There is a wonderful place hidden somewhere in the ring of the Karrabata mountains, this place is called Madüjawr. A countryside dotted with rivers, smaller and larger lakes, lush pastures, dark mountains and sloping hills, where one who wants to strengthen the magic of their soul in peace will find a home. A small wonderland between the mountain ranges, a secluded countryside, a gold mine that stays alive in the memory of all peoples.
There are many legends associated with this region. There are smaller ones that will fade in a few decades and there are bigger ones that not even the teeth of centuries can wear down. The imagination of people feeds on the legends, in which the memory of their ancestors is preserved. The tribes living here become what they are, thanks to these legends. There are legends that are only about a tribe that may not be known in the nearest village, but one can also come across ones that are known to the whole nation. One such legend is the legend of King Athira.
It is rumored that a thousand years ago, when the people of Madüjawr were leading their horses for the first time into the valley of the Karrabata Mountains, the leader of the people was an exceptionally talented warlord, King Athira. They feared his name in every kingdom, where he appeared, the enemy surrendered to him almost without a fight, so this king led his people to the mountains of Karrabata, where they gained a new peaceful homeland for themselves.
Although the warlord's mind was sharper than a freshly sharpened sword's blade, his heart clearer than a mountain stream, his strenght more than that of a wild bull, yet his enemies were not afraid of him because of these. The real reason for their fear was the Godwhip. It is the legendary weapon with which the king was able to move mountains, to bring people under the influence of his will. The Whip of God, as the king was often called, referred to this weapon. It is said that if one were to snap once with the Godwhip, everyone within two-arrow shot distance would become deaf.
Once it happened that King Athira was approached by the leader of the chüvigh people in the west, who offered a diplomatic marriage to the king in exchange for peace. The king, after consulting with his most loyal men, accepted the offer. However, on the night of his wedding, the great king lost his life, whether he had died because of the excessive wine-drinking associated with his nation, or perhaps drowned in his own saliva, or whether he had been killed by his newfound bride, will never be known.
The people severely mourned the death of their lord, an ornated farewell was held in the center of Madüjawr, and then a team of selected soldiers escorted the nation's brightest lord to his last resting place. To one of the branches of his much-loved river, the Oughervolgjagh, where the river was temporarily drained from its original flow.
King Athira's body was placed in a gold coffin, which was placed in a silver coffin, which was eventually placed in an iron coffin and thus lowered into the pit dug for him, to which, after an hour of prayer, the sand of the riverbed was put back and then the soldiers released the river back to its original bed. Thus the tomb of King Athira came under the beloved river, where no one can disturb his eternal dream. To ensure that no one could disturb the king's peace, the soldiers who accompanied him on his last journey were killed by arrows as soon as they returned to the city.
Legend has it that whoever finds the tomb of Athira and obtains the Godwhip the whole world will fall into their hands and there will be no stronger man on earth than them. Another very creepy legend spreads from the time of King Athira, the protagonist of which is the great king's most trusted man, his táltos.
It is said of this man that he stepped on the path of the hegins at a young age and that a bright future awaited him since youth. He had barely reached adulthood when he had reached the level of táltos and as such aroused Athira's curiosity. The king met the talented hegin, who summoned the spirit of the king's long-deceased father right before his eyes. Athira then accepted the man into his services. The táltos stood right next to the king in every battle, he was the only one who could speak freely with the king and whose advice the king always kept closest to his heart.
But, all good things ends once. The táltos summoned wilder and wilder creatures from the shadow world the more vast areas his people acquired. Soldiers often did not even dare to step on the battlefield when they saw the figure of the táltos, as they all knew that in the next moment hundreds of monsters might appear beside them and who knows how long can the táltos keep these wild creatures under his control.
However, the real horror only happened after King Athira left the lands of the living. Tradition holds that the táltos went insane at the loss of his lord and pulled off the skin of his head with his own hands to gain access to his skull, where, according to the faith of his people, all the soul magic of men is hidden. However, as the táltos had not yet reached the highest level that the hegins could attain, the seventh star of the táltos, he died in terrible torment because of his own actions.
Peace moved into the hearts of the people, the crazy táltos was no longer a danger to them, or at least they believed this, since barely a year after the táltos's death, from all the regions of Madüjawr the hegins reported that huge changes had taken place in the Shadow World. A daimon appeared. The name daimon refers to the strongest and wildest of the spirits, and this daimon was much stronger than any before. The turbulent states of the Shadow World changed over the course of months, reaching the form of the Shadow World as it is known to today's hegins.
A hierarchy developed in the Shadow World, headed by the daimon king. And this daimon king was none other than the táltos of King Athira. The hegins lived in terror, waiting for the daimon king to start a war against them, but the war never came. The daimon king did not attack the living, however, once someone entered his realm, they could no longer get out alive. It is said that hundreds of dried out bodies of hegins were found next to hidden mountain trails and streams. The daimon king does not pardon anyone who dares to stand in his way, not even hegins who follow the path of developing ones soulmagic, as he did in his life.
Yet because it is believed that the daimon king was the táltos of King Athira, a new legend began to spreed among the people. Whoever commands the daimon king can find the tomb of Athira. Such legends will not lose their shine even after centuries. Therefore, that was the cause that after many, many years of King Athira's death, the strongest men of the seven tribes living in there gathered at the center of Madüjawr for a secret ritual.
The purpose of the ritual was clear, to bring the daimon king back to life. The plan seemed simple, if the daimon king is locked in a child's body, they will be able to raise him so that when he is strong enough, he will lead them to the tomb of King Athira without any objection. This ritual was conducted by the head of the Koál tribe and took place in the palace of the center of Madüjawr, the capital city of the seven tribes, the castle of Holdvár, in its largest hall.
In the center of the room was an array in the shape of a circle drawn with fresh blood of a bull, around which the tribal chiefs stood in the direction of the seven equator of the earth. And in the middle of the ritual circle lay the body of a baby who had been dead for barely two hours. The Koál tribe cheif, as needed, recited the text of the spell aloud, summoning the daimon king. In the hall, the daylight slowly faded, grayness took its place, and the veins of the tribal chiefs were filled with fear. Around the baby's corpse, red smoke rose from the floor, but then trouble struck. And for that everyone blamed the tribal chief.
So the Koál chief had to flee, to the only place he knew the hegins wouldn't look for him. Away beyond the Karrabata mountains, into the kingdom of the chüvigh. Here, far from his homeland, on a land where no one follows the way of the hegins and where soul magic is used only in weilding swords, where they worship a god instead of spirits, the once proud Koál leader settled. A few years later, however, a fire broke out in the village, where he had lived a peaceful life until then, and the proud leader along his wife lost their life.
However, the tales he told the children about the magical fairy world beyond the Karrabata Mountains continued to live on in a boy's mind. This led young Rahul to take up the road to the mountains and leave the land he knew, to discover the life of the hegins and get to know that magical land. However, there was one small thing he didn't take into account when he started his journey. And this was the squad of border guards.