For context on the world, please see the Intro post and context on the Excalibur collection please see Item #51.
The
third sword in the Excalibur collection is the second sword forged by
Hephaestus and is known as Physeis’ Wrath (or Nature’s Wrath). This sword was
given to Mother Nature.
Although Mother Nature was opposed to the idea of receiving one of the eleven most powerful weapons in Magusterra, as she, like Brother Life, believes in preserving life and letting it die naturally. Her belief in pacifism lead to her giving up her primary weapons: The twin Harpes of Gaia.
But
Mother Nature was convinced to accept one because without one the other
Immortals were afraid that she would be an easy target, not only from one of
the First Created that might go rogue, but from anyone who learns that Mother
Nature has no weapon.
Mother
Nature shares a close working relationship with both Brother Life and Sister
Death and they were the ones who convinced Mother Nature to accept a sword. Because
they feared the imbalance it would bring if she is killed before the final days
of Magusterra.
Mother
Nature realised the importance of why she should have a weapon, not only a
primary weapon (for she started carrying her Harpes with her again after the
Humans learned how to harness magic), but she needs a sword that is equal to
what the other Immortals and the Humans would possess!
The
only request that Mother Nature made to Hephaestus, was that he should use as
little materials as possible when constructing the sword.
And
that it should be designed in a way that its main purpose is to parry and block
attacks and have only one way to kill an opponent, if it should come to that.
This request was quite the head scratcher for Hephaestus. How do you make a sword that is mostly non-lethal and has only one way it can be used to kill?
Hephaestus
spent months drawing up plans and designs, but they were all rejected. Either
because he wants to used too many materials or the sword seemed too dangerous.
Hephaestus was on the verge of giving up, but then Hephaestus was struck with
an idea when, well funnily enough, he was struck on the head by Brokkr who was
sword play fighting with his brother Sindri (two fellow dwarven blacksmiths).
At
first Hephaestus was angry, but when he saw the type of swords Brokkr and
Sindri were dueling with, the anger subsided as the blades the brothers had
intrigued him.
Brokkr
and Sindri explained that the swords they had were known as Rapiers, swords
from España and Italia. The swords main purpose is to parry and block and the
only real way to inflict damage is to thrust the sword at the opponent.
Hephaestus
loved this idea and worked with Brokkr and Sindri to research and design a
sword that takes inspiration from the Rapier. Eventually, after a few rejections
from Mother Nature, Hephaestus and the brothers finally came up with the
perfect sword: Physeis’ Wrath. A design that is simple, powerful, safe and
tolerated by Mother Nature.
Now let’s breakdown the sword, starting with the blade.
Hephaestus’
first thought was to use a sharp stick, but Brokkr and Sindri (who I should
mention forged the famous hammer Mjölnir), pointed out that although there are
trees that have powerful magical properties, these are usually used for wands
and arrows. Brokkr and Sindri also reminded Hephaestus that this sword would be
going up against other swords made from teeth, metal, stone etc. and that a
stick would be useless.
Another
problem was that a Rapier’s blade is long and thin, which wouldn’t be a
problem, but forging a blade from metal into that shape would go against Mother
Nature’s request. Because to get the metal strong enough, one must mine and
mining can cause a lot of damage to the surrounding woods and forests.
The only problem is that no one is allowed to touch the deer except Mother Nature and her kin!
The
Ceryneian Deer comes from the hidden forests of Keryneia and is sacred and
protected by the youngest great granddaughter of Mother Nature, Artemis (or Diana as
her mother, Leto, calls her). The Ceryneian Deer was chosen to help the Humans
use magic and were evolved by the Immortals to have bronze coloured hooves and
antlers. This allowed them to harness and cast magical spells to aid the Humans
in everyday life.
The antlers were also used by the Ceryneian Deer to protect themselves against predators, but the antlers proved to be too effective against enemies, for no predator could harm them, thus leading to no natural enemy and an overpopulation problem. This lead to lands becoming barren due to overgrazing.
