Art by Hexlix
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. No one has been able to kill me for well over a thousand years, and trust me, they’ve tried. Not even your beloved gods have been able to stop me. Do you still think you have a chance?”
“It’s all black and white in the end.”
“Is your grace greater than the god that made you?”
Cordelle’s story is a tale of heartbreak and loss, and the tragic things that a person can become when they devote everything they are (and more) to take back something that can never return. It’s a tale that explores the futility of seeking shelter in the joys of the past, and how we can sometimes become so consumed by this attachment that we can miss or even destroy joys that are yet to come. The lesson we learn from her story is the importance of acceptance.
Cordelle is the main antagonist of my story: King's Requiem. She represents one major part of the overall theme of grief (stages) present in the story.
For more information about the Eras of Light and Darkness, and other basics about Dulora, refer to the brief History section of this document: Ency. Dulora I - Dulora
In the first years of Dulora’s history, a castle was built in reverence to the goddess Caissa. It was built just beside the northern mountains of Savellor, and its kingdom would be called Lunivale. This castle needed a king, so a man named Helios took the throne. He was a loving king, one who willingly took part in common living so as never to lose touch with his people. There were many who admired him, and rarely did any oppose him.
Cordelle was a young elvish woman who was often ridiculed for her skin white as snow, and her hair greener than the evergreens. It was a defect that her kind had never seen before, and it caused a bit of a ruckus at home. Some would swear she had been cursed at birth. Nonetheless, she carried on.
To ease the pressure of a world that feared her, she picked up a paintbrush at a very young age. Cordelle’s canvas was her world. With every landscape she painted, she had the chance to escape into a different world for quite some time. Often times she would paint the Castle, a place she could only see from afar. Despite never meeting him in person, she even took a chance at painting King Helios by descriptions she had heard from her peers.
She had a small workshop that people could visit to admire or even purchase her paintings. One day, a tall man with long blonde hair stopped as he walked by her workshop. Intrigued, he stayed to watch her work. She was kind to him, and he kindly gave her a single coin. One copper piece, she thought. Is that all? It’s almost insulting. After he had left, she took a closer look at the coin, only to realize that it was not copper at all. It was gold. She had never held such value in her hand before, and hadn’t properly thanked him.
Since then, Cordelle hoped that she would run into him again, if but only for a moment, so that she could at least show her gratitude for his generosity. The months went by, and she began to wonder if perhaps he was a spirit or a ghost, or maybe just a gift from the goddess Caissa. She gave up and moved on to more of her paintings. Then, miraculously, he returned one early morning, and watched her as she worked.
“My dear,” the man pointed to one of her paintings half buried in the back, “who might that young man be?” Cordelle dusted off the top as she pulled it out to show him.
“It’s the king,” Cordelle’s excitement radiated from her smile. “Alas, this is only what I think him to look like, as I’ve never met him before.”
The man laughed, a gorgeous and elegant laugh. She demanded to know where the humor is to be found in it, so he informed her, “I have met that man many times. I am confident he is mortal, yet you have painted him as a god!”
They laughed about it together, and he asked to see her other works. As the sun began to set, he realized the time had come and gone, and he must return home before dark. Just before he left, however, he asked if she could paint something for him. He gave no further instructions than to simply paint what she would like, and he would purchase it on his next return upon the change of the season.
Cordelle decided to paint a field of roses covered in glistening white snow. On his return, the man was stunned by her attention to detail, and was sure to let her know how much he adored this painting. He offered to purchase it for a handful of gold, much more than her asking price. When she attempted to refuse, he offered something she truly could not refuse.
“Come to the castle with me, miss Cordelle. I would love for you to paint the throne room. All materials that you need will be covered, and I can assure that your stay will be comfortable.” Cordelle couldn’t believe her ears. Not only would she get to see the castle in person, but would have the honor of putting its interior on canvas. Who is this man? That he has connections to the palace explains his ease to offer so much coin for a peasants artwork. She looked at her painting of the king with long blonde hair, and looked back at him.
