章 37: Sidestory 4 - Fate of the Elders
Sidestory IV - Fate of the Elders
"It is perhaps one of the greatest ironies that despite their superior capabilities to mortal men, one such mortal man carved his name for all perpetuity into the annals of history using almost entirely his own talents and the men at his disposal. Whereas on the other hand, the Children and the Giants were mere footnotes throughout the period of Aegon the Conqueror's rule and decades afterwards." - Obela Toinad on the Elder Races
The Children of the Forest and the Giants were two Elder races to survive all the way from the Dawn Age up to the present day, mostly because they went into hiding soon after the Long Night came to an end. Such ancient history is exceptionally spotty and difficult to piece together due to how few records survived.
As such, one can only rely on the commonly perpetrated mytho-historical tales of these two races that once were spread throughout all of Westeros.
Since the Dawn of Time and the creation of the world of Planetos, the Elder races populated the continent of Westeros as easily as all wildlife, free and able to live their lives in peace. The Children commanded great powers of magic, while the Giants were tall and strong and capable of smashing dozens of men with swings of their arms.
All that changed when the First Men appeared.
They originally came from Essos, migrating over the Arm of Dorne and staking claim to their petty kingdoms. Territorial disputes followed, and war soon erupted between the Children and the First Men.
Though the Children possessed great magic, the First Men overwhelmed them through sheer numbers and the use of bronze weaponry, whereas the Children only had obsidian daggers and the Giants had wooden clubs. Eventually, to stop the flow of Men into Westeros, the Children used their magic and tore apart the Arm of Dorne with great plumes of water, hammering with such force that even bedrock cracked.
Yet it was too little, too late, and the First Men were here to stay.
As the centuries passed the Children dwindled in both number and homes, and though there were peace treaties and agreements here and there the memory of Men was short and fickle, and there was no true lasting peace so long as Men were greedy for more.
When the Long Night came and the Others invaded Westeros in force, they brought forth a winter lasting years upon years; famine ensued as crops ceased to grow, and for the first time an Old Alliance of Children and First Men was forged, and together they fought to drive them back, leading to the creation of Brandon's Wall and the Night's Watch.
No one truly knows for sure if they won, or if the Others simply considered the Alliance not worth their time to fight and just left out of boredom; no one knows if the alliance endured after the Long Night. It is commonly accepted, however, that the alliance did not endure, for why else had the Children and Giants faded into myth and obscurity, instead of walking among Men as equals?
Two millennia after the Long Night, the Andals came by sea.
The Andals followed a different faith - the Seven-who-are-One - and thus saw the faith of the Old Gods as heresy to be purged. Not only did they possess an organized religious institution, they had superior tactics, metallurgy and construction techniques; where the First Men had wooden keeps and palisades and bronze, the Andals had keeps and ramparts of stone and iron weaponry - the latter they learned from the Rhoynar.
Iron was easily more durable and sharper than bronze, and it was easier to smelt and mine than bronze, leading to the Andals possessing larger armies than the First Men. Furthermore, castles of stone were far harder to siege as one could not simply chop them like palisades with axes.
Many houses converted to the Seven, hoping to gain access to their technology as a means of furthering their ambitions, while others who rejected them were converted at swordpoint or fled to the North. With the coming of the Andals, there was no place for the Children left south - they were all burned at the stake.
The Andals united hundreds of petty kingdoms into large kingdoms - the Reach, the Westerlands and the Vale. Only the North remained independent, yet it did them little good, for the last vestiges of magic had long since faded before Aegon's Conquest, or else King Torrhen the Kneeler would not have surrendered to Aegon Targaryen without a single arrow fired.
IIOII
Undisclosed Location
A young boy gasped as he emerged from a tangle of roots, fearful and terrified and short of breath as he beheld his surroundings. Trapped in a cave with no way home, no familiar places in sight and all alone, he desperately looked around and took in his surroundings.
"Hello? Is there someone, anyone?"
"Please be calm, young Eckard. We mean you no harm."
Eckard jumped in shock at the voice, and he turned to find little, child-like beings approaching him, and instantly he knew they were not Human.
Dark skin a mixture of brown and grey with a bark-like texture appearance, eyes that shone amber with slits instead of round pupils, leaves and twigs in their hair that seemed natural and not unnatural, and an otherworldly air around them that made Eckard watch in awe and shock.
