Istanos King of the Gods

Istanos King of the Gods   Origins   Istanos is the King of the Istendaro, and the Ruler of Emmandell, as well as the God of the Sky, Thunder, Lightning, the Winds, Rains, Eagles, Inquisition, Magic and the Aethers. He was the first of the five Vellyr Gods to be created by Eitor when the earth was still young and the oceans had not yet filled the world. Though not brothers by blood, he always refers to Astëros and Xeros as his brothers and equals, as they split each of the three domains of the world between themselves, the Skies going to Melcas, the Seas to Astëros, and the Afterlives to Xeros.   Istanos would be appointed as the ruler due to being the first to arise from the evils of Eitor, this is something that Astëros would be brutally jealous of. As the ruler of the Vellyr and the Fenyr for a time, he would marry Avarë of the Fenyr Clan of Gods, that Falvii created as natures protectors and watchers, making sure things remain in order, which Eitor intended the Vellyr be for, as Eitor himself is the Tarriin of Order and is obsessed. With his marriage to Avarë the two clans would be united and many more marriages and unions would take place throughout the First Celéum and early to mid Second Celéum. Though not officially the ruler of Emmandell until the Second Celéum, as Gleddienne of the Tarriin was the ruling force above Eitor and the Tarriin, when she retreated to her realm to rest after the cataclysmic war with Tamamon at the end of the First Celéum, Eitor would remain in his realm gathering strength and keeping hidden. As no Tarriin were within the walls of Galafrinas for much of the Second Celéum, Istanos assumed rule and command of the entire world and governed it with an iron fist.   After the desolation of the Tarriin from Galafrinas, Istanos ordered the fortification of the Satënanta so that the Tarriin would be trapped within their own realms and unable to interfere in the world. He commissioned Elgaroth the Great, a highly renowned architect and engineer to fortify Galafrinas against the Tarriin, though his work partly worked, and many of the Tarriin were trapped within their realms. Though unfortunately for Elgaroth, Titanus had already left his realm suspecting treachery though he left via a separate route forged for himself should he be betrayed. He had left his realm and travelled up through the river Rotavand and into the world, he dwelt for sometime in the darkest depths of the sea and watched from afar. All the while, he talked to Gleddienne through thought and planned to release her, though doing so would force a confrontation with Emmandell, which he worried would destriy much of Galafrinas, as the foundations were already weak from the war with Tamamon.   As the new ruler of Emmandell, Istanos would fortify it and build great new machines that would work to undo the damage that Tamamon had done. He commanded Ranvii to create the Satënandas, (T: Pillars Beyond) the large anchors that hold the world together and prevent it from falling apart. More notably, he oversaw the creation of the high watch tower of Telatënithil, that stands so high its midpoint is shrouded by clouds and its very pinnacle almost reaches the boundary between the world and the Ton Andas. It is upon Telatënithil, that Istanos watches the world with a keen eye in his paranoia that the Tarriin would return to end his reign. Another great labour he commanded was the veiling of Emmandell from the rest of the world in the mid Second Celéum, when Tarros became more than a threat but a serious concern for his rule and overall life. Through no small feat of his own, he brought forth his divine weapon Laparnor and created great mists and winds that would encircle Emmandell and destroy any who dare to brave the storm. For many centuries this worked, but eventually Tomorin the Sea Son, during the middle ages of the Second Celéum broke through and attempted to leave with some riches from Emmandell to prove he had succeeded in his goal. Istanos watched from afar and promptly sent his son Arthiad, the God of Thunder to kill him, Arthiad promplty slaughtered the entire crew and beheaded Tomorin, then he threw Tomorins head all the way back to the city that he departed from.   The Lifting of Emmandell   As a result of this incursion by Tomorin, Istanos together with Astëros and Xeros as well as his son Arthiad, lifted the entire continent of Emmandell eighteen thousand feet into the air. Istanos then summoned a great storm that would keep the entire continent suspended in flight. He then oversaw Ranvii build seven pillars around Emmandell in order to keep the continent high in the air, Istanos also imbued the pillars with his very same power and from then on Emmandell stood high above the rest of the world and was guarded by a great storm. Astëros also built a well where the seas had been atop the continent, just under the bridge that led from Senalinnen to Telatënithil, from this well was spawned an endless flowing of water that covered all the sandy beds of the ocean around Emmandell, the waterfalls that flowed off the floating continent were substantial.   As a result of the lifting of Emmandell, the seas and geography of the sea bed was risen and the sea ended up rising so high it would have almost completely destroyed the island of Kinavarníl and its surrounding islands. However, Astëros who was greatly renowned on Kinavarníl raised a giant rocky wall around the entirety of the island and along a long stretching path back to the mainland of Tamar. While Kinavarníl sits well below the sea level it is surrounded entirely by the sea wall, and the only way to safely enter the city is via Tamar and then along the straight sea road. Istanos visited the city and offered fish and tribute of gold to the people in recompense for the damage done, this was one of many gifts he would send to the people, though not necessarily to ask for forgiveness but more to secure their allegiance and worship of him.   