Tag: Lore Stormborne

  • The Hollow Years: When the Eagles Fled

    The Hollow Years: When the Eagles Fled

    Interlude

    The banners of Rome had fallen long ago, but Drax still rode as if the legions would return. The road through Pennocrucium was broken now, weeds spilling through the cracks where once the eagles marched. His armour no longer shone, the crimson cloak dulled by weather and war. Yet he wore it still not for pride, but remembrance.

    He had buried too many men to abandon the law.

    To the north, word spread of ships black-prowed, heavy with warriors from across the sea. To the west, the Picts pressed down through mist and mountain. Between them, the land lay hollow, ruled by whoever still raise a blade.

    From the shadows of the trees, smoke curled not of hearths, but of hidden fires. The Black Shields were at work again.

    Drax halted his horse beside the stream. In the rippling reflection he saw a face harder than he remembered. The boy who had once followed Rome’s banners now hunted ghosts of his own blood.

    “Brother,” came a voice from the treeline.

    Taranis stepped out, cloak blackened, a scar like thunder down his cheek. His men lingered behind him, masked in soot and ash. Outlaws. Rebels. To the poor, heroes.

    “The Picts strike from the north,” Drax said, hand on his sword. “You have joined me in holding the border.”

    “I hold what matters,” Taranis answered. “The people. The fields Rome left to burn. You guard ruins, Drax I guard the living.”

    For a heartbeat, silence two worlds staring across a stream. Then the sound of hooves echoed through the trees.

    Draven rode between them, shaking his head. “Enough. We’ve bled too long for banners that mean nothing.” He threw down a pouch of grain. “There’s famine in the villages. We fight each other while children starve.”

    From deeper in the wood, Lore watched through drifting smoke. In the caves beneath Cannock Chase he had tended the cairns of their ancestors. Lore kept the fire burning through the endless grey. He whispered to the flame: keep them, all of them, even when they forget the old names.

    And Rayne, ever the exile, carved symbols into the stones near the water’s edge runes of storm and warning. Ships will come. The sea brings change.

    That night, as the brothers parted beneath a blood-red sky, the wind carried the faintest sound not thunder, but the creak of oars. Far beyond the estuary, lights moved upon the water.

    The first of the Saxons had come.

    And in the hollow of Britain’s heart, the Stormborne name still burned

    Copyright Note

    © 2025 E. L. Hewitt / Stormborne Arts. All rights reserved.
    Unauthorized copying or reproduction of this artwork and text is prohibited.

    Thank you for reading.© 2025 Emma Hewitt / StormborneLore. All rights reserved.Unauthorized copying or reproduction of this content is prohibited.

    Read more from the Stormborne Brothers:
    [Lore – The Flame Beneath the Chase]
    [Draven – The Quiet Road]
    [Rayne – The Carver of Ghosts]
    [Taranis – The Black Shield’s Oath]

    If you enjoyed this story, like, share, or leave a comment. Your support keeps the storm alive and the chronicles continuing.

    Futher Reading

    The Prophecies and Tales of Taranis Unfolded

    The Chronicles of Drax

    Ancient Magic and Myth of the Stormborne

    Chronicles of Draven

    Join the Adventure in Tales of Rayne’s Universe

  • Lore Stormborne The Memory

    Lore Stormborne The Memory

    Some men are remembered.
    Some men remember.

    Lore Stormborne is the keeper of what the world forgets.

    Where his brothers shape battles, laws, and kingdoms,
    Lore moves quietly, carrying the stories that would otherwise be lost.

    He walks between the living and the dead,
    between the world that is
    and the world beneath it.

    He is the one who listens when the wind speaks names
    long erased from history.

    Identity & Role

    Archetype: The Memory / The Spirit / The Cairn-Keeper

    What he shows: Identity, ancestry, meaning

    His purpose: To remember what time tries to erase

    His burden: He carries every loss the brothers have endured

    Lore does not raise armies.
    He does not command power.

    He remembers so the others do not forget who they are.

    And without memory, even immortals collapse.

    Strengths

    Gentle presence that calms the broken mind

    Deep empathy masked behind silence

    Knowledge of runes, bones, cairns, barrows, and spirit crossings

    A patience that stretches across centuries

    Lore can stand beside a grave and tell you who is under it.
    what they loved,
    and why they were never truly gone.

    Wound

    To remember everything
    is to grieve everything.

    Lore carries:

    The faces of villages burned

    The children who vanished in plague years

    The lovers his brothers not save

    The first names of every tribe now buried under cities

    Where others forget to survive,
    he survives by remembering.

    This is both his anchor and his sorrow.

    Whispers Across History

    Lore is not famous.
    He is felt.

