8000 years before Aegon’s Conquest, as Winter engulfed the continent of Westeros, a great
darkness fell over the land.
The Long Night had come bringing forth a generation of famine and terror.
Westerosi legends claim that it was during these years of darkness that mysterious Northern
creatures known as the Others invaded southern lands.
The Others, also called White Walkers, were tall and gaunt with skin as pale as milk and
eyes that shine bright blue.
They wore camouflage armor and wielded razor thin swords of ice they imbued with magic
allowing them to freeze and break enemy armaments.
They were also able to summon ice spiders, and raise both human and animal dead, riding
reanimated horses, bears and direwolves into battle, and reviving fallen enemies to create
and army of undead warriors which came to be known as Wights.
The First Men and Children of the Forest quickly rose to counter the invasion, but their weapons
and magic could do little to help them, suffering greatly until forced to retreat south, their
hopes for victory all but lost.
Yet in the midst of the devastation, stories claim the Last Hero emerged, wielding a sword
of Dragonsteel to embark upon a quest searching for the elusive Children of the Forest, in
the hopes they might provide assistance in humanities renewed efforts against the northern
invaders.
The Last Hero brought a horse, a dog and a dozen companions with him on this journey,
but lost them all along the way, even seeing his sword freeze and snap from the brutal
cold.
Yet despite all these hardships, legends say he found the Children and convinced them to
help humanity as they struggled to survive.
Now, with the aid of the Children of the Forest, and the discovery of Dragonglass as an effective
weapon against the White Walkers, the army of the Night’s Watch led the people of Westeros
to victory at the Battle for the Dawn, eventually pushing the Others back into the Lands of
Always Winter.
In order to prevent any such invasion in the future, stories say Bran “The Builder”,
the legendary Stark King raised a massive wall in the North, with the Children of the
Forest casting powerful spells and enchantments on the ice, to ensure the White Walkers could
not pass through.
The Night’s Watch was then made into its guardians, tasked with defending the South
from all threats North of the Wall.
And while Westeros suffered greatly during these years of war and darkness, the devastation
of the Long Night was felt all across the Known world, seeing the lands of Essos enduring
their own hardships and establishing their own legends and mythos concerning the events
of these years.
In the lands of the Rhoynar, stories say a terrible night fell upon the world, causing
the waters of the river Rhoyne to freeze, until a Hero emerged to unite the Children
of the Goddess Mother Rhoyne, to sing a secret song which brought back the day.
Beyond the Bone Mountains, in the lands of Yi Ti, they claim that it was under the reign
of the Amethyst Empress that the troubles began.
Believing that she was betrayed by her brother, who crowned himself the Bloodstone Emperor,
practicing the dark arts and taking a tiger-woman as his wife.
According to tradition, his corruption, which saw him consuming the flesh of man, and worshipping
a black stone fallen from the sky, caused the Maiden Made of Light to turn her back
on the world.
Leading to the Long Night, when the Lion of Night came forth to punish the realms of man
for their wickedness.
The story of the hero who fought the armies of darkness with a flaming sword spread throughout
eastern essos, with many cultures adopting their own version of the tale.
Such as the Patrimony of Hyrkoon and its successor Realms who claim the man was known as Hyrkoon
the Hero, while other lands give this figure names such as Eldric Shadow Chaser, Yin Tar
and Neferion.
The most well known story however would come out of the mysterious far eastern city of
Asshai, where the followers of the Red God R’hllor, claim the hero was Azor Ahai, believing
he labored for 30 days and nights attempting to forge a sword to defeat the armies of darkness,
but the weapon shattered as he tempered it in water.
Again he tried to forge the sword, this time working 50 days and nights, then driving the
sword into the heart of a lion, to imbue it with the animal’s power, but once again
he failed.
Finally he labored for 100 days and nights and called for his wife Nissa Nissa.
With great sadness he drove the sword into his wife’s heart, imbuing it with her soul
and at last the weapon was forged, naming it Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes.
With Lightbringer at his side he led humanity to victory by driving the demon armies of
night back to restore light to the world.
The ancient prophecies of Asshai, then go on to claim that Azor Ahai would one day return,
reborn to fight against a new darkness that would threaten humanity, and should he fail,
the world fails with him.
“There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of
darkness falls heavy on the world.
In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword.
And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it
shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.”