“Excuse my rudeness, but it appears I’ve neglected to ask,” Cordelle began to put the pieces together. “What is your name?”
He smiled and gestured with a gentle bow. “You may call me Helios.”
“Helios… like the King!?” She could hardly believe it, and he only replied with a proud smile. She quickly accepted his offer, and packed her things.
Cordelle spent many months at the castle, painting different rooms, palace staff, and parts of the royal garden. Of course she also painted Helios again, this time a more accurate depiction of the King. After some time, it began to feel as if she lived there, and the king had practically adopted her as the castle’s artist. It was a dream come true. After seeing her passion and love for his home, Helios ensured that her stay was comfortable, she was treated well by the staff, and she was well fed. He had many conversations with her as she painted, and kept her company so that she would not feel alone while she worked.
As their conversations progressed, Helios found that he adored more than just her art, but her nature as well. Cordelle found no flaws in him, though she tried and tried to find even one. While she painted the royal garden outside, he stopped her to ask if she could teach him how to paint. She put togther a small canvas for him, and prepared his brush and paints. She put her hand on his to help guide the brush, and the mess he made on the canvas was a sight to behold. Helios was no artist, but he painted one of the roses in the garden, and it was possibly the ugliest painting she had ever seen. Even so, she found it endearing, and he was proud of his work. He had his painting framed and placed it in his personal quarters just beside his bed. It looked even uglier in comparison to the beautiful painting on his wall, the field of roses he had purchased from her almost a year prior.
Time passed, and love began to blossom between them. After a few very short years, they married, and she became the first Queen of Lunivale.
Helios wanted nothing more than to remain a mortal. Though as mortal as he had become, and though he never told another soul, he still cannot deny the truth of his origin.
Helios was the first Aasimar to appear in Dulora. Since they are much like elves, he was able to blend in as an oddly beautiful kind of elf. His mother was Caissa, the goddess who created this world. His brother and sister were Ebony & Ivory. Ebony was, and is, a master of Entropy, god of War, and perpetrator of Malice. Ivory was, and is, a guardian of Fate, goddess of Peace, and protector of Love. Helios did not serve such a purpose, as he was born after them, and Ebony & Ivory already maintained the balance of the world, so there was naught else to accomplish.
Helios asked his mother if she would allow him to take part in the world she created. He wished to watch over her people by being one with them. Caissa warned him that once he attains mortality, he can never return as the god he once was. He would live and die as one of the creatures below. Certain in his request, Helios insisted, and Caissa granted him a throne to oversee the kingdom of Lunivale.
Of course, Helios never told anyone this, not even his beloved Cordelle, as he never thought it would be necessary. How could one live equally among men while claiming to be a god?
Nothing remains forever, unfortunately. Though their love was perfect, and all was well within the kingdom, Cordelle would soon face a reality that she could never have prepared for.
Almost 80 years after their marriage, Ebony and Ivory began to grow restless, fighting amongst each other. Helios understood too late what this would mean. A war between his brother and sister broke out, and all of Dulora was subsequently plunged into chaos. This was known as the First Era of Darkness.
War broke out between everyone in the kingdom, which caused a major division that would later become the separate regions of Dulora (Savellor, Edoril, Fellnore, Toffhelm, Peteleka). The only way to stop this was not to win battles or defeat opponents, it was to silence the darkness at its source. Helios reached out to his mother, and requested her aid one final time. He went to his wife and quietly held her for an hour, and refused to explain for fear it would cause her to try and stop him.
Helios reminded her one last time that no matter what, his heart will always be with her.
Though terrified, Cordelle chose to trust him in whatever he needed to do. She thought that perhaps he was simply joining the battle at the front lines, and perhaps he was scared. She never imagined the possibility of what was to come.
