Campaign guide plight of the tuatha (1) 43

Campaign Guide that your siblings shall bring you death Forevermore shall you be shattered.’ Balar was moved by these sad words and the blood rage left him He was Volsung once more and he wept for his rash actions Paladrus’ Return and Aeliode Forms And it came to pass that Palasrus returned from hunting the Great Hind As he reached Tulhesa’s resting place he saw a horrible site for there she lay broken upon the ground, blood flowing from her many wounds Kneeling by her side, covered in her blood was the great hunter Volsung Volsung raised his gaze to meet Paladrus’ and a tear fell from his eye.1 ‘Paladrus, it was I who slew Tulhesa and in doing so I committed a great sin for I was misled by her children that spoke of her terrible nature I slew her believing she meant harm to her own children, but such was not the case I give myself to your mercy.’ Paladrus felt rage build within him and for a moment threatened to strike Volsung low where he knelt Then his rage turned to sorrow, and he knew the slaughter of Volsung would not correct the great wrong that had been committed ‘Volsung, for killing Tulhesa you yourself should be slain But as your sorrow is plain upon your countenance, I know that you regret your actions You shall not go without punishment however As you have felt Tulhesa’s blood upon you, you are now a divided being You are now Volsung who is Balar All you create from this day forth shall bear your division, perhaps ultimately to its destruction.’2 Paladrus then turned his gaze to Tulhesa and he spoke thus ‘Tulhesa, often we spoke of a creation we wished to have built together And together we shall forge this creation Your remains shall be the foundation of all creation so that none shall forget you Your death shall not go unnoticed.’ Paladrus then took the skin of Tulhesa and held it aloft ‘Your scales shall make the sky and their glistening shall glitter in the darkness and be glorified in the light.’ It is from here that that one of the holy symbols of Paladrus is derived The image of a single eye with a tear falling This is the point in which it seems that Ochesa who is Volsung completely attains his third form of Balar With this final curse from Paladrus, he becomes Ochesa who is Volsung who is Balar This curse can be seen playing out in many tales such as Volsung’s creation of the dwarves 42 Paladrus contained her blood and spoke, ’Your blood will sustain life, gathered into oceans, seas, rivers and lakes.” Paladrus gathered her bones together and spoke, ‘your bones shall be the lands that rise from the oceans as great mountains.’ Paladrus then called the Great Weaver to his side and spoke thus ‘Great Weaver, your skills at the loom are matched by none I ask that you weave a shroud to cover the remains of Tulhesa, a shroud more perfect and beautiful than any other weaving you have created In this way Tulhesa shall be glorified’ ‘I shall this for you dear Paladrus replied the Weaver ’I shall not weave just one shroud, but many layers of my finest work Thus she will be protected always.’ The Great Weaver worked and worked under the gaze of Paladrus She created cloth the likes of which had never before been seen She wove one shroud and placed earth upon it She lay another over the earth and placed fire on this second shroud Layer upon layer she wove and placed upon Tulhesa, alternately placing air, water, thought, and many other elements between the shrouds Finally she laid the last shroud upon all the rest and stepped back to look at her work Though the blood of Tulhesa soaked through the shrouds in some places, it was indeed a beautiful sight to behold ‘I call this last shroud the Prime as it encompasses all the rest.’ she said to Paladrus ‘But this creation is very fragile I must place my children upon the shrouds so that they may repair any areas where the treads may wear.’ Paladrus looked down upon the work and was pleased Volsung Creates the Dwarves …And lo did Volsung watch as the Great Weaver spun Tulhesa’s Burial Shrouds and placed them upon her body He watched as she placed soil, air, fire, and water between the shrouds just as ritual dictates He watched her place the last shroud upon the body of Tulhesa and then take her leave Volsung remained while the others prepared further honors for the dead god And as he watched he saw her blood begin to seep through the shrouds and pool He began to worry that her blood would stain all of the shrouds and ruin her great memorial ‘While the Great Weavers children will repair the cloth she has spun, they can nothing about its staining,’ thought Volsung ‘I shall create creatures to aid in the