    Stories of:

    A quiet man who tends burial mounds that no one else remembers

    A traveler who can speak any dialect, even ancient ones

    The stranger who sings old songs to the dying so they are not afraid

    A monk who copied entire libraries before they were burned

    The last witness wherever history ends and begins again

    He is always there, just out of the corner of the world.

    How Others Speak of Him

    “He said my grandmother’s name though I never told him.”

    “He does not fear the dead.
    He talks to them.”

    “He carries stories like others carry scars.”

    This Is Only the Surface

    Lore’s story is not recorded in books.
    It is spoken in:

    firelight,

    winter rooms,

    stone circles,

    and places where silence feels ancient.

    To understand Lore,
    you follow the echoes,
    not the path.

    His truths are found in the spaces between stories
    scattered across StormborneLore

    Futher Reading:

    Ancient Magic and Myth of the Stormborne

    Character Profiles

  • Harvesting Nature’s Gifts: The Journey of Lore

    Harvesting Nature’s Gifts: The Journey of Lore

    A stylized tree with colorful leaves against a dark background, featuring a sun in the upper corner.
    A vibrant, artistic depiction of a tree with colorful leaves set against a dark background, symbolizing the mystical elements of nature.

    By E.L. Hewitt — StormborneLore

    Dawn came slow over Cannock Chase, the sky still holding tight to the colours of night.


    Mist clung to the ground, pale as breath on cold glass. The trees stood quiet as watchers in old cloaks.

    Lore walked barefoot through the wet grass, collecting what the earth offered.

    Yarrow first pale and feathery, growing in shy clusters where the sunlight would later reach. Good for blood and fever, and for protection against spirits that lingered too close.

    He cut it gently, whispering, “For the ones who yet breathe.”

    Rowan bark next, peeling in thin curls beneath his knife. The tree shivered, though no wind touched it.

    Rowan remembers, the old women used to say and Lore believed them.

    Last came the resin pine tears hardened in the bark of a fallen giant, still sweet, still golden.

    He held it to his nose, breathing in the scent of memory.
    Smoke. Rain. Home.

    Above him, the crows gathered.

    Three at first.
    Then five.
    Then a dozen, their wings murmuring like pages turning.

    They did not caw.
    They simply watched.

    Lore did not fear them.
    The crows of the Chase were older than any Druid’s words.
    Older than Rome’s roads.
    Older even than the songs of the first tribes.

    They followed him as he walked between the birches. Their trunks ghost-white, rising from the mist like bones of giants sleeping beneath the soil.

    The air felt listening.

    The trees breathed slow.

    The old gods waited.

    Lore spoke softly, almost too low to hear:
    “Stormfather. Bound-Brother. Wild King. I hear you.”

    The leaves stirred, though the air was still.

    And then

    A whisper.
    Not with sound, but with bone and blood.

    He rises.

    Lore’s heart tightened.
    No fear only certainty.

    The crows took flight at once, black wings cutting the dawn sky. They flew south, toward the marsh track near Landywood, toward the low birches where the Black Shields rested.

    Toward Taranis.

    Lore closed his fist around the resin.

    “The storm remembers,” he murmured.

    And he followed the crows.

    © 2025 E. L. Hewitt / Stormborne Arts. All rights reserved.
    Unauthorized copying or reproduction of this artwork and text is prohibited.

    Thank you for reading.

    If you enjoyed this story, like, share, or leave a comment. Your support keeps the storm alive and the chronicles continuing.

    If you want to read more about Lore please see Ancient Magic and Myth of the Stormborne

    To follow Tarans The Prophecies and Tales of Taranis Unfolded

  • Stormborne Chronicles: Tales of Magic, Power, and Betrayal

    Stormborne Chronicles: Tales of Magic, Power, and Betrayal

    An artistic representation of a woven symbol, featuring intricate designs in vibrant colors, with the text 'LORE STORMBORNE' and 'ELH' prominently displayed.
    Artistic representation of the Grimoire’s quaternary knot, symbolizing protection and balance within the Stormborne legacy.

    The Grimoire lay open before me, its pages whispering in the flickering torchlight. Symbols, long forgotten by men, danced across vellum knots, spirals, and sigils that spoke of storms, of blood, and of the unseen threads that bound the Stormborne brothers.

    I traced my fingers along the quaternary knot etched into the parchment, feeling its pulse beneath my skin. Four directions. Four elements. Protection. Balance. The old magic hums beneath the empire’s walls, forgotten by generals and augurs alike, but I remember.

    Outside, the world churns armies march, fires burn, and Rome believes itself eternal. But I know the storm waits, patient, unyielding. Each spell, each word, each calculated gesture draws the threads tighter. Taranis trains men in secret. Drax moves through the law like a shadow of justice. And Rayne… I watch him, always a question mark, a traitor lurking in plain sight.

