Sýn

[Armorbeast]

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The Ascended
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Sýn began life billions of years ago on the planet N'vana as Sinmara. She had evolved into an Ascended being having been an explorer driven to extremes by seeking out the mysteries of creation. Unlike most Ascended, Sinmara retained memories of her former life as a wife and a mother making her remorseful of all that was now lost to her. Desiring to reclaim her past, Sinmara would find her way barred and then torn by tragedy when she found her family brutally murdered. Knowing other Ascended had done this would evolve Sinmara into a Myrkstigende (Dark Ascended, Dark Angel) taking the name Sýn. During the War of Angels, Sýn was attacked and cast down into the Abyss with the Fallen where she developed her forked tail and horns.

Sýn became filled with wrath and vengeance against all Ascended beings while remaining, nonetheless, an explorer journeying through the Netherworlds. Reaching an alien world called Múspell where she met the demon-god Surt whose curiosity about her allowed Sýn to command his power. Sýn would forget, however, that Surt was a willing supplicant and not her thrall until finally angering him after opening a rift between dimensions. Múspell would be drawn into the Abode of Gods where it became broken apart and, in his rage, Surt devoured her as if she were just a tasty morsel to fill his gut. He would eventually vomit her up like an indigestible piece of bone revealing a pathetic wretch whose suffering proved so great she could not even scream.

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Surt
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The outer layers of her flesh had dissolved away and Surt would be genuinely surprised to find Sýn yet living. Surt could sense the strength remaining within her before reaching out as if to crush and do away with her forever only to restore her instead. Rising to her feet and taking her place at his side, Sýn could sense the changes within her and that she was now a part of Surt. While separate, it would become clear that they often thought and acted as one and when he called her by her birth name, she reassumed the name Sinmara and was to discover her rebirth had left her pregnant with child. Foremost among the Eldjötnar would be the firstborn son Surtr conceived by her with Surt whose own desires were to become the mightiest of gods with a pantheon all his own.

Sinmara would become as a Mother Goddess to the Mund-spilli, the world-destroyers who went by names such as the Múspellssynir/Múspellsmegir (Sons of Múspell), Múspellsdǿtr (Daughters of Múspell), the Rjúfendr (Destroyers of Doomsday), Världsbrand (World burners) and those Eldjötnar she gave birth to. Her own aspirations were to serve in making his dreams into a reality for them both until Stórrkala (the Big Freeze), a cataclysm created when Götterdämmerung destroyed their ancient Sun and which would not end until the first flames of Múspell were rekindled. When Surt awakened from his long slumber, he found the primordial Elder God Ymir had awakened before him as ruler of Niflheimr and their ancient war began at this point in time.

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Múspelheimr
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Their war would eventually find Surt and Ymir cast into the universe of Miðgarðr carrying on their war from the Moons of Maakera. Sinmara was left as sole regent over Múspell as a result and would appoint Surtr to her husbands place with his wife Sin-nahti taking her place as Queen. Her focus would be the continued growth of Surts kingdom as the Great Mother (or Holy Mother) and would prove her power by causing smaller land masses to collide with Múspell doubling it in size. She would then multiply even this by causing a collision with an even larger land mass that was a fragment of the destroyed world Strīthverǫld. The Mund-spilli then poured out across these lands to claim them for Múspel with their original homeland now becoming known as Múspelheimr

A new, dark-skinned peoples with hair like fire, called the Brännþjóð (fire people/nation) would evolve from those conquered in Sýns name and united by a faith worshiping Surt the Father, Surtr the Son and Sinmara the Holy Mother (aka Queen Mother). This would somewhat change with the formation of Goðheimr because a part of Múspell became the shadowy Realm of Fornskaði (Ancient Death), the Tenth Level of Purgatory which Sinmara came to rule along with her grandson Báldróttinn. Reassuming her identity as Sýn, the Mund-spilli dared not transgress against Sýn knowing that it would incur Surtrs wrath and that she alone could destroy them. Surtr would rule his own kingdom from its capital Eldheimr still serving to protect his fathers kingdom and mothers legacy.

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Frostsfyre
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Where her aspirations had always been to serve as wife to Surt and to be mother of his children, she would now become free to pursue her own ambitions. Should she have need for anything that was his to give, Surtr would provide it to Sýn because she was his most important ally. Surtr was conceived while Sinmara was within his fathers gut as she emerged changed forever with a part of Surt saturating every part of her being. Surtr would be the merging of the two possessing his fathers form but his mothers features. He held his mothers trust firmly within his heart and while she sought her destiny elsewhere, she would return to his side when needed in his battles with the Níu Heimar.