And to stop this, Mother Nature, although it
pained her, commanded her granddaughter, Artemis, to form a hunting party and
thin out the herd. Artemis instructed the hunters in her party to only kill a
100 throughout the year and to bring the Deer’s bodies to her. After that the
carcasses were then burned by Artemis and the antlers and hooves where
collected by Mother Nature’s and Donn’s (Sister Death’s third son) son Cernunnos,
the horned one. Cernunnos drained the magic from the antlers and hooves.
But
while Merlin was researching how to harness magic without the aid of magical
beings and creatures, he knew that the Ceryneian Deer’s antlers were used to
channel and cast magic. So, Merlin, secretly paid the hunters in Artemis’ party
to kill a few extra and bring it to him.
At
first the extra Ceryneian Deer going missing and being smuggled to Merlin’s
lab, went unnoticed, but Merlin grew frustrated with how long it took to get
new antlers and how he is getting only two or three Deer carcasses at a time. So,
Merlin, put out a large bounty (with the funding he got from the Pendragon
dynasty) for as many Ceryneian Deer they can catch. This not only lead to the
hunters to break their oath to Mother Nature and Artemis, but drew the
attention of poachers, leading to the near extinction of the Ceryneian Deer!
If it wasn’t for the intervention of Artemis, Cernunnos and an army of Hākuturi (a race of bird like creatures that are the chosen guardians and warriors of Mother Nature), the Deer would have completely disappeared.
The
Hākuturi helped Artemis round up the last remaining few Ceryneian Deer. Mother
Nature then created a hidden forest, where Artemis hid the Deer and was also
assigned to be their protector. Thus the Ceryneian Deer became sacred to
Artemis. Artemis also bred six Ceryneian Deer to be her companions. These six were
named Elaphus Cerynitis, Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, Duraþrór and Eikþyrnir. They
were also used to pull Artemis’ chariot and protect her whenever she went to
meet her grandmother.
It
was when visiting her grandmother, that these six beautiful animals would gain
more power in their antlers by eating from the leaves of the tree of life, or
Mother Nature’s eldest daughter: Yggdrasill.
Now with that, you see why Hephaestus, Brokkr and Sindri were so frustrated. But then Hephaestus remembered something of Cernunnos: how he got the title of “the horned one.”
The
story goes that when Heracles, in a mad frenzy, killed his wife and two
children, he was punished by Hera, the daughter of Brother Life. Heracles
begged Hera to help him seek redemption. Hera agreed, but only if he completed
a total of twelve labours to prove himself. One of these labours was to capture
and bring one of Artemis’ Ceryneian Deer.
And
the Ceryneian Deer he caught was Elaphus Cerynitis, one of Artemis’ six
companions. Heracles found Elaphus Cerynitis, who was a hind or doe, when Elaphus
Cerynitis broke loose from the chariot when Artemis was in battle with an army
of poachers. Heracles spotted Elaphus Cerynitis, when she stopped at the black-pebbled
Anaurus for a drink. Heracles wanted to capture it alive as to not anger
Artemis (because she was his half-sister, meaning that Mother Nature was also
his great grandmother). But this proved difficult because Elaphus Cerynitis has eaten
so much from the leaves of Yggdrasill making it very powerful.
Leading
to an entire year of failures, to which Heracles, in a fit of rage, killed Elaphus
Cerynitis. Filled with guilt and also not wanting to fulfil another 12 labours
to be forgiven by his half-sister and grandmother, he went to see Artemis.
Artemis
was still having trouble with poachers. Heracles saw this as an opportunity to
make amends and helped her defeat the hunters that were after the Deer. When
the battle was won, Heracles confessed to Artemis about the death of Elaphus
Cerynitis.
Artemis
nearly killed Heracles, but after hearing his story of the twelve labours she let
him take the dead doe to prove that he had accomplished the task. But when that
was done the deer was to be brought back to Artemis to be burned and the
antlers and hooves collected by Cernunnos.