    And I, the chronicler, the mystic, record all. For when the time comes, the Grimoire will speak, and the empire will remember the Stormborne name or regret it.

    “Power is not given, it is woven. And I will weave it carefully.”

    A colorful wooden sign with a blue sky and green grass background, featuring the text: 'Thank you for reading. Please like & subscribe. https://www.stormbornelore.co.uk' in various colors.
    A colorful hand-painted sign encouraging readers to like and subscribe, featuring a sun and blue sky.

  • Unlocking Ancient Powers: Lore Stormborne’s Awakening

    Unlocking Ancient Powers: Lore Stormborne’s Awakening

    The Whisper Beneath Stone

    An artistic illustration featuring a stylized design predominantly featuring interwoven patterns and bright colors, with the text 'LORE STORMBORNE' and 'ELH' displayed prominently.
    Artistic representation of Lore Stormborne, featuring intricate patterns and vivid colors, symbolizing his connection to ancient powers and storms.

    Rain fell soft upon Emberhelm not in sheets, but in threads, weaving through the night like strands of memory. Each drop whispered against the walls, tracing paths down stone carved before empires rose. The air smelt of iron, damp moss, and prophecy.

    Lore moved through the Hall of Echoes with deliberate silence. The torches burned low, their flames bending in strange rhythm, as though swayed by unseen breath. Beneath the central arch lay the dais of oath and upon it, the gold ring.

    It shimmered faintly in the half-light, a pulse of life within metal. Not the glow of firelight, but of something older.

    Lore hesitated before it. His reflection warped in its surface his eyes darker, sharper, his face marked by the faint runes of bloodline and burden. “The ring of storm and oath,” he murmured. “The bond of the five.”

    He reached out. The moment his fingers brushed it, the hall sighed.

    A low hum filled the air not from stone or wind, but from within.

    Then came the voice.

    “Brother…”

    The word was barely sound more vibration, more memory. It coiled through him like smoke through glass.

    “Taranis…” Lore whispered, his voice trembling. The name itself seemed to awaken something. The torches guttered. The shadows around the walls began to move not randomly, but with purpose, forming the faint outlines of chained figures, of men bowed beneath lightning.

    The ring pulsed again, once, twice. Gold bled to storm-grey.

    “Show me,” Lore said. “Show me where he walks.”

    The pulse deepened and suddenly, the hall was gone.

    He stood in mist. Iron gates loomed before him, slick with rain. Beyond them, sand bloodstained and torn an arena. He heard the roars of lions, the clash of blades, the chanting of a foreign crowd. And there, in the centre, Taranis bare-armed, chained, and unbroken. His eyes like stormlight.

    “Still he stands,” Lore breathed.

    The vision shattered like glass beneath a hammer. He was back in the hall, gasping, knees to the stone floor. The ring still glowed in his palm, its pulse slowing to match his heartbeat.

    He knew then: his brother lived but the bond between them had stirred something greater. The old powers beneath the land the ones the druids had whispered of were waking again.

    A new sound reached him. A voice, aged as winter bark.

    “The ring calls the storm again,” said Maeve, the seer. She stepped from the shadowed archway, her staff crowned with raven feathers and iron charms. “You’ve felt it too the pulse of the deep earth, the cry of the stones.”

    Lore rose slowly. “He lives. I saw him. Rome cannot hold him.”

    Maeve’s gaze was sharp, knowing. “No but when the storm returns, it will not come gently. Bonds such as yours were not forged for peace. The land remembers its oaths, Lore Stormborne. The blood remembers. And blood always calls for blood.”

    He turned toward the open window, where thunder rolled faintly beyond the hills. The storm clouds were gathering again not yet upon them, but coming.

    “Then let it come,” he said softly. “We are Stormborne. We do not kneel to the Empire. We endure… and when the sky breaks, we rise.”

    The gold ring flared once more, bright as lightning and somewhere far to the south, in a Roman cell slick with rain, Taranis felt it too.

  • The Whisper of Old Magic: A Journey Through Emberhelm

    The Whisper of Old Magic: A Journey Through Emberhelm

    A vibrant artwork featuring a stylized ice cream cone with intricate patterns and bright colors, surrounded by bold concentric rings.
    A vibrant artistic depiction of a stylized object, blending intricate designs with bright colors, invoking themes of lore and magic.

    The Quiet Flame


    The wind that swept over Emberhelm carried no warmth, only the ghost of fire long spent. I stood where the circle had once been whole, where twelve stones still defied the weight of empire, and one lay split a wound upon the land.

    The others had gone. Drax to fury, Draven to silence, Rayne to his choices, and Taranis to chains. I remained, bound not by steel but by memory. It was not courage that kept me here; it was knowing that something sacred had been broken and that it was not yet done with us.

