The Fable of Hassi-merr: The Disgraced Skoshi

The north of Haert and the lands beyond it are very much unknown, but one thing is certain, it is filled with monsters and civilisations that no one wishes to do battle with. However Hassi-merr, a simple Rock Ahemgg farm girl turned warrior and wielder of the Kingsjade Cleaver, is famous for standing against these mystical horrors and leading an army to protect all those who live on the south isles. A Skoshi warlord, commanding a legion of enslaved soldiers attempted to claim Haert's western land mass, Kekeyahm. The Ahmegg captains she planned the counter attack with debated with her about how they wanted to subdue the army without using lethal methods. They worked tirelessly to construct a spell that could isolate the warlord without harming the slaves. Hassi-merr had a risky idea to rework a forbidden incantation, her intentions being to use a variant of the Screaming Shockwave spell to simply paralyse the slaves temporarily and create an isolation tactic that would kill the warlord. With not knowing how to adapt such a spell and with the disapproval of her captains, she travelled to find members of the Renn Dynasty, who were immensely powerful Roth mages with knowledge lost to the Ahmegg. While the Ahmegg and the Rothmegg were not particularly good terms, they did agree that this Warlord posed a problem for both the species' success of expansion. They crafted a weapon for her, one they claimed would have no equal; the Kingsjade Cleaver. A large and heavy sword made from the rare and immensely strong material Kingsjade. A green gemstone with veins of gold running through it. And on her wrists, they painted wards to fend off the persistence of the Witch's Brand that was sure to try and raise its ugly head, should they try to adapt the forbidden spell. They succeeded in warping the spell and she set off back to her captains. On the day the Skoshi attacked, they attempted this spell... but it failed. The shockwave would not reach far enough to claim the warlord and so they had no choice but to fight the slaves with as little lethal force as possible, while many Ahmegg died that day, the Skoshi innocents were mostly unharmed and, Kingsjade sword in hand, she fought her way to the warlord. Having now been outnumbered, he attempted to use the same spell Hassi-merr used, although it was the unaltered version. Being close enough to see him casting it, she flung the same, filtered one at him to counter it. They bounced off of each other and the warlord's spell was redirected at him and stripped the flesh off of his bones. Hassi stood victorious on the battlefield as her enemy's skeleton clattered to the ground. Not only had she saved Haert from the onslaught, but had done so without branding herself. Her spell was not meant to kill anyone but the warlord and, seeing as his own spell had been thrown back at him, she walked away from the battle with no star-shaped burn on her body. To this day, no-one is quite sure how the spell worked, but through centuries the legend of Hassi-merr was passed down generation to generation, and still reigns supreme of the most well known and most told story of old.

But this is merely the first legend in her name. Hassi-merr would find herself part of many fables, the most famous proving to be when she battled the same Roth Dynasties she called upon in the beginning. The many years of war that were soon to follow in what historians call The War of the Isles.