When
Artemis told Cernunnos how Elaphus Cerynitis died, he felt a deep sadness for
the waste of such a life. So, to honour Elaphus Cerynitis, Cernunnos, instead
of draining out the magic from the antlers and hooves, incorporated them into
his armour. That way the Ceryneian Deer can still help protect nature even in
death.
Cernunnos
cut off his feet and replaced them with the hooves and gave the other two
hooves to his brother Pan, who is a satyr. With the antlers, Cernunnos created
a special crown and attached them to it. His long hair covered up the crown, making
it seem that he had horns.
“…And
that was how Cernunnos got the title of ‘the horned one’” Hephaestus whispered
to himself and sent word to Mother Nature, that they found a way to make her Rapier-type
sword. Hephaestus requested that she ask Cernunnos to give up one of the antlers
from his crown. Mother Nature agreed and sent a few of her Hākuturi warriors to
retrieve it. Cernunnos wasn’t exactly thrilled by this idea of giving up one of
the antlers, but nonetheless he obeyed his mother.
Cernunnos
was repaid when he requested to marry the nymph Beltane. Beltane was chosen by
Mother Nature to become a nymph of spring and protect the forests. Mother
Nature never intended Beltane to marry and leave her post, but because Cernunnos
was loyal and always obeyed his mother, Mother Nature allowed them to marry.
Anyway…
back to the sword. Cernunnos cut off one antler and handed it to the Hākuturi,
who then gave it to Hephaestus. Hephaestus and the two brothers went to work
preparing the antler, that was not only very strong, but had Yggdrasill’s power
in it. But most importantly, they now had a blade that was able to parry and
block all attacks, can subdue enemies in a non-lethal manner and only kill when
used in a thrusting motion.
But
Brokkr and Sindri were worried that this might not be powerful enough. So,
Hephaestus requested a piece of Yggdrasill, so that the blade has a direct
connection to its main power source.
And that leads us to breakdown of the sword’s hilt. Starting with the cross guard, which is made from the branches of Yggdrasill. Yggdrasill, as mentioned is Mother Nature’s eldest child.
In
the beginning of Magusterra, the Immortals started shaping and building up
their respected domains that they were in charge of. But it became more apparent
that the more time passed the harder it was to keep track of everything that
happened in their domains, especially since their fellow First Created, the
Humans, could disobey their wishes and had the free will to disrupt any set
rules and laws the Immortals put in place.
The
Immortals realised that they couldn’t keep up with their domains and keep track
with what the Humans were doing. So, the Immortals decided to have children
(yes, even Sister Death!).
Some
Immortals had children with the Humans (after all they are also a part of the
First Created), while other Immortals procreated amongst themselves. But others
waited (like Mother Nature) for one of the children of the other Immortals who
had either the same strength of their parent(s) or an equivalent thereof. After
a while, Mother Nature, struggled to protect her domain and element from being exploited
and destroyed by the Humans.
Mother
Nature could no longer bear it and decided to see which of the Immortals’ kin
she could conceive a child with. At this stage all the other Immortals already
had quite a few children and even some grandchildren! But Mother Nature had a
specific partner in mind, one that could track and sense every living thing.
The only Immortals that had that ability was Sister Death and Brother Life. Both
have the power to track all living things. Brother Life, because the living is
his business and Sister Death because she had to know where each living thing
was to help her determine how it would die.
But
it should be noted that Sister Death only has a rough estimate of when and how
something was going to expire, because as mentioned in The Introduction, the
Humans had the ability to change events that the Immortals had planned out.
For
instance, a plant in the desert has been given a life expectancy of six years,
by Sister Death. But a Human could wonder that same desert and find the plant.
