Also known as The Corruptor and The Exile, Erra is an enigmatic figure whose arrival is closely associated with the spread of Sorcery and the eventual Fall of the Old Kingdoms. Few names have accumulated quite so much blame in the centuries since… Some of it may even be deserved.
Overview
The oldest stories of Erra place his return during the waning years of the Age of Abundance, when the Old Kingdoms had become zealous in their study of the Eld and the strange relics they left behind.
The various tellings of Erra’s return agree on remarkably little, save that the Paths of the Traveler were already ancient, and the Old Kingdoms had been meddling with them for long before Erra appeared. Finding a unique Path buried and sealed, they ignored or misunderstood whatever warnings accompanied it, and opened a gateway to a distant world.
What they found beyond its veil changes with the telling: a lost Eld kingdom on one of the Five Pearls, a paradise beyond the heavens, or a future fiery hellscape ruled by the twin suns.
Regardless, most retellings are clear about what happened next: the Path collapsed violently, leaving an enormous scar upon the land. Amid the wreckage stood Erra, claiming to be an Exile from Tarisia, banished through a Path and forced to wander a harsh distant world in solitude.
Why he was banished and who cast that judgment down, are often disputed but it typically involves Erra betraying the Eld, defying Taris, stealing divine secrets, or even murdering a god. There are likely other tellings, and new religions form every time one is dreamed up.
Whatever his origin, the Old Kingdoms opened a door to The Exile and irrevocably changed Tarisia.
Sorcery
The Wanderer
Poetry is a treacherous foundation upon which to build history.
It is said that magic returned with the Exile, or that water, which had been deaf to the will of mortals, suddenly answered again. Some traditions claim Erra was himself Eld, or a rebellious god of magic. If true, the Old Kingdoms did not discover Sorcery at all. They accidentally brought it home.
Whatever the truth, Sorcery flourished after Erra’s return, and the so-called Corruptor has borne much of the blame for what followed.
Some traditions remember Erra as a tempter who gave mortals powers they were never meant to possess. Others cast him as a liberator who shared what Taris had denied them, and claim his quarrel with the Mother Goddess was already ancient when the Old Kingdoms finally turned against her. In either telling, Erra is usually counted among the leaders of the rebellion who defeated Taris and entombed her beneath the ruins of Casshern.
The Old Kingdoms inherited the world, but they did not enjoy it for long.
Current View
Erra has since become associated with corruption, decay, Sorcery, and the dangers of forbidden knowledge. He is blamed for all manner of misfortune, including calamities in which Sorcery could not reasonably have played any part. Failed harvests, poisoned wells, sudden illness, broken weapons, and spectacularly poor decisions have all been laid at the Exile’s feet.
“By Erra’s Scar” and “Erra be damned” remain common curses throughout Tarisia. After several thousand years, one suspects Erra has grown accustomed to it.
The Wanderer
No one knows what became of Erra after the collapse of the old kingdoms. This has done remarkably little to discourage sightings.
Some believe the solitary figure known as The Wanderer is the ancient exile, still roaming Tarisia thousands of years after his return. If true, he walks through the ruins of a world he once knew, where salt flats replaced seas and sandblasted bastions of civilization now huddle over the ruins of great kingdoms.
Those claiming to have encountered him describe someone tired, sardonic, and occasionally kind, possessed of the peculiar melancholy of one who has watched the same argument end badly more than once.
Perhaps he wanders in search of home. Perhaps the stories have misunderstood and Tarisia is what’s left of his home.
The Wanderer
Wander long enough and every path leads home. Unfortunately, some paths are longer than others.
Of course, the Wanderer may not be Erra at all. It would hardly be the first time an old god’s name was draped over a strange man walking through the desert.