    The Romans called this valley conquered. They built their roads and forts as if they could hammer meaning from earth and stone. But meaning does not bow to empire. It whispers, it lingers, it waits. And I have learned to listen.

    I knelt beside the thirteenth stone, tracing the crack with my fingers. The split hummed faintly, as though it still remembered the storm that birthed it. I could almost hear Taranis’s voice beneath the wind, a murmur of thunder too distant to strike.

    “Brother,” I whispered, “if the storm is caged, does the sky mourn its silence?”

    A shadow passed across the ridge perhaps a hawk, perhaps a sign. In the old days, I would have asked the druids for meaning, but now I was the only one left to ask.

    Rayne’s betrayal still cut deep, though part of me understood it. He had always been the one to see the long game, the patient serpent coiled beneath the waves. I did not forgive him, but neither could I condemn him fully. Perhaps this is how the gods feel when they look upon men weary, knowing, endlessly disappointed.

    Night crept over the hills. I lit no fire; the Romans watched for smoke. Instead, I watched the stars, the same constellations our ancestors had trusted when the world was still young. Somewhere beyond those lights, I felt the pulse of something waking old magic, stirring beneath stone and soil, called forth by blood and betrayal alike.

    The Circle was broken, yes. But its power had not vanished; it had merely changed shape. The storm that once lived in Taranis’s heart now whispered through the bones of the earth. I could feel it gathering, quiet but sure, as if the land itself prepared to rise.

    In that silence, I spoke the old words not prayer, not spell, but remembrance. A promise carved into breath:

    “When the storm returns, it will not ask who was loyal. It will ask who remains.”

    The air stilled. Even the night seemed to listen.

    And somewhere, far to the west, thunder answered.

    A circular wooden plaque featuring a painted landscape with a sun, blue sky, and green hills. The text on the plaque reads 'Thank you for reading. Please like & Subscribe. https://www.stormbornmore.co.uk' in various colors.
  • The  Houses of Caernath Part 3

    The Houses of Caernath Part 3

    The Feast of Blood and Bond.


    The great hall of Emberhelm pulsed with firelight. Smoke curled upward from the long hearth, rich with the scent of charred lamb fat, root vegetables, and sweet herbs.

    It was a scent that stirred memory of winter hunts. Harvest feasts, and nights when the storm howled but the fire held fast.

    Taranis stood at the head of the long stone table. His arms folded behind his back, a rare softness in his eyes. To his right sat Lore, robes still dusted with ash from the spell that broke the curse. To his left, Drax toyed with his carving knife, his appetite as fierce as ever.

    But it was the spaces beyond that caught the eye.

    Boldolph sat with his broad, wolfish shoulders hunched, a strip of roast meat gripped in one clawed hand. Morrigan.

    Once white wolf, now flame-haired woman, laughed as she stirred a pot near the hearth beside Solaris. Who sprinkled crushed nettle and wild garlic into the steaming soup.

    And near the fire, two boys sat on a bench Nyx and Rayne. The latter still bore the bruises of captivity, but his shoulders had relaxed, his collar gone. Nyx offered him a chunk of honeyed root and a crude wooden spoon. The boy’s smile was slow, cautious. But it came.

    Taranis raised a horn of wild berry wine.

    “Tonight, no war. No judgment. No weight of kingship or curse. Tonight, we eat.”

    A cheer rang through the hall.

    The first course was served hearth-brewed vegetable broth, thick with barley, wild leeks, and stinging nettle. Simple, earthy. Morrigan’s touch. The nettle had been boiled thrice, mellowing its sting but keeping its iron-rich heart.

    Then came the main feast braised lamb neck, rubbed with ash salt and roasted on iron spits. It fell from the bone into honeyed mash made of parsnip and turnip, flanked by fire-roasted carrots. leeks, and bruised apples wrapped in dock leaves.

    A vegetarian version of roasted nuts, wild mushrooms, and legumes. Bound with barley and wild garlic was passed to those who’d taken vows of gentleness.

    The hall grew louder with warmth and full bellies. Solaris poured ladle after ladle of broth. Boldolph, face still savage, offered a growled blessing in the tongue of old wolf-warriors. Even Lore smiled briefly.

    And then came dessert.

    Forest fruit compote slow-stewed blackberries, crab apples, and hazelnuts served over a rough cake of grain and honey. It wasn’t sweet in the way of sugar, but it hummed with the wild tang of the land.

    As the fire cracked lower, Taranis rose once more.

    “We have reclaimed brothers,” he said. “Rayne is free. Draven will return soon. Boldolph and Morrigan have chosen forms of their own. Solaris has cast down his chains. And you my kin you have chosen your Houses.”

    He turned, gesturing to three newly hung banners behind the head table.

