The Mysteries of Rúne - The Lost Island of Jūra

Artist Credit: Josh Norman

Sometime amidst the chaos of the scourge, the Battle of High Jūra erupted with a ferocity that would forever echo through the ages. The Zenithians, driven to the skies, longed to seize the great cairn as a vessel, to storm into the soaring high places beyond. The Vārdis stood unyielding, their hearts aflame with fierce devotion, fiercely protecting their sacred land against all odds.

In those dark early days, Baron Jānis Barisova held the helm over Jūra, a steadfast leader amidst mounting chaos. Skyships descended like metallic beasts from the clouds. Sky was torn apart by flying, broken cairn fragments raining down upon the port city. Curfews were enforced with an iron grip, midnight silence shattered by the roar of battle.

In time, the Zenithians claimed victory, sweeping across the skies on the stony wings of the storm-tossed isle. Jānis, battered and beaten, hid within the depths of a cairn crater, his heart ablaze. Weeks stretched on as he subsisted on fungal scraps and fragile foliage, clinging desperately to the crown of Jūra, the only remnant of his homeland he had. Each night, soaring alone through the swirling skies, a ghost of a fallen realm.

When the moment was right, he struck. Like a silent, calculated storm stalking his prey, he erased each of his rivals one by one. With unwavering purpose, he meticulously restored the cairn. Upon completion, he found respite in the keep’s cold embrace. Denied a final flight home, Jānis spent his final days amid the stone and celestial expanse. A lost soul on a lost isle.

To this day, Jūra remains in a state of fractured uncertainty, without a clear leader. Relying on fragile gentlemen’s agreements and a collective local militia. Only one Vārdis, the true returning keeper of the crown, holds the rightful claim to the barony. A banner of hope, of history, and of a spirit that refuses to be forgotten. The lost island still wanders the skies.