Norayaz

Norayaz
Status:	Historical Figure
Race:	S'Kra Mur
Gender:	Female

Norayaz is remembered as a very beautiful S'Kra Mur woman, sometimes known as the Maiden of Peri'el, blessed by that goddess. She makes a brief, but critical, appearance in the history of Scorpion Clan, when it was split into three divisions by the fratricidal actions of Dhrakhh. She is traditionally held to have led a portion of the splintered clan to the recently founded city of Ratha.

From "The History of Muspar'i"...

Once blessed with the gift of tail from Hav'roth, the S'Kra developed into a civilized people. The Book of Lovers tells us that three S'Kra brothers emerged within this early civilization as the leaders of their people. They were called the Sons of Hav'roth, and were named Zaarin, Mhalush, and Dhrakhh. Zaarin was the eldest brother, and Dhrakhh the youngest.

Each of the brothers fell in love with a young woman, she who was called Norayaz, the Maiden of Peri'el. She was the gentlest and most beautiful S'Kra, and it is said that when she sang... but that is not a part of our story.

The three brothers each wished to wed Norayaz. Zaarin, as the eldest and leader of the S'Kra Mur, possessed most of the tribe's land and wealth, and so in the end, he won out. There was a great ceremony, which the entire tribe attended, and it was to be the start of a Malk Akom, blessed by the gods as the Maiden of Peri'el wed the Son of Hav'roth. Mhalush was pleased for his brother.

But not so the vain and spiteful Dhrakhh. He could not be happy. The younger brother claimed to a group of the S'Kra Mur that it was an evil bonding, that it would bring down the wrath of Ushnish, and so Dhrakhh took up the q'zhalata. He would kill the woman and save his people from the curse. Or so he said. But Dhrakhh knew his true motivations. If he could not have the Maiden of Peri'el, then no one could.

Dhrakhh's q'zhalata failed, however, and instead of Norayaz sipping the poisoned wine during the Smo'kku'par Ceremony, Zaarin drank from it instead. The eldest brother, blessed of Hav'roth, fell over dead.

The earth trembled, then. It was the fury of Hav'roth. For Dhrakhh had violated his Ru'at, Hav'roth's own Ru'at. The furious god quaked and shattered the S'Kra lands, splitting them asunder. This was the birth of the Reshalian archipelago. And Norayaz was filled with the spirit of the warrior goddess Peri'el, and she drew Zaarin's sword and severed the tail of Dhrakhh from his body, naming him Smozh.

The fates of Norayaz and Dhrakhh after that point are the source of legendary tales, but it is not of those we shall speak. Our story follows the middle brother, Mhalush. Shocked at the split of his Ru'at and the near-destruction of his homeland, Mhalush donned the robes of the Silver Arm and led those who would follow him in a quest to find a new land chosen by Hav'roth.

The Path of Three Brothers housing area outside Muspar'i is an homage to the story.