Now the Human can dig up the plant and take it home, increasing its life or the
Human could stomp on the plant decreasing its life. Either way it messes up
Sister Death’s schedule forcing her to rewrite her whole plan. But this change
not only forces Death to change her plan, but also Father Time’s (for he put it
in the scroll of time that the plant would be dead in six years), Brother
Life’s (because he must be alert if the plant had any seeds to create new life)
and because it is a plant, Mother Nature’s plans are ruined as well!
That
being said, Sister Death’s ability to keep track of all living things and their
deaths is seventy to eighty percent accurate and that was enough for Mother
Nature. So, Nature went out to find a child of Death that has the ability to
track the living. Sister Death had a few children lined up already, but only
one stood out and that was Sister Death’s first born, Hades, king of the Hellada
underworld.
There
are many underworlds in Magusterra, each has an overseer that catalogues and
sorts out the dead for their mother/grandmother, Sister Death. But Hades’ was
the most efficient among all Sister Death’s kin. Hades was also the most
powerful.
Mother
Nature approached Hades with the proposition that he will be the father of
their child and was able to use the child to help him keep track of living
beings (if the child was born with that ability). Hades agreed, but Mother
Nature told him that this was not a romantic partnership, just business.
It
took them a while to conceive, and in that time Hades fell in love with Mother
Nature, but Nature didn’t reciprocate. Hades hoped that when they had a child,
Mother Nature, would reconsider. But when Mother Nature fell pregnant she
thanked Hades and left.
Mother
Nature gave birth to a daughter, Yggdrasill. Mother Nature loved Yggdrasill and
let Hades see her from time to time. But when Yggdrasill developed her powers
and found that she had both the powers of nature and death, Mother Nature took
full custody and started Yggdrasill’s training.
When
Yggdrasill finished training, Mother Nature, gave Yggdrasill the task to
connect all living things in nature, to help her mother keep track of the
plants and animals in her domain. Mother Nature did this by changing Yggdrasill
into the World Tree or Tree of Life. This came to be known as the tree that
surrounds the world and other realms close to Magusterra.
Mother
Nature kept her word to Hades and allows him to use Yggdrasill to keep track of
the souls of plants and animals, so that Hades can focus more on Humans, the
kin of the Immortals, elves, dwarves etc.
Hades
and Mother Nature never spoke after Yggdrasill became the World Tree. Hades did
find love, in the form of Persephone, Mother Nature’s granddaughter. Hades fell
instantly fell in love with and married Persephone because she looked like her
grandmother.
But
back to the sword… Hephaestus, pushing his luck with Mother Nature once again,
requested a piece from the World Tree. But luckily Mother Nature thought this
was a good idea, because of the fact that Yggdrasill had not only her powers,
but also Hades’.
Mother Nature sent a Hākuturi to Hephaestus with a seed from Yggdrasill’s branches. Hephaestus planted the seed and let it grow around the antler to from the cross guard.
Let
me explain how Yggdrasill’s seeds work. Yggdrasill was turned into a tree and
thus gave up her “human” form, taking her ability to have children away. Her
seeds are an ability that she gained that allows her to be reborn. If Yggdrasill’s
main body is attacked, she can put all of her consciousness and powers into one
seed. This seed will then be taken by a Hākuturi who will then plant it and Yggdrasill
will be reborn.
But
in this case the seed given to Hephaestus doesn’t contain Yggdrasill’s consciousness,
only a fraction of her powers because Hephaestus isn’t planning on letting the
tree grow to full adulthood, just big enough to hold the sword together and
attach the hilt to the blade/antler.
Speaking of which, let’s have a look at the last piece of Physeis’ Wrath, the unicorn horn that is the hilt.
Speaking
of which, let’s have a look at the last piece of Physeis’ Wrath, the unicorn
horn that is the hilt. Hephaestus felt that with Mother Nature’s condition of
using as little materials as possible was too limiting, in both creative
control and the sword’s power. Leading Hephaestus to find the most powerful
artifacts and materials that Mother Nature’s domain has to offer. He already had
two and now it was time for the final piece, the hilt.