"W-Who are you?" Eckard asked.
"We are who people call the Children of the Forest, young Eckard," The lead Child approached, "And we are the ones who brought you here."
"The Children? But… But I thought you were a myth!" Eckard exclaimed, a feeling of excitement budding in his heart.
"A lie we perpetrated through our disappearance, young Eckard," The lead Child explained gently, his voice echoing like a lilting song, "This was so that your ancestors would not hunt us down anymore."
"I see…" Said Eckard, "But why bring me here? I don't understand."
"It is a long story," The lead Child explained, "Please take a seat, we will be here for a while."
"Uh, sure," Eckard said, "Excuse me, but what's your name? I never got it."
"Oh, my apologies," Said the lead Child, "You may call me Leaf."
"Leaf? That sounds, er…"
Leaf did not seem offended, merely offering a smile of amusement, "Our true names are spoken in the True Tongue, the language of the earth; it is not one that neither beast nor Men can replicate even should they live a thousand years. It is the language the trees converse to the rivers, the rocks whisper to the clouds, the thunder roars when it disputes the wind, the sea speaks smoothly to the grass. It even speaks to all the animals yet very few listen, and Humans - worst of all breeds - choose to ignore. My kind sing in unison with the soils beneath our feet, the shrubs we clothe our forms with, and drink nutrients with the trees we slumber beside. You may call me but a Leaf among many, just as my people have many Nuts, Berrys, Sticks, Petals, Coals, Hairs, Scales, and more. But one Leaf is not like another. This Leaf is unique, as are my fellow Leafs."
Eckard simply nodded, not truly understanding and following Leaf's long-winded explanation.
"Now, the reason why we brought you here is because… it concerns the survival of our kind," Leaf began to explain, "We are dying out."
Eckard did not dare to interrupt, not after seeing the immense sorrow and regret crossing Leaf's face.
"Our self-imposed isolation meant that the Humans are no longer killing us, but the ancient enemy that haunted both us and Men still lurks around, and our hiding places are small and unable to house many of us," Leaf continued, "As such, neither us nor the Giants were able to leave our cage."
"Then why me?" Asked Eckard, "You could, I don't know, conquer some lands here, build your own kingdom?"
Leaf shook his head, "We do not have the numbers, and many of us are just tired of endless war. We just want a place to peacefully exist without the fear of persecution. As to why we brought you here, we know of your ambitions."
"What?" Questioned Eckard, suddenly feeling defensive.
"Be assured, we did not pry into your mind," Said Leaf, "Rather, it was revealed to us by the Old Gods."
"The Old Gods did?" Asked Eckard, "So, they were the ones who told you to bring me here?"
"An astute observation, Eckard," Leaf smiled, "Now, we may already know your ambitions, but a great many of us still dislike the thought of having to rely on a Human for our survival, or that you or your descendants might betray us. As such, might I ask about your intentions?"
Eckard sighed and began to speak.
"You've no reason to trust me, neither do I trust you. As for me, I just don't want to end up dying in poverty. I want to make my name, earn a Lordship and then become rich, and then I don't have to die hungry."
Leaf silently paid attention with the rest of the Children present as Eckard spoke.
"It's just a stupid dream," Eckard continued, "I don't want to die poor, but how easy is it for someone to become a Lord? I mean, chances are quite small, aren't they? I'm just a beggar who only knows how to steal and beg, I don't have any fighting skills or education, certainly don't have any bloodline or whatever."
Even as he spoke, Eckard's voice bled with raw emotion, his eyes beginning to tear up.
"Then we can help you," Leaf spoke.
"How?" Asked Eckard.
"We can forge for you a powerful blade and instruct you in the art of magic," Leaf explained gently, "As for other subjects, however, you will have to turn to other means."
"And how will I become a Lord?" Asked Eckard, "Just having a blade and magic won't get me recognised."
"We know," Leaf nodded, "Which is why when you turn ten-and-two, you need to go south to Dorne, and enroll yourself in one of the schools there. We will guide you the rest of the way through dreams, but what else you do is up to you."
With nothing and no one to live for and being a mere child of ten-and-one years? What other choice did he have?
"When do I start?"
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