Agroha Ambarisha

A mythological figure in the belief of many of the people of Shaisvara, and the nation's legendary founder.   The annals of his life or some of the most expounded upon writings in the known world.   In ancient times, before the Great Wyrms had spread across the known world, the land of Shaisvara was hard. It is shrouded in dangerous jungles, and both the wildlife and monsters within the area are deadly predators. The people who lived within the Southern Ring had no political or national identity, preoccupied as they were with simple survival, and they were divided into a series of tribes that rarely interacted with each other.   If legend is to be believed, the Icons looked down upon the jungles and forests of Shaisvara, and the people huddled in their huts and tents, and took pity upon them. The Princess of Silver Stars looked to her friend, the Player of the Golden Sitar and begged her to come up with something to aid the humans. At first, the Player simply laughed, not wanting to become involved with such a task, but when they saw the tears of the Princess, agreed to help.   The Player gathered up clay from the divine realm and fashioned it into the form of a baby, then gave it to the Princess, who drew upon it seven symbols, each one representing an aspect of the soul. When those were done, she painted it to look like a human child and gave it back to the Player.   The Player descended from the divine realm and found a woman who lived alone on the outskirts of town and entered their home, sitar drawn. After a brief moment of fear and hesitation, the two embraced each other as lovers, and when morning came the Sitar Player left the baby within the woman and quickly hurried off. For fifteen months the woman carried the child, unsure of what to make of it, but assured by magic and medicine that she was really pregnant and that the child still lived.   When the time came and her water broke, she labored for three days and three nights, attended to by wetnurses sent by the Icons themselves. When her struggle was finally done, she looked to her child and named him Agroha Ambarisha, which means 'eventual victory'. Despite the trouble that infant had caused her, she raised him well, making sure to impart all the lessons that she could as he grew far faster than the other children.   At times he even seemed to glow with golden light as he did things others would struggle to or could not do at all. Even as a child he could lift a fully grown cow, or throw a hunting spear hard enough to drive its bronze tip straight through to the other side. His grasp of the arts led him to create statues and songs as he progressed through his teen years that entranced the eyes and ears.   By the time Agroha was an adult, he stood a head or more above even the tallest men of his village, and his figure cut an image unmatched. He was loved, despite the temper he had grown, and the village relied on him for many things, which he did not ask recompense for, though he often received it anyways. It had made his mother and him quite wealthy, as a matter of fact, and it wasn't uncommon for his evenings to be spent sorting through a pile of gifts left upon the family doorstep.   One night, when he returned, there was a person standing next to the usual gifts, a golden sitar slung across their back.   Agroha knew that something was odd about this figure and the way that their features evaded identification, but he didn't feel threatened an so asked what he could do for them.   Nothing, they replied, he was already doing it. They simply wanted to hand their gift to him personally.   It was a sword, its blade golden and everything from its hilt to its scabbard the height of quality. Only the Icons could have made such a blade, but he knew better than to interrupt the charades of the Icons. They did not take kindly to being found out, at least not the Icons of Shaisvara, and so he kept quiet and accepted the blade graciously. The figure expressed a desire to see him do great things and left.   He knew he had been, essentially, instructed by a god to develop ambition and by the time he had entered into his house his mind swirled with what he could do. His mother, who had seen the whole thing happen through the window, also knew what had been asked of him. She came to him, excited, and told him that she knew he was special. Everyone already did, but this proved it. He had to go and had her blessing to do so. His mother wouldn't accept excuses of not wanting to leave her alone, or possibly impoverished, and so with little choice but to take that golden sword at his side and travel outside of the only home he'd known to find his destiny.
Children


Cover image: by Night Cafe Image Generation, User Provided Prompt