Terate Niebelun

Terate Niebelun was the Prince of Anwyn. His mother was the sorcerous Queen of Castle Anwyn, who had went mad and executed everyone in the kingdom, including cannibalism such as eating her own cook. The kingdom was originally in homage of Onar, whose source of power was said to lie deep underground, deriving from living stones. Terate's true age was indeterminate as he was sustained magically with dark power, slumbering for a long time on a chair of bones. He was the 4th Chosen of Lorminstra in the Vvrael quest, but was corrupted by the Vvrael.

In his youth he found a "wondrous stone" that spoke through the heavens, later turning out to be the first Stone of Virtue, which was found in a locked box under Castle Anwyn. He was driven to obsession and madness by the corrupting power of a Vvrael scroll found in the belongings of a wandering traveler. This scroll had transformed his mother into a demon, and would later be found by adventurers.

Behind the Scenes

(A) Terate's Appearance

Terate depending on his level of Vvrael corruption or their control of him would appear in two forms.

You see Lord Terate Niebelun the Fallen One.
His age is indeterminate, he has long, straight white hair, black voids for eyes and luminous pale skin.
He is holding a flute of sparkling champagne in his right hand and a black ur-Vvrael warsword in his left hand.
He is wearing a black scaled scabbard, a black diamond shield that draws light into it like a void, a black ivory wrist sheath, a midnight-black cloak that shifts occasionally with no breeze or motion to prompt it, a braided rift-silver circlet inset with small pulsing stones of unknown origin, some soft grey velvet breeches, some tall black leather boots, a black leather jerkin worked overall with finely-embroidered elven sigils, a black scaled belt pouch, and a black leather shoulder satchel clasped with a ki-lin horn carved in the shape of a sickle.

You see Terate Niebelun, an Elf of purest Elven blood.
He is in his 20s, he has long, curly silver hair, multihued eyes and healthy tanned skin.
He is in good shape.
He is holding a flute of sparkling champagne in his right hand and a black ur-Vvrael warsword in his left hand.
He is wearing a black scaled scabbard, a black diamond shield that draws light into it like a void, a black ivory wrist sheath, a midnight-black cloak that shifts occasionally with no breeze or motion to prompt it, a braided rift-silver circlet inset with small pulsing stones of unknown origin, some soft grey velvet breeches, some tall black leather boots, a black leather jerkin worked overall with finely-embroidered elven sigils, a black scaled belt pouch, and a black leather shoulder satchel clasped with a ki-lin horn carved in the shape of a sickle.

(B) Void Blade and Rift Ring

The Void Blade is most likely an allusion to the "Lord Implementor" blade of Lorgalis, who conquered the region of Castle Anwyn in the I.C.E. Age history, which is called the "Blade of the Void". Its actual appearance resembles the "Knife of the Void" possessed by Ondoval, the Lord of Essaence obsessed with ending the world by destroying the Eye. His ring refers to the "ring of the Nibelung."

Void Blade Description

The void blade is frightening, not only because of its length and deadly edge. But as you gaze at it, the thing seems to shift, blinking slightly as if it is winking out of existence then reappearing so quickly your eyes cannot follow its progress. The blade is flat, dull black with archaic sigils etched into its surface in a haphazard pattern. The weapon's hilt is veil iron, cast in a simple, elegant curve designed to perfectly fit the hand. A single black stone is inset into the hilt's end, but its type, like the metal of the blade, is unidentifiable.

Void Blade Loresong

Images begin to seep out of the void blade, filling your mind with brief flashes at first, that gradually grow into complexity and form. You see an elven youth, fair of feature and gifted with unusual intelligence. He follows in the footsteps of his Queen and mother, learning the sorcerous arts, pushing further and further into arcane theory researched within ancient tomes found in the castle's extensive library. His fame is further augmented upon the day he finds a wondrous stone which speaks through the heavens. Then one day, an elderly journeyman happens by, begging to winter within the castle's protection. The unknown traveler is found dead the following morning, having succumbed to age and the elements, and leaving behind nothing but his ragged clothing and meager belongings. Included in these is a satchel containing a collection of scrolls.

The scrolls are found to be covered with archaic writing, which piques the young prince's interest when brought to his attention. He begins to study them, an occupation that gradually consumes all of his waking hours. He labors over them for months, painstakingly translating them, and finally they begin to reveal secrets old and terrible. To the youth, the knowledge to be gained seems well worth the risk of putting the lore into practice. He could never have foreseen what cataclysmic malevolence his decision would release upon the world.