The Vellyr - Fenyr War   It came about one day that Istanos and his wife Avarë of the Fenyr were trying to have another child, though were largely unsuccessful, and Istanos was increasingly becoming angered at her for it. Shuvii, another one of the Vellyr had been becoming increasingly jealous of Avarë and wanted to be queen of the Vellyr as Istanos’ wife. So she enlisted the help of Flinco, the mischievous god who had been sending messages from the different afterlives and throughout the world. She asked him to watch and report back on what Istanos and Avarë were getting up to in bed in order to understand how to manipulate Istanos out of his relationship with Avarë and at the same time, get rid of Avarë. That night Flinco went to the bedchambers of Istanos and Avarë and watched from a distance while eavesdropping. He heard them arguing about not being able to conceive a child and so he left and told Shuvii.   Avarë had not been aware of all of Istanos’ unfaithful encounters with mortals and other gods alike and so, Shuvii hatched a plan to send a marriage proposal clearly from herself to his bedchambers in the hope that she would find out about his affairs. At this point, not only did Avarë not know just how many unfaithful instances he had, but she was also completely unaware of the fact that Arthiad the Thunder God of whom Avarë and Shuvii had co raised, was Istanos and Shuvii’s son as a result of an affair. Avarë saw Shuvii as a close ally and suspected nothing of her, especially since Avarë raised Arthiad thinking he was her son, so will be broken hearted at finding out the truth. Though one more thing even worse stood within Shuvii’s insidious plan, her deal with Besma, the Goddess of Curses and False Oaths. Shuvii had planned all along that in order to win over Istanos, she would have to relinquish her of her namesake as Avarë the Goddess of Life, and be cursed never to breath life into the world again. Avarë was powerless and purposeless, and upon seeing the offering of marriage she broke into a rage and begged him for the truth. Istanos lied to her and tried to blame Astëros as he knew she had been speaking to him about the problems she had been having, instead of going straight to Istanos. Avarë grew into a greater rage and fled, whilst trying to take her children with her, though only Aia went with her, as the others had been forced by Istanos to remain by his side.   Shuvii later went to the palace and tried to help Istanos, though when she entered his bedchambers he found Istanos and Flinco talking. Shuvii had not intended Flinco to return to the palace and had told him to go back to his house a remain under cover until all rage had died down. Istanos revealed that Flinco had been keeping a stern watch on all the gods under his rule, including her, and had told him about Avarë and Astëros, as well as her deal with Besma, to make Avarë infertile forever, though he was not distraught about it he was annoyed at the betrayal. Though he did not punish her there and then for her damage, he offered to marry her and make her queen instead, though with a catch. He could be as unloyal as he wanted, and once every year, he would be able to bring anyone he wanted back to their very bed and engage in disloyality, and she had to watch. Though Shuvii hated this idea, in the end she agreed and the mantle of Queen was hers. They went on to have four more children, the four brothers of which are named Estodal, Ardal, Setém and Tímës, make up the Earvisten, Wind Gods.   After Avarë had fled, she returned to her clan, who had all returned to their dwelling on the opposite side of Emmandell and there was an outcry at the happening explained to them. Sadafyr of whom was renowned as the advisor of Istanos was not so immediately keen on starting a war against the Vellyr as they were greater in power and in the art of war. Instead he spoke through the knowledge stone of which he had been promised to keep by the Alingatarr Forzant, to Tarros-Menthar-Lir, and called for his assistance against the tyrannical Istanos, Tarros accepted and joined the brewing conflict against Istanos. Though while some were keen to go to war, others such as Angora, who is married to Xeros, one of the brothers of Istanos did not want to betray her husband and denounced the war. More wanted revenge for the treatment of their beloved Avarë and so went to war, with five battles being fought, and only a few deaths of Gods, these deaths were caused by Istanos’ weapon Laparnor, which is made of Florvol steel and has the capability to kill a god. Though Laparnor took part in only a small amount of the fighting, and as the Istendaro as a whole physically cannot die to any means but Florvol, the war ended in a stalemate.   With the war ended, the Vellyr who were greater in number and power yet weaker in magic and the natural forces banished Avarë and any who assisted her in the war to Tamar and any other lands they deemed fit. Tarros was imprisoned and tortured for one hundred and twenty years by Istanos and Xeros, and was eventually released by Sadafyr secretly. Though he had a deep resentment for his two torturers, and eventually he would return and destroy them. In the end Istanos was victorious and would rule until the day that Tarros, named Tavos Telagon would return to Emmandell and destroy them. This one fear consumed Istanos and he commissioned the Attanborr who were at the time living on Ankarion to forge more weapons out of Florvol steel and they did so out of fear of being annihilated, a threat Istanos had shown to them numerous times. With Istanos wielding Laparnor and his closest and most loyal children and followers armed with the same, Emmandell had reached its peak in power.   More to be written soon…