Helios journeyed to the Lora tree, and there he gave his life to empower the fruits it could bear. Beneath the earth, the roots of the Lora tree connected to crystals that connected Dulora to the aether. In his sacrifice, Helios dragged Ebony and Ivory from the heavens down to the dirt beneath Dulora, and trapped them inside of the crystals. For the rest of time, he would hold them both inside, unable to touch the world they now watch from within.
The first Era of Darkness came to an end, and the world began to heal once more.
As the Dark days had come to a close, Cordelle waited patiently on the palace steps for her husband to return. With each passing day, the palace staff began to request more and more that she come inside, away from the harsh winter. Some would attempt to bring her food, but she would not eat until his return. This carried on for one week before hunger overtook, and she accepted their offers of food. She would come inside only for food and other necessities, and returned to those marble steps to wait for an entire month.
Once it had finally set in that he might not return, as he never made his chosen fate known to anyone, she shut herself inside of her quarters, and continued to rule from the shadows. Her only view of the world was through a single stained glass window. Her only contact with the world was a single guard on the outside of her door, who served as a messenger between her and the rest of the palace.
As she searched for answers within herself, she decided to go through her husband’s old belongings. There she would find the old painting he had purchased long ago, the one that featured a field of roses covered in snow. The paint had faded by now, but it was still recognizable. On the back of the canvas, next to her signature, was additional writing that she had never seen before. It was a message that Helios had left behind, which said, “May this painting never lose its luster, for it was as beautiful as the lovely woman who created it. Perhaps one day she will get to see such a field in her lifetime, so that her eyes can see the magnificence that I see in her. A woman who can create landscapes on a canvas, like a goddess that can conjure perfect worlds, that is who Cordelle is.”
Such kind words were not uncommon from him, but to see it immortalized on canvas is to truly face the weighted reality of those words. However, instead of comfort, she found grief. She knew in her heart that she may never hear those words again.
As she learned to live with the pain of her loss, she began to search for even more answers. Countless months were spent studying every kind of magic she could possibly get her hands on. Years went by, and no one was sure what sort of things she had begun to learn. Strange things began to occur around the palace, and she pretended to be totally unaware. But no one dared to bother her, because the last time she was seen wearing a smile was before the King left.
What they didn’t know, however, is that she finally found an explanation for her loss. There was an old journal hidden in an abandoned wing of the castle, sealed away with magic that could only be unlocked by the king or queen. Cordelle retrieved it, and from its pages she learned the true origin of her late husband. She had married a god, and never knew how deeply he loved this world. He sacrificed everything to be here, walking and living among mortals. It was a revelation that would spark her determination to find where he had gone, to bring him back home.
Shortly after this, she disappeared, leaving only a handwritten note with the name of the next king, chosen to take the throne and rule as Helios once did. With her, she took many of her paintings, leaving only a few behind that still remained framed on walls. She took many books as well, mainly about history and arcane arts. How she so swiftly left the castle without a trace, and took such a load with her, remains unknown, but magic is suspected to have been involved.
With a new king in place, and the war between the gods ended ere long, the balance of the world was perfect, and Dulora flourished. Helios quietly watched over Ebony and Ivory trapped inside their crystals, and protected the world from their eternal hatred of one another.
A century passes, and Fellnore finds itself tangled up in a new obsession with power. A crystal had been discovered beneath the hardened desert sands, and the elves wished to learn everything they could about this crystal. However, in their desperate attempts to attain a power they did not understand, they cracked the crystal, unknowingly weakening its power.
Ivory, craving an escape, and knowing Helios’ only weakness, reached out to Cordelle, and struck a deal. Ivory offered Cordelle immortality so long as she had not found her husband and brought him back home. This would give her all the time she needs to rescue Helios, no matter what it takes. To take this, however, she needed to assist the elves of Fellnore, and guide them until they fully break the crystal.