In her neverending search for her husband, Sýn became drawn to one of the new worlds surrounding Goðheimr which she used sorcery to discover had become her husbands prison. By gaining access to the Örlögsteinn (Destiny Stone), she was able to learn Surts fate and of Maakera. This would prove important as few on this world would ever learn that this world was created when the world Maakera was destroyed and that Surt was trapped within it. He would be reborn as the Great Beast, a being who had arison to fight a planet shattering war against the Dark One during the Awakening. Then came the fall of Surt and the Mund-spilli with him collapsed into disarray fleeing for survival and founding several new races each worshiping Surt in their own ways.

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Queen Sinmara
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The most powerful of these new races were the Hyrfjándi (Firedevils) of Brennalǫnd (the Burning Lands) whom Sýn quickly beat into submission after unifying some of the lesser races against them. She had also summoned weaklings from among the Mund-spilli who were hungry for power... power she could give them among these peoples who now knew her as Queen Sinmara (and Mút-spell, mother's-curse) and Queen of the Burning Lands. The Hyrfjándi ruled a land surrounding the base of massive volcano from antiquity which provided natural fortifications Sýn would name Surtsgarðr. At it's center lay an active volcano Sýn would call Eldfjall (Fire Mountain) within which she established her castles keep to rule over her kingdom.

As if the Burning Lands themselves were not enough to deter trespassers, the powerful defenses built into Surtsgarðr and those guarding it would. Among these defenses are creatures called Eldrhögg (Fire Strikers), a type of firebreathing Hellbender (Salamander) Sýn considered pets and protectors. But the greatest defense is the ability to literally set the Burning Lands surrounding Surtsgarðr on fire and her peoples tolerance to the flames allowing them to fight within them. In the battles that followed, Sýn would receive a brutal mauling by a gigantic demon-possessed bear. Afflicted with rabies, the demons power caused the disease to affect her in unforeseen ways so that her powers would not heal her.

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Surtheiðinnsiðr
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For all her former power, her body and spirit had been broken leading her to use illusions to conceal her damaged body while seeking a remedy. She had brought twelve sarcophagi with her called Stānąvömbs where the bodies of the dead and dying could be placed for regeneration being either healed or dissolved to be born anew. She would place each of these Stānąvömbs in hidden locations across Frostsfyre, with only one in use at any time, and with a thirteenth left in Múspell. Another would be secreted away in a place known only to her allowing her to create "inferior" mortal forms through which to work her power. Although Sýn was no longer as powerful as she had been, her powers of sorcery grew with time aiding Sýns ability to command and manipulate others.

Through the blood of Surt, they would rule over the Burning Lands and unify it's peoples behind a faith called Surtheiðinnsiðr. Summoning Brännþjóð Bálgyðjur (fire priests & priestesses) to lead the faith, followers would become colloquially known as Svarthöfðar (Black Heads, another name for Surt) and would infiltrate every region of Frostsfyre. This belief system is not inherently malevolent. Sýn chose to focus on more positive aspects for Surtheiðinnsiðr because mortals could be delicate creatures and to rule them she sought to appeal to their sense of mortality. For adherents, there were many rewards and freedoms under their rule afforded to others only where they do not rule.

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Rebirth of Sýn
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Serving as diplomats and ambassadors, they would even penetrate the Imperial House of Bleeding Stone and even presented a Stānąvömb as a gift to the Lord Magistrate. They were descended from the god Arnbjørn, a god aiding the Dark One in Surts defeat and with whom they wished to be reunited. Each possessed a small portent of Arnbjørns' power and the Stānąvömb would preserve them in life even as it consigned them to burn in death. None could know its true purpose except Sýn, including her priests, until Kullgrimmr the Bold was brought to the Lord Magistrates funerary complex to be consumed by the light emanating from within it. This proved to be a finishing coup de grâce revealing Sýns plans and bringing them to fruition.

The diseased parts of Sýns body had been dissolved away leaving only those parts that had been unaffected. A new body had been created from it that had lost much of its godly essence, the vitality allowing her to possess she desired to see restored. Kullgrimmrs' death had brought this about and Sýn ordered her priests to prepare her for sacrifice before summoning a final bolt of fire Múspell to consume her. Her energies passed from one Stānąvömb into another and then another before finally arriving at the one where Kullgrimmr had been consigned. Sýn would emerge whole and renewed but chose to take a subservient role to the new Lord Magistrate. She found him too weak to oppose her plans and did not want the burdens of rule that might otherwise hinder her.

