Post by Mr. C on Jun 8, 2009 22:00:11 GMT -5
XVI. – II.
“It’s coming…”
Upon Yggdrasil’s long limbs sit the nine worlds of Viking lore. Upon one of the limbs, seated at the end of the rainbow bridge known as Bifrost, is the home of all of the deities in the legends: Asgaard. Home of all of the gods: Odin, Thor, Tyr, Loki and many more. Odin and Thor are two of the most well known gods, but this tale nay is about them. Tyr, many moons ago, was one of the most famous of all of the Aesir, the family of the Asgaardians. Many moons ago, he was heralded for two things, his unmatched courage and his unmatched war prowess. In hand-to-hand combat, he could never be beat. As for Loki, he’s always been heralded as the god of deceit, of mischief and this tale portrays him no differently. Many eons back, Loki snuck out of Asgaard and in to Jotunheimr, where he secretly wedded a giantess by the name of Angur-Boda. With her, he had three children: Hel, Jormungandr and Fenris and all of them were demonic bastards not fit for life on any of the nine worlds. Bedding a she-giant was bad enough, especially for a god who should hold himself in high regard, but bringing forth these three most terrible creatures was trouble enough. Loki hid them all from the weary eye of Odin the All-Father, the All-Seer.
But, as Loki knew, he could not hide them forever. As with them all beings born to a Jotun mother, they would grow tremendously and Odin with his watchful ravens that told him all of what happened throughout the nine worlds would soon find out – and find out he did. First to be discovered was Loki’s only daughter Hel, who was far uglier than any Jotun Odin had seen prior. Her face was only lovable to the dead, and so Odin did just that: he cast her down in to the flaming underworld of Niflehelm where she could rule carcasses as their queen until the end of time.
Loki was deeply saddened by the loss of his first daughter, and thusly Jormungandr was born. The serpent was just as devilish as the daughter that preceded him, and he grew just as quickly. Loki did his best to keep him contained, even more so than the child prior, but one day Jormungandr’s tail hung out from the mouth of the cave and the All-Father’s raven sighted it. Recognizing it right away as no worm it had ever seen, the raven alerted Odin, and Jormungandr was soon found as well. Frustrated, Odin cast Jormungandr aside in to the seas of Midgaard, hoping the beast would drown beneath the waves. But instead, in his new home, uninhibited and with plenty to eat, the serpent grew powerful and massive, so massive it could not just chase but catch it’s tail as it wrapped around the entirety of Midgaard. Saddened once more, Loki tried again and along came the pup Fenris.
This time, Loki would attempt tough love. He kept Fenris within the cave and with very little food. He would not allow this one to grow as big as it’s siblings and be caught. But, again Loki’s deceit failed as Fenris soon began to howl in the night out of hunger, and once more Odin found Loki’s bastard child. But this time, he saw how this being was treated and thought it better to bring the demon up to Asgaard with him to raise him in a world of kindness. Perhaps this beast would learn compassion in the world of the gods and not grow up like its brother and sister had. So the foolish All-Father brought the devilish dog into his home and did his best to train Fenris.
But Fenris, just like those before him, grew and grew, faster each day. Fenris, though still a playful pup grew angry as well, a true wolf demon. No matter how Odin and the other gods tried, Fenris quickly became far too much to handle and soon there was only one man brave enough to even get close enough to the creature to feed him: Tyr. Fenrisulfr continued to grow, continued to anger, and soon Odin grew tired of their foolish attempts to tame what was untamable. Odin called a meeting of all the Aesir and proclaimed that they had to bind the wolf to keep the worlds safe for soon Fenris would get so large his jaws would stretch from the earth to the sun at full yawn. But the trick was, how would they get such a ferocious animal to allow them to bind him?
It was Odin who came up with the plan, because Fenris (though large as he was) was indeed still a pup at heart, and a playful one at that, they’d simply turn this in to a game. With Asgaard’s strongest chains in hand, they offered up the challenge to Fenris. “We see how strong you are, wolf,” Odin said while carrying the chain towards the beast. “So let us play a game to test just how strong you really are. Let us bind you, and if you are as strong as you look, you should be able to break free with no trouble.” Fenris obliged with a devilish smirk and after being bound, he broke free with ease. Days later, the gods returned with a heavier chain and the game was set again. Fenris accepted the challenge once more, and broke free with just as much ease. Discouraged, Odin called forth another meeting, but this time with the Dark Elves. Might alone could not stop the creature, they needed magic.
