Incepit.

  Long before the Valley earned its name, the land was a cradle of gods and betrayal. The gods warred, splitting mountains, boiling rivers. They demanded worship and gave only grief.

  From the torn earth rose a woman, Morna, first of the faithless. She carried an oath carved into her marrow. No gods above. No kings below.Only blood freely given.

  She and her twin, Selric, bound by sin and sorrow, built a haven atop the highest ridge. But no oath survives unbroken. On a night when the stars fell like ash, her twin betrayed her, driving the blade through the heart he once shared.

  Morna's blood soaked the ridge, staining the soil until the land itself keened with mourning. From her death was born Mournridge Den, the last grave, the first home for those who would kneel to no god.

  And from her grave rose the first law:

  Pray only for sin.

  The Cove of Sin, Mournridge Den.

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  ?Vaelen! Where are you going!” The girl yells with all her might.

  The boy, Vaelen, turns. ?Come with me, Hel.”

  She tugs at his clothes, tears fall on her rosy cheeks. ?The ceremony will start shortly, we finally get to meet our purpose. What are you so afraid of?”

  Vaelen isn’t afraid, he is terrified. Terrifed of the ways he was raised in, he doesn’t want the Valley and he certainly doesn’t want to pray to the dead. Death scares him more than anything. He likes order and security but most of all he likes his family, he wants to see it safe.

  ?This is wrong, Hel. How can you expect me to kill mother?” He shivers.

  ?Vaelen, it is our fate. Our ways are hundreds of years old, it has been so since the first Mother spilled her blood right here where we stand. We are finally twelve.” Hel smiles.

  ?Do you hear yourself? Aren’t you terified?”

  ?No, of course not. We pray to the dead, our ancestors. They are real, they exist in the Valley. They are not some made up gods. We will pray for Mother too, just as we do for uncle Alyster who left us. Don’t you think we should pray for their sins? Don’t you think they are the most deserving? Why should we pray for saints when they are already pure?”

  Vaelens’ eyes soften. ?You could still come with me. Don’t you want to know what lies beyond the Valley?”

  Hel’s smile doesn’t vanish but her eyes betray her. ?I cannot do this without you, we are one, Vaelen. Mother barely survived without her twin, how can you expect me to do the same?”

  ?I am not, Hel. I urge you to come with me. We don’t have to do this.”

  ?What will Mother think if you betray us?” She cries.

  ?It would not matter if she’s dead.”

  ?You’d be a deceiver.” Hel retaliates.

  ?You’ll pray for me, won’t you?” He smiles, his eyes teary.

  Vaelen disappears that night. Hel smiles as she stabs Mother and watches her bleed just as her ancestors did.

  ?Long live the Valley of Sins.” She whispers as she cuts her own palm, her blood mingling with her mothers.