Artwyn and the Stone
The most infamous event of King Arthur's story could arguably be his success in pulling sword from stone and, essentially, laying claim to the throne. The truth is much less inspiring.
In King Artwyn's time, he started as a prince. By the time his father died and he became king, the sword was nowhere to be found. It was not until a few years into Artwyn's rule that it surfaced. In an attempt to defend from invasion, Artwyn sought Myhren and Kyarrah's council. It was then that he learned of Excalibur. Artwyn sent Myhren to retrieve the legendary artifact, and Myhren succeeded not a moment too soon. Not even 24 hours after the blade had returned had Artwyn used its power to drive out the [redacted] invading forces. His armies cheered in victory.
Victory was short-lived. Distress rose in its place as Artwyn assaulted his own soldiers, eyes glazed with the light of the blade; light that was quite obviously a curse, and not a blessing. Artwyn's knights managed to disarm him, only for another to take hold of Excalibur in an attempt to wrangle it into obedience. It became a new challenge on the battlefield.
In the end, Myhren managed to sheathe the blade and bring it, as well as Artwyn, back to the palace, ordering the remaining knights to support one another in their return. The blade had proved to be both a great ally and a nasty enemy; Artwyn wanted nothing to do with it, however the people of the kingdom had not yet heard of its betrayal. Noting Myhren's strength in refusing the temptation of the sword, Artwyn bestowed it upon Myhren, essentially knighting them with the important task of keeping it safe, hidden, and most importantly, out of the hands of both good and evil alike. Myhren and Myhren alone found themself able to wield the blade, as proven by their success in retrieving it, and the blade stayed with them for the rest of time; disguised on their back as a simple, metal sword.
In order to strengthen the ruse, Artwyn claimed to have driven the blade into a heavy stone and thrown the stone into a deep, unmarked lake, where it would never be seen again.
Comments