The Nine Towers

Nine Vrenn sit in a great bonfire in a barren plain. Leading them is Kolbak: A small Vrenn of the Hunters. Though Kolbak is the smallest, he is clearly the oldest. Where is Pyre? The other Vrenn were much younger. Barely more than the flames of a candle. They have been meditating, pleading to their lord for an audience.

Syr heard their silent cries. Never before had the Vrenn gathered in such a large grouping, and so Syr thought it prudent to appear.

The bonfire that the Vrenn prayed in surged and grew into a towering edifice. A figure clad in raw iron. Their face is concealed beneath a helm or mask. Each of the Vrenn see Syr differently, a reflection of the society they are from.

"You have called for me." Kolbak is the first to speak.

"Lord, disease and death have broken out across the land, a great terror brought by the gods. So many have died. But... we have not been afflicted. You have saved us from this disease, and we believe we have found a way to save the Ifari. To cure them of this plague, but it will come at great cost. It will leave the Vrenn sterile. What would you have us do? Were we made to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the Ifari, the first born of the gods?"

Syr is slow to respond, as is their way. Mitd, the youngest of the Vrenn, Spoke out.

"Why do the gods do this? Do you not care about the pain? Are we just mere playthings to you? Is this just some test?!"

She was always impatient. She would learn. Kolbak began to berate the girl. Syr silenced them.

"What makes you think that the gods brought this plague?"

"Do the gods not control everything?! Did you not make everything?" cried Midt.

Syr raises their blade, and holds the tip to their own neck.

"I am Syr. God of the flame who brought fire to this world. If I wear to disappear, to die, what would happen?"

A look of terror takes the Vrenn. The thought of a god no longer existing had never occurred to them, and it filled them with dread. The Unknowable, somewhere, smiles. Kolbak speaks up.

"The flames would disappear, surely."

"Do you think the gods so great, that everything would fall apart if we were not hear to prop it up?"

Midt spoke with a passion that reminded Syr why they made her.

"No! We would take up the flame, it would fall to us! We will protect the Ifari, and make sure they are safe."

Syr does not speak, and a smile goes unseen. Syr reaches into the fire beneath them, and pulls nine coals from the bonfire. Syr crushes them in his gauntlet and as the ash falls away, nine silver shards are revealed.

"Each of you will take the Ifari where you believe them to be safe, and when you get there, plunge one of these shards into the earth, and there a tower will grow."