"60 sec on self","30","50","Story describing the origin of the bonelords","Various, written in 1E 528"
The Four
[This is the first known record of the exsistence of a bonelord. Scribed by the Burned Skeleton in 1E528, in life a hero of the Alessian Army.]
During the mystical years of long ago, there was an ambitious mage. He lived in a jungle far in the south, in a time when magic-users were mysterious and considered blasphemous and often-times regarded with fear. This was when the mer still kept to themselves and the men and beast races ran in primitive tribes. They had no knowledge of the true gods, worshipping their ancestors and the few heroes of the day. Famous of them all was the magelord Ji’har, of which I write of today.
Ji’har was mighty, and grew to such power that the tribe nearest him--made up of Khajiit--thought him a god, and frequently made pilgrimages to pray and sacrifice animals in his glory. And indeed the mage was powerful. He could call storms in when the dry season was in thrall, could bring a child to sterile couples, and could slay a dragon with a mere glance. His benevolence was also widely known. He watched over the tribe with a fatherly and kingly eye.
But after a time he found he was growing old. His joints were stiffening and the scrolls of his magic began to blur to his tired eyes. He was troubled, and began looking for a way to delay his death, for he cared for his people, and he did not want to leave them without a leader. It was also a trying time when the tribes visited on pilgrimages. He had to remain hidden, so as not to reveal his coming age, which would effect the tribe as much as they would be driven to casting him down as a false god and revealing him as a forever-feared magician.
He went on a journey to find the cure to old age. He wandered the land far and wide, and finally headed north, to the barren and frozen lands of strange northern men, unexplored by any of the people of the jungle or its surrounding deserts. Spring and summer passed and the winter's dead cold descended on him. His arthritis was torture to bear in the long nights, and he was caught in several snowstorms without shelter.
He came to a land where the talon-like hills touched the sky and the land was strewn with sharp rocks to cut the feet. There was no vegetation or animals to speak of in the gods-forsaken place, only hellish heat and drought. But the ever-steady mage continued through all adversaries.
It was on the 6th day of the 3rd month after he set out that he came to spring of water. He sat down near it and took a breather. But as he bent to drink the water, it flew up in a spiral and materialized into a giant snake.
The mage and the snake regarded each other. And the snake hissed these words thrice:
Ageless is the earth
That forms the well known lands
Living with a purpose
And never giving in.
Ageless is the earth
That forms the foreign lands.
Forever steady in its way
Taking from inside
The courage to travel on.
A silver ring materialized before it, and dropped into the mages hand.
With that the snake fell back into the pool with a pitter and a patter. The mage continued on his way.
After a time he passed out of the barren land into a marsh. He sank into pools and was beset by terrible creatures of all sorts, some alight with all the colors of the rainbow, others cloaked in the dull colors of camouflage. But the ever-steady mage continued through all adversaries.
On the 12th day of the 9th month, he chanced upon a stretch of water clear of duckweed and algae. It was immensely deep, and clear all the way to the bottom. He sat down near it and took a breather. But as he bent to drink the water, it flew up in a spiral and materialized into a giant snake.
The mage and the snake regarded each other. And the snake hissed these words thrice:
Ageless is the water
That plays on well known lands
And babbles through troubles
Without a worry in mind.
Ageless is the water
That plays on foreign lands.
Forever steady in its way
Taking from inside
The courage to travel on.
A silver ring materialized before it, and dropped into the mages hand.
With that the snake fell back into the pool with a pitter and a patter. The mage continued on his way.
After the marsh came a forest teeming with life. The plants grew thicker than weeds in an old garden, and each step of the way the mage had to force his way through, hacking and slashing with a knife. Out of nowhere gigantic monsters would appear, drool lathering on their jaws. But the ever-steady mage continued through all adversaries.
On the 18th day of the 15th month, he came upon a lake that stretched in all directions, the shores on either end the last thing the eye could see before the horizon claimed the land. He sat down near it and took a breather. But as he bent to drink the water, it flew up in a spiral and materialized into a giant snake.
The mage and the snake regarded each other. And the snake hissed these words thrice:
Ageless is life
That grows on well known lands
Always continuing its circle.
Swinging through the balance.
Ageless is life
That grows on foreign lands.
Forever steady in its way
Taking from inside
The courage to travel on.
A silver ring materialized before it, and dropped into the mages hand.
With that the snake fell back into the pool with a pitter and a patter. The mage continued on his way.
Just as he left sight of the lake, a scamp crawled down from a nearby tree and imposed himself in the mage's way. He grinned and said once in the common tongue:
Believe you what the water snake says?
What hilarity!
What naivete!
You are a stupid excuse for a mage.
Now listen closely,
For I shall not repeat this thrice:
Ageless is death.
Never stirring
Always remaining.
The mage looked at the scamp. 'You make no sense. How can everlasting life lie in death?'
The scamp smiled, and said 'See for yourself.' And he waved his hand and another silver ring identical to the three dropped in the mage's hand. And with that, the scamp disappeared.
The mage stood a long time, looking at the ring. He pulled out the others, studying them. And then he understood.
He cast the ring in the air and chanted magic. The rings fell in a cross in front of him. The mage brought his hands together. The rings flew on his fingers.
What happened next is uncharted. Maybe he died shortly. Maybe his death was long and painful. But in the end he awoke to find himself back in his home in the far southern jungle. He looked down, to find the rings on fingers of bone, a hand for each ring.
He cried out in shock, and flung the rings in all corners of the room. 'No!' he screamed, 'No! This cannot be!'
So is the pain of undeath.
The rings answered him with silence. Then the mage pulled himself together. He gathered the rings, and placed them in a cross as before.
'And now I banish thee, cursed rings, to the far corners of the world,' He chanted.
But the rings would not be denied. They flew to the corners of the world, of course, but they vowed, steadily in their own way, to never be parted again, if they were brought in each others company.
The mage lived on his deathless life. But he was steady in his own way and took courage from inside himself, and did not bow to the hopelessness of the situation.
The mage proclaimed himself ever-watchful guardian of the undead on the 36th day of the 27th month after setting out to find the cure for old age. And we follow Him in good faith, hoping, as He does, to find the day when we reach a time of deathless life of happiness we all dream of...or release into the world of the true dead. And his greatest followers have the four arms of a bonelord in His honor.
He is always there for us, always with His four guiding hands, Patience, Faith, Eternity, and Pain. He guides the faithful through their grief. And woe is wept for those who were not steady and could not find courage inside themselves, and have been driven mad by the pain. We call them the heretics, for they no longer feel the caring touch of His four hands, and we fear them, in case they lead us into the downward spiral of lunacy and away from our lord.
So is the tale of Lord Ji’har and the four Rings of Eternity.
The Four Rings of Eternity (Summon Bonelord)
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