    Tempestras storm-grey with blue lightning: the House of the Storm.

    Ignis flickering red and gold: the House of the Flame.

    Umbra shadowed silver moon eclipsing a burnt-orange sun: the House of the Shadow.

    “Caernath lives again,” Taranis said. “Not through conquest but through kinship. Through the storm we were broken. But by fire and shadow, we are reforged.”

    Rayne rose, slowly, holding up a crude carving the three brothers etched into a cairnstone, side by side.

    “Then let it be known,” he said, “that Stormborne is no longer just a name. It is a vow.”

    Lore pressed a hand to the stone, then nodded.

    “A vow… and a future.”

    And beneath the storm-beaten beams of Emberhelm, the wolves howled once more not from pain or exile, but from joy.

    Feast Notes (Modern Budget Version approx. £10 total):


    Starter:

    Wild Nettle & Leek Soup

    Nettle leaves (free if foraged)

    Leek or spring onion

    Pearl barley

    Garlic & herbs

    Main:

    Braised Lamb Neck or Shoulder (cheap cuts)

    Honey-roasted root veg (parsnip, carrot, turnip)

    Mashed turnip/potato

    Vegetarian choice: wild mushroom & nut loaf

    Dessert:

    Berries & Graincake

    Stewed blackberries/crab apples

    Honey/oats cake

    Optional: hazelnuts

    Further Reading

    The Prophecies and Tales of Taranis Unfolded

    The Chronicles of Drax

    Join the Adventure in Tales of Rayne’s Universe

    Ancient Magic and Myth of the Stormborne

    The Houses of Caernath – Act I: The Broken Howl

    The Houses of Caernath – Act II: The Forgotten Blood

    Solaris’s Kitchen:

    Rustic Bronze Age Lamb Recipe: A Diabetic-Friendly Delight

  • The Houses of Caernath Part 2

    The Houses of Caernath Part 2

    The Forgotten Blood

    Rayne collapsed before the cairnfire, the thick iron collar still tight around his neck. Etched with the jagged insignia of the Black Claw. Solaris had rushed to his side. Morrigan gathered water from the well, whispering healing words she barely remembered. Lore cast protective wards. Boldolph paced, fuming, red eyes narrowed beneath a heavy brow.

    “This is madness,” Boldolph snarled, watching the collar pulse faintly with some cursed sigil. “The boy’s half-starved, and that brand it reeks of shadow magic.”

    “He’s not a boy anymore,” Drax muttered. “He’s seen things. Same as the rest of us.”

    “No child should wear chains,” Solaris said, voice tight. “Not in Emberhelm.”

    Lore knelt by Rayne’s side, laying fingers over the rusted iron. “It’s not just a collar. It’s a seal. A blood-binding rune carved into bone. They meant for him to die wearing it.”

    “And yet he made it back,” Morrigan added, her hand resting gently on Rayne’s fevered brow. “That means something.”

    Taranis hadn’t spoken since Rayne collapsed. He stood just outside the circle of firelight. Eyes locked on the far horizon where Black Claw lands stretched like bruises across the night. Pendragon shifted restlessly behind him, wings tight to his sides.

    “They have Draven,” Rayne had rasped before falling unconscious. “They kept him… because of me.”

    That had been enough.

    Without another word, Taranis had mounted the black dragon and taken to the sky.

    The wind screamed around him, colder than it should have been for summer. Taranis kept low over the ridges, scanning the burned-out lands for signs of encampments. Black Claw banners once flew here clawed glyphs torn into hides, marked with bone. Now, they hid in the ruins, like maggots beneath ash.

    Pendragon dove suddenly, a cry bursting from his throat.

    There a ridge of slate carved into makeshift battlements. A fortress not meant to keep armies out, but prisoners in.

    Taranis landed hard, blade drawn before his boots touched the ground. He didn’t speak. He didn’t call out.

    He moved.

    Two guards fell before they could scream lightning dancing along the edges of his blade. A third tried to flee. Pendragon caught him mid-run and dropped him without effort.

    Taranis moved through the ruined keep like a storm incarnate silent, swift, merciless. These were slavers, torturers, the kind who’d once held him in chains. He knew every sound of their cruelty.

    He’d been trained in their darkness. Now he wielded it against them.

    In the lower chamber, he found Draven.

    Naked but for rags, wrists chained above his head, bruises blooming along his ribs. He lifted his face at the sound of boots.

    “Taranis?” he croaked.

    “I’m here,” his brother said.

    “You came back…”

    “I always come back.”

    Taranis cut the chains in two strokes, catching his brother as he fell.

    “Can you walk?”

    “No.”

    “Then I’ll carry you.”

    He slung Draven over his shoulder and stormed out as the keep burned behind him.

    Not once did he look back.