Cordelle couldn’t resist the offer. She accepted, and quickly got to work, effortlessly fooling them into killing this crystal. Once the deed was done, Ivory was freed. Ivory immediately revealed herself to the people of Fellnore, giving them the illusion that they had freed the goddess who was destined to protect them. This would later shape the religion of this region for eons to come, as all subsequent generations are taught to worship and revere her.
Since she suddenly had time to spare, Cordelle spent many years attempting to learn from Ivory. The goddess taught her very little, such as who her brother Ebony was, but no useful information was offered about Helios. Cordelle eventually realized that so long as she served no use to her, Ivory would not be willing to help further. Ivory did make one mistake, however. That was to tell Cordelle about the other crystals.
So, Cordelle influenced the people of Fellnore again. This time, they targeted a crystal that she found in the swamps of Peteleka. The elves invaded and destroyed this crystal, unleashing a god that they would soon regret meeting. Ebony emerged from the crystal and began to torment the creatures of Peteleka, turning it into a land of pestilence and sin. In exchange for his freedom, Ebony offered Cordelle a small fraction of his necromantic power, something she could use to bring her husband back if he truly was dead. Ebony did not tell her the truth, however, because what fun would it be to watch her story end here? She could be of use, after all.
Several centuries pass, a millenia since her loss, and Cordelle still remained without truth. That is, until she met Gwenevere, an oracle who lived in the castle. Something was strangely familiar about her, so Cordelle looked into her background. Oddly enough, Gwenevere had little to no history, and her origin was completely unknown. There was only one other creature with such a blank slate, and that was Helios. Cordelle put the pieces together and realized that this woman was the same woman that had been a member of the palace staff over a thousand years ago, when Cordelle still had her crown.
Gwenevere, a mere Oracle known so long ago as Madame Gwyn, was Caissa given flesh. Cordelle confronted her. Gwenevere knew of Cordelle’s unfortunate immortality, and so she admitted the truth while offering another. Cordelle wished for nothing more than to know what came of her late husband, and if there was anything that could be done.
With a heavy heart, Gwenevere told her the truth. Helios made an eternal sacrifice to empower the crystals and protect the world from Ebony and Ivory’s plight. He remains alive inside the crystals, but only alive enough to continue to watch over the world and limit the power his siblings have. Should anything happen to all five crystals, what remains of Helios’ soul will vanish, he will be no more. Ebony and Ivory would not only be completely free to wander the earth, but their influence would be much more direct than the first Era of Darkness, as their plight is here on Dulora rather than extending from the heavens like before.
Cordelle now fully understands the extent of her suffering, and the pain Helios endures for the sake of the world. Helios could never return to the mortal world, yet he has watched over her and seen every mistake she has made. He had to watch as she burned all of her paintings a few years after his death, even the ugly little rose that he had painted and cherished so. He observed in silence as she chose to rewrite histories to cover up Helios’ origin, and make unknown the Elves’ involvement in the destruction of two crystals. He watched her slow spiral into madness as she desperately searched for the impossible.
Ivory had knowingly taken advantage of her, cursing her with immortality that could never be lifted. Ebony used her to further his own power, and granted her abilities that she cannot use to save her husband as she once thought.
She has only one final option to end her own suffering as well as Helios. She will start by taking her throne back by force. Her goal is to find and destroy the last remaining crystals. With both gods freed, she plans to make deals with Ebony and Ivory, cleverly leading them to agree to join forces and become one god more powerful than before. Harmony, she calls it.
Harmony will be the fusion of a god of war and goddess of peace. Harmony’s power will be that of two gods powers multiplied, far surpassing the powers of their mother, Caissa. Harmony will be the destruction of the world, and most importantly, an end to Cordelle’s suffering.
Cordelle will finally be able to rest, and the world will pay her price.
Writer’s notes: At the core, she truly just wants to be in control of something in her life, and to finally rest from a millenia of suffering. Her story illustrates the immense grief that comes from loss and abandonment, and the fear of eternity.
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