilk Citadel.

Contrary to this, the Avinherr have a long and rich history of tradition passed down through their inborn affinity for water magic and the silent plays their water marionettes puppet to entertain their children.

Spear is the Keeper of the Crane Sword, the Seventh Sword of the Elil. An enchanted hooked sword that can, among other things, split into a set of blades with an impenetrable defence, grant the wielder the ability to breathe underwater, and command the very ebb and flow of the tides.

Spear himself is a faithful servant of the Principality of Swords, silently carrying out the termination of high profile Auren targets with uncompromising obedience and peerless efficiency. Calculated, cunning and machinelike in his techniques and execution, Spear is high level Dervish, a master of several martial arts and fights with a deadly efficacy.

Like his (her?) face, Spear's origins are a mystery but he is considered a folk hero among his kind and is one of the few Elil to have previous experience battling Nameless Auren.*

*Auran that have forsaken tradition and turned their backs on the tenants of Elilrajah to take up arms and fight. Nameless Auran are rare. Those who choose this path become pariahs among their own kind and severe themselves from the protection of Elilrajah, losing the gift of the Oracle Eyes and thus any ability to see the future.