    By the time Taranis returned to Emberhelm, Rayne was awake.

    Solaris had removed the collar with Lore’s help shattering it against a carved cairnstone. It took three days of chanting, and a night of fire that refused to go out. Boldolph had offered to chew the thing apart. Morrigan declined the offer.

    Rayne sat in the healing hall, bandaged and trembling. When Taranis entered carrying Draven, the boy’s face crumpled.

    “You got him.”

    “I said I would.”

    Morrigan rushed forward. “Lay him here.”

    Taranis set Draven down gently. Lore began his work, murmuring ancient words. Solaris lit the fire with a whispered flame. Rayne crawled forward and took his brother’s hand.

    “I’m sorry,” Rayne whispered. “I told them everything. They used me. And I still couldn’t save him.”

    “You survived,” Taranis said. “That was enough.”

    Drax entered moments later, axe slung over his back.

    “You went alone.”

    “I didn’t need an army.”

    “You’re lucky I like you, brother.”

    Boldolph huffed from the doorway. “I told you not to go alone. Next time, I’m riding the dragon.”

    Pendragon let out a soft growl as if agreeing.

    “Next time,” Taranis said, “there won’t be a need.”

    That night, they gathered in the Hall of Storms. The Three Houses stood beneath banners newly hung. The thunder-mark of Tempestras, the flame glyph of Ignis, and the silver eclipse of Umbra.

    Rayne, still weak but standing, stepped forward.

    “I was taken when I followed a shadow beyond the border. They said my blood would buy silence. But my silence almost cost a life.”

    Taranis laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

    “It is not your shame to carry.”

    “No,” Rayne said, looking around, “but I want to stay. I want to fight. I want to belong.”

    Lore smiled. “Then choose your house.”

    Rayne hesitated.

    Then: “House of the Shadow.”

    Umbra’s banner unfurled behind him.

    Draven, barely upright, spoke next.

    “I never stopped believing we’d meet again. Even when they broke my ribs and chained my hands. I clung to the howl of a wolf I couldn’t see. I thought it was memory. Now I know it was Boldolph.”

    The great wolf-man stepped forward, placing a fist over his chest.

    “You’re one of us.”

    Draven smiled through broken teeth. “Then I choose House of the Storm.”

    The warriors roared their approval.

    Taranis turned to Solaris.

    “We’ve brought them back. But we’re not finished, are we?”

    “No,” Solaris replied. “Not until all chains are broken.”

    Boldolph grunted. “I say we raise a hunt. Take out the last Black Claw den.”

    Drax cracked his knuckles. “Been waiting for that.”

    Lore added quietly, “We’ll need more than swords. The blood magic they used—it’s older than the cairnstones.”

    Taranis nodded.

    “Then we rebuild. We teach. We prepare.”

    He turned to face the assembled tribes.

    “The era of exile is over. The age of the Stormborne rises.”

    And above them, Pendragon howled not in anger.

    But in unity.

    Later, as the fires dimmed, Boldolph stood outside the gates, leaning on his axe like a watchful father. Morrigan brought him stew.

    “You stayed.”

    “I always stay.”

    “Still think about eating Taranis?”

    “Not lately.”

    They laughed quietly.

    “Do you think they’ll ever stop fearing him?” Morrigan asked.

    “No,” Boldolph said. “But that’s not what matters.”

    He turned to her, eyes soft.

    “They follow him anyway.”

  • The  Houses of Caernath Part 1

    The Houses of Caernath Part 1

    The Broken Howl.

    The screams echoed off the stone walls of Emberhelm like the wind of old gods mourning. They weren’t screams of pain, but of release centuries of silence and curse unraveling into the night.

    Morrigan collapsed first, the white fur shedding in great clouds that shimmered like frost. Her limbs twisted, reshaped. Bones cracked. Light laced through her as though fire ran in her veins.

    When it was over, she knelt there, naked and human once more. Tall, slim, freckled, her long red hair cascading down her shoulders like the sun had kissed her into being.

    Lore, standing nearby with his hands still outstretched from the spell, stumbled back, exhausted. His voice trembled.

    “It is done.”

    Boldolph did not scream.

    He roared.

    A roar that turned the blood of every warrior in Emberhelm cold. His black fur thickened, but did not fall away. His body bulged with new strength arms growing longer, spine broadening, but the wolf did not vanish. Instead, the man stepped ahead from the beast, and what remained was both.

    A wolf-man. A warrior unlike any other.

    Lore turned to his brothers. “Boldolph chose this. A warrior’s form. His path remains in the hunt, not the hearth.”

    Taranis watched, silent, hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Morrigan, now fully clothed in a borrowed shawl, stepped across the courtyard to a waiting man her husband. They embraced without fear.

    “She’s still loved,” Taranis muttered, half to himself.