And
according to Hephaestus there is only one thing that could make the sword
functional and equal in power to all the other swords in the Excalibur
collection. And that is the horn of a pureblooded unicorn!
The
horn of a unicorn, much like the antler of the Ceryneian Deer, is strong and is
used to cast spells to help Humans. But the unicorn horn is much more powerful
than the antler, for it can be used to enhance any potion it is added to. It
can also be used to heal any wound and illness. It can also be used as an antidote
to fight against all poisons and venoms.
Unicorns
themselves are fascinating creatures. Natural enemies of lions, they seem to be
more intelligent than the other magical creatures and beasts. They tend to keep
to themselves, but have been seen forming communities and even governments and
regional leaders. Some cryptozoologists and magizoologists have even noted that
the unicorns have a monarchy.
The
habitats of unicorns are mostly in forested areas, such as in the British Isles
and the deep forests of Bharat. But some unicorns have been spotted in desert
areas, such as Jazīrat al-ʿArab. It is unclear what they are doing in the desert,
but magizoologists insist that the unicorns were sent by Mother Nature to find
suitable spots where an oasis can be placed.
There are four types of unicorn (or five if you count the corrupted and mutated monster that some unicorns have turned into due to the Humans harnessing magic).
The
first and purest is the Jazīrat al-ʿArab unicorn, the most powerful of the breed. The second
is the unicorns found in the forests of the British Isles and Bharat. These
unicorns are less powerful then the Jazīrat al-ʿArab, and are a result of the Jazīrat
al-ʿArab unicorn mating with other
horse species.
One way to tell the unicorns and normal horse apart is to look at their facial and skeletal features. Which will show that, well… A unicorn has massive horn in the middle of their foreheads! That… and also unicorns have cloven hooves.
And
to tell the Jazīrat al-ʿArab unicorn from the British Isles and Bharat unicorn
is that the Jazīrat al-ʿArab or pureblood unicorn has a billy-goat type beard
under its chin. The other two unicorns have most likely gone extinct, due to
them being experiments in Mother Nature’s search for the perfect animal that
could wield the power that the horn gave them.
First
Mother Nature went to Sērikós where she came across the wild boar. They seemed
ideal, their size and musculature build suggested that they would’ve been able
to handle the power that the horn gave them. Pigs also have cloven hooves and
this is where the Jazīrat al-ʿArab unicorn gets its cloven hooves from.
The
problem was the wild boar was far too aggressive towards others (including
Mother Nature!). On top of that the wild boar had poor eyesight and since most
of their muscles are located in the front of their bodies, the horn made them
unbalanced and front heavy. Since Mother Nature only made a few of them they
have been long extinct.
The second attempt by Mother Nature in creating a unicorn was the Suvarnadvipa rhino. She chose the rhino because of the fact that it was big and strong as the boar and already had a horn. Mother Nature also chose them because they were the smallest species of rhino and thus more manageable. They seemed to be compatible with the horns that Mother Nature gave them, but couldn’t reach the full potential of what the horn was capable of.
But
that didn’t matter to Mother Nature, as she thought that over time their
offspring would be able to manage it. Also Mother Nature found that rhinos born
in captivity seemed quite friendly and even enjoyed hers, her children’s and
even Human’s presence. The problem was that Humans couldn’t tell the difference
between the Suvarnadvipa unicorn rhino and an ordinary rhino due to them both
having a horn. Which lead to a lot of attacks and fires on Mother Nature’s
forests from angry Humans, who were harmed by normal rhinos.
Thus Mother Nature abandoned that idea of using the rhino. They are also most likely extinct due to their lack in numbers. It should also be noted that cryptozoologists believe this is where the unicorn got its fear and anger towards big cats, such as loins because the rhino unicorn had to fight against the Suvarnadvipa tigers.