Void Blade Properties

Rayyne waves her blade in a slow arc over her head. Its velocity builds, circling faster and faster as a deep rumble begins to resonate. In the next moment, the blade seems to shift out of existence, swallowed by a hole of darkness although you still see Rayyne's arm convulsing so rapidly, it's a blur. You watch with horror as tendrils of black anti-matter erupt, carrying an implosion in their wake like pestilence after death.

Rayyne casts into the air above her head and a rip appears in the sky! The fissure begins to feed on the air around you!

Abruptly, the void blade slides back into sight in Rayyne's hand, its length still caressed with a flicker of hissing anti-matter.

Rayyne welds the rip in space together with a flow of essence.

Rift Ring Description

The thin, dark band is forged of a metal so rare, its properties are barely known. Around its circumference, a few words are etched, scripted in flowing elven characters. They read, 'A love held close and true in the heart can never die.' 

(C) Mythological Subtext

His last name refers to the Nibelung dynasty of Worms that ruled the Kingdom of the Burgundians, which was sacked by Attila the Hun and later incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire. One possible motivation for this is the fact that the historical King Arthur is sometimes thought to be Riothamus, or often equated with Ambrosius Aurelianus (Ambrosius is the last name of Merlin), who was a "King of the Britons" who died in Avallon of Burgundy. However, the more central idea is the story of the Nibelung in works such as the Nibelungliend, where Siegfried (the Norse demigod Sigurd) acquires their magic ring from the fairy dwarf Alberich. (Alberich means "elf king" and was originally the legendary brother of the founder of the Merovingians, which is related in pseudo-history to the "holy blood" conspiracy theory of the Holy Grail.) Richard Wagner notable wrote famous operas about both "Parsifal" and "Der Ring des Nibelung", the latter of which is most famous for its song "Ride of the Valkyries", where the ring's power to dominate the world derived from the denial of love, and was associated with Ragnarok where all of the gods are killed. Terate gives his magic ring to his great love Rayyne.

Rayyne had received visions of Terate dying but being restored by dark power, and then slumbering on his throne of bones in Castle Anwyn. This throne with the light it throws off appears to be a reference to the Siege Perilous from Arthurian legends, where only the Chosen knight of the Holy Grail was able to sit on it without being killed. It is thought to derive from Celtic magical seats associated with the longevity of kings. The Grail knight would eventually become the Grail king, a figure derived from the earlier Bran the Blessed. Usually this knight is Perceval, who Terate was heard quoting by saying "it is like fighting ourselves", or sometimes Gawain who is relevant to the cavern under Castle Anwyn. The illness of the king being tied to the ruination of the kingdom and eventually its restoral is called the Wasteland myth. Terate had to sacrifice himself and his sustaining power at the end of the Vvrael quest. His "Fallen One" motif refers to the German version of Parzival, translated by Jessie Weston, having the Holy Grail as a "wondrous stone" from heaven in the fall of Lucifer. The theological theme of apocatastasis where the devil is redeemed is alluded to in the climax of the quest by Risper who quotes an obscure poem about it, and Terate referring to Stoicism, where apocatastasis is associated with the cosmos working itself out in the mind of Zeus who ponders endlessly on Mount Olympus.

The end of the Vvrael quest made heavy allusions to the Book of Revelation, specifically the breaking of the sixth seal, such as when the sun went dark in the final invasions. "Sealing" the Rift played on this point. Lorminstra gave her Chosen special orbs with the power to teleport to the Drake's Shrine, whose loresong also quoted from this section of the Book of Revelation directly. (Lorminstra appeared as a "young lass", where the Grail bearer in Perceval is a "young maiden", and first appeared to Ardo as an "old crone" which may refer to "The Dreams in the Witch House". More generally, it refers to the "loathly lady" archetype, where an ugly woman undergoes a transformation to beauty. The most famous example of this is Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales, which is set in Britain under King Arthur. However, the loathly lady appears as the quest bringer in the Perceval/Parzival/Peredur stories, which is the most likely intended meaning.) In terms of the Shadow World and I.C.E. Age subtext of the Vvrael quest, Terate corresponds to Ondoval and Schrek, who want to end the world in their own ways using the Eye of Utha in a fortress at the northern edge of the world.

See Also

• The Vvrael