    Lore heard him anyway. “And no one fears them now. Not like they did you.”

    Taranis smirked, eyes glinting. “If she wasn’t married, I’d have made her mine.”

    “Careful,” Drax chuckled from behind, sharpening his axe on the stone steps. “You’re a warlord, not a poet.”

    Taranis turned, expression softer now. “He screamed, you know. Our father. The night I was exiled.”

    Lore nodded. “He didn’t know what to do. But he regretted not letting you stay. Mother wept for months. Still wore your wolf bone pendant long after we buried it in the cairn.”

    “Did they know I was alive?”

    “They did.” Lore crouched, drawing a symbol in the dirt. “Boldolph kept them informed. Something about the tribe’s elder being the only one who can hear his thoughts. Said our ancestor lived in you.”

    Taranis gave a dry laugh. “Our ancestor, eh? Boldolph told me that too. Great-grandfather five times back, wasn’t it?”

    Drax’s voice cut in. “Father called to Boldolph when you were exiled. Said the storm had swallowed you whole. What happened out there?”

    Taranis exhaled, jaw tight.

    “Adventure. Hunger. Despair. I was nearly dead when Solaris’s father found me, just beyond Blackclaw territory. They took me in. His father made me a slave, heavy work for little return. I treated his son in exchange for scraps. But Solaris he remembered me. He saw more than a starving boy.”

    Lore rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

    “You survived.”

    “I endured,” Taranis corrected.

    He stepped ahead and raised his voice so all gathered hear.

    “Boldolph. Morrigan. Solaris. You are free now. The chains of old curses, of blood debts, and oaths not chosen gone. But I ask you this…”

    He paused, turning slowly.

    “Will you stay?”

    The fire pits roared to life, casting flickering gold over the three freed souls. Solaris stood tall, still bearing the ash-mark of Flamekeeper. Morrigan leaned into her husband’s side, eyes scanning the faces around her. Boldolph’s red eyes flared, unreadable.

    Taranis continued, “There are three houses in Caernath now. The House of the Storm — for warriors and defenders. The House of the Flame for healers, lorekeepers, and seers. And the House of the Shadow for scouts, spies, and those who walk the forgotten paths. Each of you has earned a place, should you wish it.”

    He looked to them, one by one.

    “If you leave, so be it. With my blessing. With food. With horses so the fair lady no longer walks barefoot through bramble. know this: your path and mine will cross again. Whether as friend or foe… that remains to

    A few chuckled.

    “But if you stay…” he added, softer now. “then the food is yours to share, we shall ride and fight together as brothers and sisters.”

    Lore stood beside him, arms folded. “Three houses. Three choices.”

    Drax, ever the blunt one, added, “But don’t take too long to decide. Winter’s hunting season comes fast.”

    Silence.

    Then Solaris stepped ahead.

    “I will stay.”

    His voice was calm, like embers beneath ash.

    “But not as a servant. As a Flamekeeper. As a free man.”

    Taranis nodded once. “Then take your place in the House of the Ignis”

    Boldolph came next, stepping ahead with thunder in his stride. His beast-form loomed, but he knelt low before Taranis.

    “I stay,” he growled. “But not as man. Not as beast. As both. I fight with you. For Stormborne.”

    Taranis placed a hand on the wolf-man’s brow. “House of the Tempestas then.”

    Morrigan stepped ahead last. The crowd held their breath.

    “I have known healing. And fury. And grief. But I choose to give life now, not chase vengeance. I will stay… as a healer.”

    Lore smiled.

    “House of Umbra welcomes you.”

    The wind picked up. Overhead, Pendragon flew a wide arc above the fort, and the sky shivered with promise.

    Taranis raised his voice once more.

    “The Houses are chosen. The bonds are made. The future begins now forged in flame, bound by oath, tempered by storm.”

    And far below, in the silent stones of Emberhelm, the echoes of curses past gave way to something new.

    A howl not of sorrow.

    But of belonging as a mysterious stranger approached.

    “I know to well how brothers can turn on each other ” a voice behind them said one they vafukey recognised

    Drax arched a brow “rayne? Little brother is that you? We thought you lost?”

    Rayne Nodded a thick iron coller around his neck with black claw marking in

    “Who did this ” Tanaris whistles for Pendragon as his brother collapsed through torture and starvation

    “Black Claw they still have Draven”

    “I going to wipe that clan out ” Tanaris said

    “NO YOUNG ONE NOT ALONE” boldolph said

    “Morrigan he’s doing it again can I eat him or Pendragon” Boldolph said seeing the young one Tanaris flying towards enemy land as if to rescue another brother

    Morrigan looked over “he will return now Rayne”. she ordered as Solaris prepared food and she gathered healing herbs.

    post script

    Which House Do You Belong To?
    In the lands of Caernath, every soul has a path.