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Releasing the Great Beast
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By this time, the Múspellslýður (Múspells people) who served Sýn had grown powerful enough to act on her behalf allowing her to pursue her true objective. But when the Lord Magistrate learned her true purpose, she killed him and took on his likeness until rewarding one of her most loyal generals with the position. He would serve to eliminate further threats to her master scheme to release her husband Surt from where he lay imprisoned. Sýn sought out special plates that Surt had worn around his neck as a necklace until the Dark One broke them and they became scattered across Frostsfyre by various forces. She would gather them and place them in strategic locations along ley lines where she would use their power to release the Great Beast.

Like rivers flowing into a lake, their power would release Surt from where he lay imprisoned. Opposing her was a warrior from the true bloodline of the Lord Magistrate calling himself Kullinnævi (Kull the Eternal) who was brother to the Lord Magistrate she had slain. Sýn had abandoned the pretender she had placed upon the throne to fulfill her plans leaving him to be slain by his brother who then rallied armies against Sýn. While their armies clashed, Kull faced off with Sýn and while he would not defeat her, he would reverse the powers she commanded to reimprison Surt. But Surt would lose a hand as the doorway through which he sought to cross closed on him and Sýn would escape with it.

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The Power of Sýn
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Returning to Surtsgarðr, Sýn absorbed the hand into herself to increase her powers and create communion with Surt allowing him to command her power. Her left hand became blackened as a result where her body was otherwise scarlet in color with smokey black wings and hair. Surt himself was grey to black in color while their son Surtr possessed his looks but with her coloring. Early on, Sýn had captured a Djinn during one of her battles and stripped him of flesh inch by agonizing inch to steal his powers for her own. In her true form, she has certain Djinn characteristics and powers to grant wishes as a result. She, moreover takes on a mortal appearance with scarlet hair to seem more like the majority she rules over.

What makes Sýn particularly dangerous is that she doesn't desire power or to rule as these are only a means to an end. She seeks only to survive and to serve whatever purpose Surt might have for her viewing herself more as a force of nature whose only personal goal is to survive. Sýn views those who claim to be a force for good as patronizing and condescending as they always believe their way is best and themselves superior because of it. Her own view is to accept imperfection of which she views love as the greatest imperfection of all requiring a cleansing of the soul to accept it as a strength. Sýn is a shapeshifter whose strongest powers are based on elemental fire and she uses the Stānąvömbs to purify herself while healing or transforming others to reward them.

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Lævateinn
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Sýn possesses a powerful weapon called Lævateinn (Staff of Destruction) which was once possessed by Surt and thought destroyed. A second weapon would be forged with this name by the master blacksmith Völundr but it would not be as powerful as the original. Sýn would rediscover the broken sword during her searching for Surt and have it reforged by the Đwergaz smith Sindri for whom a powerful Svartdvergr (black dwarves) race is named. It had been remade as a swordstaff which she sank into ancient ground wherein she sensed souls trapped from the very beginning of time. While a bladed weapon, Lævateinn serves more as a staff of power channeling vast explosive bursts and magnifying her powers of sorcery.

The Ascended remain a focus of her hatred as she never forgave them nor their sterilized views of perfection and order. Sýn possesses another weapon called the Fyrámáttigr (loathsome fire) with a narrow sword on one side and fork on the other designed specifically for dealing with Ascended beings. However, she leaves Lævateinn in the care of her daughter Sinmore who has her mothers form but her fathers coloring. Sinmore is one of many children conceived by Sýn from seed stored within her placed there by her husband and was born specifically to be caretaker of this weapon. When needed, Sinmore can be summoned to aid her mother as an instrument of destruction or merely to deliver Lævateinn to her.

[Armorbeast]

Sin is a major player within the World of Frøstsfyre. She is enigmatic and eternally patient where her objectives lay. She often engages in activities to test her adversaries even should it cause her defeat. She does not hold grudges against any who defeat her as these are learning experiences. The only grudge she possesses is for the Ascended and any she perceives as embodying their nature. This, by definition, makes her evil. And yet, Sin views mortality as something worthy of preserving as long as it wishes to survive. There is a nature to things and she does not wantonly destroy or kill those wishing to survive unless they are working against her or those under her protection.

Surtheiðinnsiðr is mostly comprised of mortals seeking to become reborn as Múspellssynir. The Followers of Sýn who intermarry with the Sons of Múspell, in ceremonies performed by the Múspellsgyðjur, are transformed when a seed is transferred into them by their mate. Thus, the Múspellssynir are mostly female and some from among them become Múspellsgyðjur. They gain the ability to transform themselves into ash colored demon-like creatures with molten fire flowing through their veins and glowing from beneath their skin in certain areas. This transformation only occurs if they are loyal to Sin and where they can transform into Múspellssynir, they can just as easily revert back to their original form to conceal their true nature.