And so, the elves of Svartlfaheim constructed a magical thread that they dubbed Gleipnir, made of only the most precise of ingredients: a cat’s footsteps, a woman’s beard, roots of a mountain, longings of a bear, voice of a fish and spittle of a bird. They returned the thread to Odin, who was very pleased with what they fashioned. Despite it’s size and weight, the svartlfar assured their All-Father that the thread would hold the demon Fenrisulfr and would indeed grow stronger the more the beast struggled. So, a third time, the gods brought forth the challenge on the pup Fenris but this time he was not so eager to play. He had beaten them twice already, and knew not what he’d gain from the game, and beyond that, they had come twice already with heavy chain and now came with a floss. But, not wanting to seem the coward, the wolf came up with a plan of his own. “I’ll gladly accept your plan, Aesir, for you have treated me well thus far. But as a show of good faith and to prove there is no trickery, one of you must put your hand within my jaws whilst I’m bound.”
All of the gods stepped back and shuffled their feet at the proposition, they all knew what that entailed – all of the gods but one. Brave, brave Tyr stepped forward and placed his hand into the maw of the beast. For Tyr, the only one brave enough to get close enough to Fenris prior, knew all too well what would happen if the beast was allowed to roam free on any of the nine worlds any longer. Only Tyr had the courage to save the Gods, nay, to save all of the worlds from the destruction of Fenris. So, with Tyr’s hand bravely placed atop the rows of massive teeth in Fenris’ mouth, the other gods stepped in and bound the wolf tight with Gleipnir and stepped back to watch their handiwork. Fenrisulfr struggled against the fetters, and found that he was indeed stuck by the thread but he soon noticed, too, that no matter how hard he struggle the thread grew not weaker, but stronger, and the Gods all had a hearty laugh at the demon’s troubles – all of the gods but one. Brave, brave Tyr stepped back from the chained beast and looked down upon the sight of his sword hand torn right from the wrist. Try held true to his obligation, even at the expense of his hand. From that day forward, Tyr was no longer just God of War and Courage; he was also the God of Honor. Tyr sacrificed his right hand for the good of the Gods, for the good of all the worlds. He was brave enough to accept the challenge, but also honored his obligation, his promise, even through losing his hand. He knew what was to come, and held true to his word to save all nine worlds upon Yggdrasil.
Bound, Fenris howled loudly, and the gods propped open the demon’s jaw with a mighty sword that propped against his tongue and drove up through the roof of its’ mouth and there it would stay trapped until now, until Ragnarok. Over the years, Fenris’ howl of desperation turned in to a growl of anger and determination, and after many eons, he snapped his jaws shut upon the sword that held his mouth apart and then in the same motion he broke free off Gleipnir as well. An angry growl came forth from the demon’s mouth, and soon that growl became one from the clentched teeth of Garmr as well. The scene changed quickly to that of Cross and Glaeg, battle-worn as ever and with weapons bloody and drawn, standing deep within Niflehelm and face-to-face with the guard dog of Hel, leashed by the ugly Jotun-Halfling and queen of the dead Hel.
Cross has always been in EUW a sign of honor and courage, a master of war. Brett Cross calls himself the God of Midgaard, and in doing so he is a man all his own. But to relate him to another, one would have to relate him to Tyr – unmatched in battle skill, courageous and honorable. But Chance Fusion? He’s always been a man of deceit, of cowardice, of false impressions of strength and ability. When reality does happen to strike for him, he’ll learn he’s nothing more than a poor, bound bastard; a cornered wolf pup. This week, thanks to the fool’s interference last week, it is a High God vs. a Bastard Child. But alas, as always seems to be the case, it’s a battle fought indirectly. For in reality, it’s a tag match of Cross and Bull vs. Fusion and Daggerson and not the epic man-to-man confrontation Cross wanted, which actually is no problem at all. Like always, Cross gets his revenge. This week, it just happens to come in a two-for-one, as he will avenge his loss to Lincoln at the same time he avenges his loss to Lincoln thanks to interference by Fusion. Both sides are full of talent. Chance’s team holds the World Champion, a man Cross has yet to beat. But on Cross’ team, there are two champions. Cross, holding Brandrwulf, holding the Pure Title fights along with Jack Bull the HardKore Champion. And, with Bull at his side, Cross has an added sense of confidence this revenge would indeed come true.
This week, Cross plans to use Bull’s aid just as the Gods used Tyr’s and the dark elves’. And, just as Fenrisulfr took Tyr’s right hand, Chance Fusion took Cross’ victory last week. But, the moral of the story was left out in the preceding paragraphs. After losing his hand to Fenris wolf, Tyr did not become just the God of Honor and Courage, he did not lose his status as a God of War - he stayed that as well. Even after losing his sword-hand, Try was the best at hand-to-hand combat. He was head and shoulders better than all that opposed him, even when he had but one hand, and his opposite hand to fight with. Just as Tyr continued to dominate after losing his sword-hand, Cross will win this week after his loss last week. Because the two are similar in many ways, and just as is true for Tyr, Cross has always been and will always be the best in EUW.
