" Mortals call him ‘The Bone Farmer’ now, a shadow that the women of Orha use to frighten their disobedient children. But he was a king in this land a thousand years ago—the grim Dajan, warlord of five thousand men. When the imperials came from the west, Dajan put on bone paint and led his army in one bloody battle after another. He piled the skulls of slain enemies high at the foot of his throne.
Finally the First Bulls Horns came against him, with the legendary Avintu Lon Oublu at its head. His army was outmanoeuvred and broken, but Dajan himself escaped with his priests and a handful of veterans, and carried on the unrelenting ‘guerilla war’ against the invaders for many years.
When Dajan finally died, his priests and loyal warriors carried him up to a secluded valley in the jungled hills and laid his body to rest in a secret tomb. Five of the men, grown old with their king, chose to remain there with him.
Dajan had died, but some part of him would not lie buried while outsiders ruled over the land of his birth. Perhaps mystical forces worked upon him, perhaps it was only his implacable warrior ways that could not allow him to rest—by whatever reason, he arose from his tomb and haunted the region thereabouts for many years.
Travellers learned to shun the vicinity of the valley, and many fireside tales were whispered of the bleak-visaged warrior that roamed the misty jungle hearabouts.
Four hundred years ago, a holy man...some say a god.... was lodging at the village now called Orha and heard these tales. Osain determined to put an end to the evil. Calling his followers together, he took them up into the hills. The mist, it is said, drew back from the jungle and Dajan hid in his barrow like an old leopard in its den. Wise Osain knew he could never drive out Dajan’s presence entirely, for he was one with the mists and stones of the land. Instead, he pent in the evil with an iron fence, and set a death seal upon the gate.
Since that day, Dajan has chafed at his imprisonment. He yearns for vengeance on all men.", she finished with a giggle.
_________________ co-author Fury of the Deep co-author Friends or Foes co-author Dragon Warriors Players Guide co-author Cold Fury co-author Cadaver Draconis co-author Ordo Draconis 1 and 2.
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