ong, long ago, in
Blacklock, there were twin brothers, named Sammet and Thoelsin. Both
were brave and mighty in battle, both proved themselves fine
commanders in the war against the Archons of Mooris, and both were
clever and successful in the sort of miscellaneous quest that abounded
in the Land in the old times. In all things they excelled, and in all
things they were rivals. If Thoelsin slew four dire wolves menacing a
village, Sammet would soon have to find five man-eating lions to prove
his prowess, and any fair maid who was courted by one soon found
herself the object of the other's attention as well. Despite their
competition, they remained true friends as well, vowing to let nothing
come between them, for any true Man of Valor knows that a true bond
can be forged only in the hottest of flames.
As with many ideals among the the world of men, their devoted rivalry was able to last only so long without leading to tragedy.
Sammat was piloting a small vessel among the Isles of Verne and Thoelsin was leading an expedition through the Maw, when Sammat encountered Sarai. After his first mate was washed overboard, she signed on as a sailor, and travelled with him. After she fought by his side when the Xabanese Schismatic Fleet tried to take his ship, and slew as many of the pirates as he did, they became lovers. And after Thoelsin tried to seduce her and she spurned him utterly, Sammet knew that she was his true other half.
After that, the rivalry between Sammet and Thoelsin hit shaky ground. Not only had Sarai been unimpressed by Thoelsin, but it began to be that Sammet had less interest in one-upping Thoelsin's deeds (or seducing Thoelsin's girlfriends). Sammat (and Sarai) would spend a season in a Cliffsfall mercenary unit, causing Thoelsin to spend a season as a mercenary captain - but when Thoelsin spent three days without sleep to battle the Phoenix Fires threating Rivena, Sammat (and Sarai) ignored natural disasters completely and learned to forge axe blades in Gri-nessik.
Finally, Thoelsin realized that with Sarai at Sammet's side, Sammet was no longer Thoelsin's match, but his better. It was then that darkness sprang up in Thoelsin's soul (said by some to have been planted long ago in the Maw, on the same day that Sarai entered Sammet's life), and he vowed Sammet's death.
Near the middle of winter, Sammet and Sarai set out to climb Mount Tyr (which is tall enough and snowy enough that even during summer it is a significant challenge for most mountaineers), and it was there that Thoelsin, and the warriors he had gathered to him, followed them. Thoelsin set his warriors upon them as they slept, unarmored, in their tent. Told by Thoelsin to bring the pair out, bound, the warriors entered the tent. Shortly thereafter there came a great noise of battle, and then silence. Thoelsin entered, sword drawn, to find Sammet grievously wounded, and Sarai bloodied and leaning wearily on her axe, but no other survivors.
When Sarai would have leaped at Thoelsin, Sammet told her to hold off. This battle had always been between the two of them alone, he told Sarai, and though his brother might have brought others into it, he would not. And, he added, two on one would hardly be fair.
Sammet and Thoelsin battled then, on the flanks of Mount Tyr, and the blood they shed froze into a blizzard of red flakes as they fought. In the end, though, Thoelsin wore armor and Sammet a nightshirt, and Sammet's previous wounds pained him sorely, so Thoelsin prevailed.
When Thoelsin would have turned then to Sarai, something seemed to fall away from her like a veil. At the blazing fury and power revealed, he fell back in awe and fear, and thought that he would be slain. But She told Thoelsin, with a smile like the blade of a knife, that his had been the victory, and that for the rest of his life, She would grant him similar victories.
At that, Thoelsin fled down the mountain, leaving Sammet's body to his lover. Sarai was never seen again, but come spring, when climbers again ventured up Mount Tyr, they reported that the site of the battle was black glass, as if a great fire had consumed down to the stone, and that at the top of the mountain was a slab of rock, untouched by snow, upon which lay an axe and a bloodied white shirt. The climbers felt that it would be unwise to meddle with such things, and while in the future others built a small shrine around it, the items were left undisturbed.
As for Thoelsin, for the rest of his life, he did encounter only victories. Those he dueled would catch the flu the night before they fought him, and would be weak and shaking and easily defeated. When he went to rescue the survivors of a shipwreck, he would arrive after the wreck had drifted to shore, and he would help pull the last few strongest swimmers out of the surf. Though victory after victory was his, they were as ashes in his mouth, for nothing that he battled against was able to give him a true fight. Finally, it is said that he journeyed to the throne of the Lady he had so offended, and that after that he was granted a final glorious battle with the Carnelian Dragon, in which he both won and lost and died, but that is another story...