Cemetery of Swords

The following is one of the Songs of the Thousand Thousand, a series of epic poems detailing the histories of the many blades surrendered at the end of the Great Battle.

During the Era of Conflict, the Great Battle was fought in the three-square league fields outside the town of Radivale. While the instigation of the battle is lost to history, knights, warriors, and mercenaries from all over the world came to take part as multiple factions, kingdoms, and armies sought to test both their opponents mettle and their own. Heroes and legends were born and killed in equal measure as new troops constantly joined the fray.

The Great Battle ended when one of the greatest heroes of the era, the Blade-maiden and Bearer of the Seven Star Fulcrum, Ell Kidarkhi, thrust her sword into the earth and walked through the surrounding conflict untouched, surrendering the battle to her fellows. She was the first of many, as each of the thousands of warriors in turn thrust their own sword into the earth and quit the field. The Great Battle, having lasted for five-hundred and twenty-three days, ended that very hour.

The swords themselves remained on the field for generations until memories of the Great Battle began to fade. Then, eager sellswords and ambitious warlords claimed these relics for their own, imbued as they were with the indomitable spirits of battle. These cursed swords brought victory and suffering to their wielders, until all who claimed the weapons either perished or renounced their bloodthirsty ways.

The Songs of the Thousand Thousand detail the journey of each of these stolen swords, and how they returned to their rightful place in the field known as The Cemetery of Swords.