The Raven's Rune

The world of Aeridor is built on song, a sonic architecture of power wielded by the skalds, holding at bay the formless hunger of the Void. But the songs are fading, and the whispers of oblivion grow louder.  When a crimson-stained raven feather, the chilling mark of the Raven’s Rune cult, is found embedded in his rune-carved drum, Einarr, the last of the Bear Clan skalds, knows his time is running out.  Haunted by a past betrayal that fractured the world’s defenses, he entrusts Elara, his storm-born apprentice, with a fragmented rune-poem—a cryptic key to a power that could save Aeridor or shatter it completely.
Driven by vengeance against the cult that decimated her village, Elara embarks on a perilous journey. Ancient forests whisper secrets, windswept plains echo with forgotten battles, and crumbling cities choke under the encroaching shadows — a landscape mirroring the turmoil within Elara’s own heart.  Her path leads her to Kurt Rojas, a grizzled seafarer marked by the swirling patterns of the Void, a survivor who has peered into the abyss and returned with cryptic prophecies and the chilling truth of the Raven’s Rune’s ambition: to rewrite the song of creation into a hymn of destruction.
Within the ruins of a forgotten observatory, Elara discovers a hidden library, a repository of lost knowledge where whispering stones and crumbling scrolls reveal the true nature of the Void—not merely an absence, but a banished god yearning for return. As Elara unravels the mysteries of the rune-poem, she confronts not only the external threat of the Raven's Rune, but the inner demons that threaten to consume her.  Rojas, haunted by his past, becomes her unlikely mentor, guiding her in the art of controlling her untamed power, teaching her that true strength lies not in vengeance, but in creation.
Beneath the ethereal glow of the aurora borealis, on the desolate plateau of the Whispering Ridge, the Raven's Rune prepares their final ritual, using the stolen voices of slain skalds to weave a song of unraveling. Elara, armed with the knowledge of the rune-poem and the strength of Rojas's guidance, confronts the cultists.  The final battle is not fought with steel, but with song. Elara’s voice rises against the chilling chant of the Raven’s Rune, a melody of defiance resonating with the primordial energies of Aeridor. Rojas, in a final act of sacrifice, amplifies her song, unleashing a devastating wave of sound that shatters the ritual and pushes back the encroaching Void.
In the aftermath, Elara becomes the voice of a new dawn, weaving melodies of resilience and hope. The Void is not defeated, but Aeridor, now attuned to a new song, stands ready.  Elara, scarred but unbroken, becomes a beacon, a testament to the power of one voice to sing against the silence, a symbol of creation in the face of oblivion.