Mother
Nature then turned to horses. She realised that since the Suvarnadvipa rhino
was able to handle the horn’s power, all she needed was an animal related to
the rhino species and that was the horse. Their size and strength made them
perfect and also since they don’t come with horns already, it is easy to tell
the difference between a unicorn and an ordinary horse. Their intelligence and
graceful air also allowed them to use the full potential of the horn’s powers.
When
the Humans asked for magic, Mother Nature gave them the unicorn. And as a show
of good faith, she gave each of the Kings and Queens that the Immortals met
with, their own pureblooded unicorn that had golden horse shoes, to let
everyone know that those unicorns belonged to the royals and by extent making
those unicorns royalty.
Unicorns, also like the Ceryneian Deer, were hunted by Merlin and poachers for their horns as a means to try and harness magic for themselves. Some royals gave up their unicorns (that were gifted to them by Mother Nature) to Merlin for experimentation. But other Kings and Queens, not wanting to hurt their unicorns and anger Mother Nature, set them free.
As a result, most pureblooded unicorns fled back to the deserts. Some are protected and herded by the elves and gnomes. While others, wanting their species to survive, resorted to making the power that their horns held weaker, by mating with other Equine species, such as ordinary horses, kelpies, hippocamps (or hippocampi) and so on.
Pureblooded unicorns are also protected by the Hākuturi and thus make them property of Mother Nature, putting Hephaestus, Brokkr and Sindri in the same frustrated situation as with the Ceryneian Deer. But through research Hephaestus discovered that the unicorn horn holds all of its power even after the creature’s death. So, Hephaestus wrote to Mother Nature that they once again needed a part of a dead endangered animal.
There
was only one being who knew where the graves where or could at least get the
monsters to reveal the location, and that was Sister Death. For you see, even
though the pureblooded still worship Mother Nature, the new generation of grotesque
unicorns, turned their backs on her and are even more hostile towards her than
the wild boar unicorns!
With
their hatred of the Humans, the mutated and corrupted unicorns now worship
Sister Death, due to their want of all Humans to go extinct and some, who have
taken up blacksmithing, also worship The Troll King, for it was the trolls who
sold them different kinds of metal to make their weapons.
So,
Mother Nature reached out to Sister Death, who went to grace these dark
unicorns with her presence. The unicorns were honored by Sister Death’s visit
and gladly took her to their sacred burial site. Sister Death, not wanting to
lose their support by demanding a horn from the unicorns’ dead kings and
queens, brought The Troll King with, who traded ten tons of metal for one
pureblooded unicorn horn.
The
monstrous beasts agreed with the arrangement and allowed Sister Death to take
one pureblooded unicorn horn, from a fallen Jazīrat al-ʿArab unicorn queen.
Hephaestus
placed it with the antler and grew the branches of from Yggdrasill’s seed
around the two horns. The Hākuturi, with the help of Brokkr and Sindri, manipulated
the branches of the small tree to tightly bind the antler and horn together and
from the cross guard. Thus Physeis’ Wrath was born!
Hephaestus
presented the sword to Mother Nature at her home in Eden, an island on the back
of the giant sea turtle, Akupara. This is also where the sword is kept. Because
the island is on the back of Akupara, it is constantly on the move and never at
the same place for too long. Its swimming pattern is also unpredictable making
it hard to track.
This is where the door of the ark was sent. When I exited the ark I was greeted by one of the eight Dikpalas (Eden’s guardians). The Dikpalas are eight mighty elephants that where given to Mother Nature by Father Time. The Dikpalas stand guard on each compass point on the turtle to help them spot any approaching enemies.
I was greeted by the North Dikpala, Kubera, who lead me safely to a wooden chest that sat right in front of the tree of knowledge. I won’t lie, I was tempted to grab a fruit from the tree, but the terrifying rumbles and growls of Kubera, snapped me out of it.
With the help of Kubera, I grabbed the chest and was escorted back to the Ark. I placed the chest next to the other two swords. After that I received my next task: to collect the Cradle and Grave set or the twin blades of Life and Death!
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