Holy Mirror of the Goddess Tyr

Well...we've fought so much for this....piece of old, rusty bronze?

Nelli, aren't you afraid of the power of the gods?

Of course I am!, I am an elf!! but i don't know how this old thing can actually work!. Do you have to...you know... press a button or something?

— Nellerlë of Astan and Crysanthos, the veteran warrior after they recovered the mirror of Tyr

A mythical object

According to mythology, Tyr was born and raised in a cave where Banias is located. The goddess of nature is said to have lived here until he became a wise and beatiful girl. She was educated by the holy maidens and according to the mythical tales Tyr liked to be always beautiful when she decided to go outside the cave and explore the world. Because of that she always ask a holy maiden to hold a mirror while she combed her hair. When Tyr married Abbon Shabai and began to live in their heavenly palace, she took her maidens and the mirror with her.
During the War of the Gods she fought alongside her husband, brothers, sons and daughters against Khair, god of death and darkness and his allies. Once the War ended the world was devastated and obscured by big dark clouds. Seeing this she used her mirror to reflect the light of her husband, the god of Light and the Sun, to disperse the clouds and restore life to the plants and trees across the world, which was accomplished not only with the light of Abbon Shabai but also thanks to the help of Van, the god of Water.

Mirror of the Goddess Tyr by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Many millenia after these events, the Mirror was stolen one day by the goddess Navrin, goddess of minerals and precious stones, when she was a little child and was lost when the little goddess fell one day in the forest trying to flee from her aunt who demanded the mirror to be returned to her. Again, many millenia after this, Godyna, the goddess of music and beauty founded the mirror travelling through the forest and decided to return it to her grandmother. Tyr was very pleased by Godyna's good will and in return gave it as a gift. Finally Godyna gave her mirror to the elves because of their piety and was then stored and worshiped as a relic in the cave where Tyr was born. It was believed by the elves that the mirror had the power of 2000 sacred trees, that it was capable of regenerating entire forests and regions and also that had inside it stored some of the light of abon shabai, capable of destroying and melting entire mountains.

A great loss and a greater search

The mirror dissapeared from its temple in the third century BP coinciding with the elven civil war and the independence of the Western Regions, and was never seen again. Many elves considering it as a bad omen and feared the wrath of the gods for having lost such a powerful item. In 613 AP rumours reached Banias's adventurers guild that the mirror was found on a abandoned settlement in the Albine Mountains, and so, the Guild dispatched a team of adventurers that volunteered to go searching the place. This would become Yuuya's the adventurer and his friends first mission. And after many difficulties, epic fightings, escaping from angry nomads and globings that litterally emerged from the earth, they recovered the precious relic and returned to Banias. Since then the mirror was again stored at the Temple of the Cave.

Temple and Cave of the goddess Tyr at Banias by Callyxtus with Stable Diffusion

The Mirror; from its recovered to present times

In 617, A barbarian king from the west, convinced by his master sorcerer, heard about the relic of the Mirror of Tyr and its great power and tried to besiege Banias . There he face the enormous resistance of the defenders formed by 90 oronai veterans lead by Crysanthos, the veteran warrior and the members of Banias's adventurers guild that stopped the invaders until the Brirean army commanded by Zoisos I arrived to relief the siege. Since then the city has lived very peaceful and prosperous times and the mirror is now secured in its temple, being venerated by thousands of pilgrims that come to the city every month. And, despite fears that some Brirean kings wanted to use it as a weapon, the power of the light of Abbon Shabai hasn't been unleashed.

Item type

Magical

Creation Date

unknown

Current Location

Banias

Related ethnicities

• Elvish-Oronai peoples

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