Origin
The old ones tell tales of a time that land forgot, a time when great battles scared the face of the earth itself, a time...of heroes! This was also the twilight time of the Eldar Gods, forgotten as they were by all people. In their fury the Gods had decended amongst the people once more to wage a terrible war. The Gods raised mighty mountains to divide the lands, scorched the earth with rivers of molten rock and fire and would see all of mankind annihilated and remade in their divine image.  And so a delegation was sent to the deepest pits of the infernal realm where they sought out the one called Shane. However they could not find him and not wanting to spend more time amongst the damned they chose another and brought him forth. What happened next even the Gods could not have foreseen. The return of one already passed frayed the threads of reality and threatened to engulf all of existance into the great timeless abyss from where all things came and untimately went.  And so they contrived to set the balance of the cosmos within him. Each of the Gods bestowed a part of the great order to this chosen hero of mankind. The Gods of the heavens and skys granted him great height and reach. The Gods of wisdom gave him the gift to teach all people. The Gods of the sea and land squabbled, land giving the gift of appetite but the sea not wanting Shane to empty the waters of life forbade Shane from consuming fish under penalty of bloating and maybe rash. Finally the God of the underworld touched Shanes brow and a crown of hellfire rose from his head which he would wear for all times. And the Gods faded but, with order returned, the world did not.
The delegation that had taken him from the underworld revealed to him that he was not the one called Shane and that he would have a new name. He could walk amongst the people or apart but in time they would pass, as it seemed to him, for he was now timeless. He could be a great force for either good or evil. But the ways of the Gods, the underworld and destiny would hold no sway with him. He would truly be The Freeman! |  The people in despair returned to the Gods, sacrificed at the temples and gave tribute to the oracles. But still their entreaties were ignored. There would not be mercy. Finally the people challenged the Gods. "Our greatest will fight your greatest to decide the fate of all things" and the Gods in their hubris accepted.
Then the people, seeking to trick the Gods, chose a hero that had long since passed and resode now only in myth and legend...and perhaps the underworld. They called this hero Shane. The people called Shane their greatest and reminded the Gods that this was the challenge they had accepted.  The underlying pattern had been disturbed and in that instant it looked as though the peoples challenge truly would "decide the fate of all things."
The mountains writhed and tore, great rivers ripped the land asunder and all began to settle into a new way. As the Gods faded they realised the folly of their ways and accepted that now was a time for mankind to forge their own destiny and so the Gods sought to set order to the world once more. Weakened however they were unable to restore the one called Shane to the underworld.  |
