The Song of Tarathúr

Acts I and II

The Dark Ages: a legendary time of conflict between the native tribes of Europe and the failing Roman Empire. This is where our story begins.

On the shores of Albion, the ancient isle of Britain, agents of the Roman emperor Xavian (icks ay´vee an) abandon a young girl. This is Tarathúr (târ´a thoor), the child of Aradne (ä rad´nay), once proud Queen of Albion – now a captive of Rome and the emperor’s bride. Xavian is an oppressive tyrant, who has torn down the Old Religion and enslaved the free nations of Europe. He now holds the Heathens in thrall through division and fear. But, it is Xavian who is held by fear of Tarathúr. He brands the girl a witch and banishes her to the forbidding shores of her mother’s country, to die in obscurity.

Tarathúr grows up in the imperial palace as a Roman princess, passed off by her mother as Xavian’s child. But, Tarathúr is, in truth, the product of an extramarital union between the dethroned Celtic queen and Carnún (kâr´noon), a vitki (magician) from the lands far to the north. Tarathúr’s paternity remains a secret, making Xavian’s rejection of the girl all the more cruel. Tarathúr survives her early years without event, but as she comes of age, she begins to exhibit curious powers that inspire fear and enmity in the emperor. In the dead of winter, Xavian orders Tarathúr to be secretly taken from his house and banished far from Rome.

In the opening scene, A Father’s Charge, a black ship that bears no standard abandons Tarathúr on the shore of Albion. Tarathúr is afforded nothing by her abductors, but is left to the hostile wilderness – her exile intended as a death sentence by a man too cowardly to actually have her murdered.

But, Xavian’s plan is doomed to fail. In Castle of Swords, our heroine is guided through the perilous wasteland by the forces of the Mórrígan (mor´eeân), the Great Goddess of the Celts, under whose protection she has come. Terrible storms and cruel winds drive Tarathúr deeper into Albion, until at last she is forced to take shelter in the ruins of a dark castle. Built upon a site once sacred to Tarathúr’s ancestors, this is Caer Cleddau (gy´eer gleth aye´) – the Castle of Swords, overlooking the sea. This is where Tarathúr’s power is born.

Within the walls of Caer Cleddau, Tarathúr’s initiation commences. In Destined and Fearless, Tarathúr begins to yearn for answers as to why fate has brought her here and to find the courage to trust in the power that has led her through the dark and cold. In the high sanctuary, a solitary light burns. Tarathúr aspires to it and is observed by the Mórrígan, who marks the girl’s heroic quality. The desperate and fearless Tarathúr cries out to the gods of her ancestors for their embrace. Before the altar of the Great Goddess, the child of Aradne swears an oath of vengeance and of faith.

In The Red Storm, Tarathúr’s cry is answered. The three faces of the Mórrígan: Annan (a´nän), Goddess of Life and Abundance, Macha (makh´a), Goddess of Death and Sovereignty, and Badbh (badv), Goddess of Frenzy and Battle, appear and welcome Tarathúr. Each bestows upon the child a gift and together endow her with power over life and death, bringing on Tarathúr’s fertility, and causing her to menstruate for the first time.

This concludes Act One.

In The Journey Below, Tarathúr explores her new world. The catacombs beneath Caer Cleddau hold many mysteries, as do the hollows within Tarathúr’s own self. As she traverses the winding underworld of tunnels and tombs, Tarathúr becomes aware of a past rich with memory: a history of great kings, bloody wars, and sorcery. She begins to become aware also of her intuitive gifts and to “see” beyond the veil of mortal sight. In her ecstasy, Tarathúr spies the Runes: the ancient, magical alphabet of her father’s kin, and begins to perceive their secrets.

From among the spirits of the past emerges Carnún, who has used the art of seidhr (soulcraft) to find his lost daughter and spoken galdors (runespells) to open a gate to her world. In Dark Spiral Dance, the vitki reveals to Tarathúr her orlog: the destiny that has been laid down for Tarathúr since the time of her birth. A master of magic and swordcraft, Carnún takes it upon himself to school the young queen in the hidden arts. Over the next nine years, Tarathúr becomes Carnún’s apprentice and learns the magical art and disciplines of war.

In The Kenning, Tarathúr has completed her training and is now a young woman. She has mastered the elements of earth, water, fire, and air and has forged from her knowledge of them her own arms: a lorica, war-girdle, helmet, and sword. There is but one element before her yet untested: that of spirit – one weapon yet unforged: that of self. But, Tarathúr comes to this ordeal with a dark heart. Power-hungry and full of rage for the wounds dealt her by the first man she ever knew to be her father, Tarathúr turns on her master. In the final contest, Carnún is vanquished, and despite her master’s warning, Tarathúr dashes down a path of destruction.

This concludes Act Two.

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