    Do you crave thunder and battle like Boldolph? You belong to House Tempestras the warriors.

    Do you heal with fire and memory like Solaris and Morrigan? House Ignis calls you the keepers of lore and flame.

    Do you move in shadow, unseen yet ever watchful? Then step into House Umbra where secrets become power.

    🧭 Tell us in the comments: Which house would you choose and why?
    Feel free to share this post and invite others to find their stormbound path.

  • The Legacy of Lore Stormborne: Keeper of the Flame

    The Legacy of Lore Stormborne: Keeper of the Flame


    Scribe. Warrior. Flamebearer of Emberhelm.

    “Let others raise the blade. I raise the truth.”
    Lore Stormborne

    🕯️ Keeper of the Flame. Brother of Storm.
    Lore Stormborne is more than a warrior he is the voice of memory, the keeper of names, and the bearer of the fire that binds tribe to tribe, and age to age. Born the youngest of the Stormborne brothers, Lore walks the path between word and weapon, prophecy and pragmatism.

    Where Taranis is storm and Drax is stone, Lore is firelight quiet but searing, patient but unyielding.

    He writes not only with ink, but with action.

    A wise, bearded man in historical attire writes with a quill on parchment, surrounded by ancient scrolls and ink pots in a sunlit room.
    Lore Stormborne, the Flamebearer of Hearthrest, meticulously writing history and preserving knowledge.

    📜 From Shadows to Scrolls
    In childhood, Lore followed in the shadow of his brothers Taranis, the storm-marked exile, and Drax, the hardened shield. But even then, Lore saw what others missed: patterns in myth, warnings in the stars, truth beneath tradition.

    When Taranis was exiled, Lore did not speak but he remembered. When Drax rose through the ranks, Lore was already mapping the past.

    His weapon was never just steel it was knowledge. And it burned just as brightly.

    A powerful figure dressed in ornate armor, wielding flames in both hands, symbolizing strength and magic, with fiery hair and a dramatic backdrop.
    Lore Stormborne, the Flamebearer of Hearthrest, conjures fire in a display of power and wisdom, embodying the essence of his role as the keeper of ancient rites.

    🔥 Flamebearer of Hearthrest
    Lore governs Hearthrest, the wooded sanctuary of sacred stones and old rites. There, within the ancient stone circle, he tends the Eternal Flame of the Stormborne lit only in times of great need. It is said he can hear the voices of ancestors in the fire.

    To the warriors, he is their truthkeeper. To the children, he is the story-weaver. To the Stormborne, he is their lore.

    A powerful warrior with flame-like hair and elaborate armor, holding fire in one hand amidst swirling flames.
    Lore Stormborne, the Flamebearer of Hearthrest, wielding fire magic in a display of power and resolve.

    ⚔️ A Warrior When Needed
    Though often seen as a scholar, Lore is no stranger to battle. In the war against the Clawclan, he stood beside Taranis and Drax at Rykar’s Ridge, calling down the old flame-magic inscribed into cairnstones. His staff of flamewood, carved from lightning-struck ash, is both relic and weapon.

    When dragons fell from the sky, Lore stood firm. When the storm rose, he whispered its name.

    A close-up portrait of a wise-looking elder with long white hair and a beard, adorned with intricate jewelry and a regal crown, exuding an aura of strength and knowledge.
    The Flamebearer of Hearthrest, Lore Stormborne, embodies wisdom and strength, standing as the keeper of ancient stories and the guardian of the Eternal Flame.

    🧠 Mind of Flame
    Measured, articulate, and always listening, Lore speaks less than most but when he does, his words linger. He believes that the world is not saved through strength alone, but through stories preserved, names remembered, and wisdom passed on.

    He is the bridge between storm and silence. And his fire never goes out.

    A figure in a red cloak holds a torch, illuminating the surrounding ancient stone formations in a dark, wooded area. Text reads 'Lore of the Stormborne' above the figure.
    Lore Stormborne, the Flamebearer of Hearthrest, walking through ancient stone circles with a torch to illuminate the path of tradition and memory.

    ✴️ Known As:
    The Flamebearer of Hearthrest

    Keeper of the Cairnstones

    Lore of the Stormborne

    Fire-Walker

    Voice of the Old Flame

    A serene woodland landscape featuring a large stone circle surrounded by smaller stones, labeled 'Hearthrest' at the bottom.
    The sacred grove of Hearthrest, a mystical sanctuary of standing stones and ancient rites.

    🌳 His Realm: Hearthrest, Caernath
    A wooded region of sacred groves and standing stones. Home of the Eternal Flame and ancient rites. Governed not by sword, but by tradition and firelight.

    ✍️ Written by: emma.stormbornelore