The Mountain Clans and the BloodFather

In the north among the snow the thundering sound echoing there are the footsteps of the Elder Chief, the one they call the BloodFather.” - Sword Saint Ryder Holysnows

Dear River,

 

                 I hope you can forgive my brother for having such a long gap between our letters. I once read you should never apologize for how long it takes to write a letter, but I feel I must in this matter. You had sent three letters to me over the last few weeks and this the first one I have written in that time. I could spin some story to you about me working hard and long into the wee hours for the night, but it would fall flat almost to the point of being a lie. So, I should say nothing as to why I haven’t written back in those weeks. I guess, when it comes down to it, it does not matter why I haven’t written, and all that does matter is I’m writing this letter to you now.

                I had many ideas for the next letter I was going to send you, but my pen couldn’t find the will to write about them. I wasn’t sure what this letter was going to be until I met a Sword Saint in the gardens the other day.

                Spring has arrived here in the capital being forth all the flowers the Emperor has kept around the Estate. Our Emperor loves color and has planted thousands of flowers throughout the Estate, it is one of the reasons he is called the Peacock Emperor. Although, I’m sure most squirrels do not know this about his title.

                But because the flowers are blooming, I make sure to step out into the gardens daily to breathe in the colors before me. Many squirrels travel far this time of year to see the flowers in full bloom, and I can tell you it is not a trip taken in vain. I would say if you can plan a trip for next years to see the flowers then do so. You and your family would be shocked at the beauty here. I wish for you to see it, my brother, I really do.

                I took my lunch out into the garden near the Oak Library to eat alone and among the sunlight. When I was walking the grounds to find a place to eat and read, I came across a Sword Saint named Ryder Holysnows. He took me by surprise because normally the garden is empty by the time, I enter them and yet, there was a large squirrel with thick brown fur standing in them. The fur along with the mere size of his body told me he was from the Clans in the Thundering Mountains. He seemed to be equally surprised to see me standing there in awe of him.

                I have never seen a squirrel from the Mountain Clans but have heard tales of their power. I must tell you, brother, the stories fall weak to the pure power in their bodies. They are massive compared to the squirrels born of the Realm. I have heard someone say the squirrels from the North must have been born of giants, and a giant had blessed them with its might. With Ryder standing in front of me, I was close to believing those words and understood why their false god, the BloodFather or the Elder Chief, is depicted as a waring giant. Ryder soon broke the silence with a smile and welcome me to join him.

                I did, found no reason not to enjoy the company of a Sword Saint, they normally had great stories to tell of the Realm and Ryder had many for me. I quickly found out Ryder traveled every year to the gardens to help take care of them, but also to bring the stories of his kin to the library. His quest, outside of that of a Sword Saint to help spread the Good Word and help the helpless, was the gather all the knowledge of the Mountain Clans hidden throughout the Empire. He had written almost four books on his kin, and I felt wrong for not having read any of them.

                Ryder did not mind me not finding books among my reading list. He said they were dull things anyways.

                I did have many questions about the Clans, but most of all about their religion. He explained to me each clan the mountains had their own gods and goddess. Each one of them prays and believe in many different rituals for their gods but there was one god which connected all the Clans, and it is the BloodFather. The reason this god is called the BloodFather is it is believed he is the father of all other gods in the mountains and each of these other gods is his children. The BloodFather walked the mountains fathering all these new gods and the Clans which believe in them. It is said he is the one who gives the Clan squirrels the massive height.

                Also, another reason he is called the BloodFather, Ryder explained to me, is because when a clan defeats another clan, they sacrifice their gods to the Bloodfather along with the family of the chief. The BloodFather than takes these sacrifices weighting them to see if they are noble warriors and either add the souls to his armies or cast them out into a snowstorm, where the dead roam the Realm forever.

                I do wonder if this is where we get our idea of Hell from in the Realm. The endless cold forever freezing our souls as we roamed the Realm of the Underworld. I wondered talking to Ryder how long the Clans have been traveling south to rejoin their kin and what has caused them to break away from the Three Kingdoms in the first place. I went to ask him such a question, but he was called away by the Master of his order, and sadly, I have not seen him since then.

                However, my brother, I do have has books sitting beside my writing desk, and I soon will start reading them. You might find a few more letters about the Mountain Clans heading your way, but I’m you will enjoy them. As always with love from me to you and your family …                         

 

 

Your brother,

Brain Redtales

(1425)

Author's Note

Writer’s Note: I have been working on the history of the Realm for a while now and wanted to show you guys a little of how I do it. I like to write letters and have brought that love into my work. I hope you will enjoy it as well. I’m not sure how many letters I’m going to write but we shall great a good amount out of this book.

I’ll try to make this short for the both of us, but I feel, I need to add a little context to my stories on here. All the stories I post on this website are what I call “break stories.” They are either stories I go to when I get stuck in long from novel or stories, I write to explore a world. So, what does this mean? It means I enjoy these stories, but I don’t put everything into them. So, why am I posting them? A fair question and the reason I’m posting my stories on this website is to have fun, to show you my growth but most of all to give you a little taste of the worlds I work in. What does this mean for you? It means you can judge the work as you wish and by all means help me with plot, characters, and building the world, but I ask you to ignore grammar problems as best as you can and the style in which these stories are written. My page on here is my sketchbook and you guys get to see all the rough, nasty parts of my writing.