Editing Tollund Ötztal (section)

===Youth===

Unlike their brothers, the twins had not arrived at their new homeworld as infants but were already small boys whose eyes had beheld the myriad horrors of the Warp.  They huddled together in their capsule as it fell, flaming, to Tisenjoch.  There, Tollund and Ötztal were discovered by soldiers dispatched to investigate the "meteor".  The soldiers hailed from Umbaraka, a prosperous mining kingdom, and hoped to secure pure meteoric iron for their homeland's forges.  The advanced metals of an incubation capsule from the Emperor's laboratory was a bounty beyond their imagining and they hastened to secure the prize.  Not knowing that the soldiers were men, rather than demons, Ötztal began to wail in terror while Tollund tried to silence him.  The cry of a child greatly surprised the men of Umbaraka, but once the twins were brought forth from their capsule the decision was quickly made to bring them before Krodun, the Gesar of Umbaraka.  Krodun was greatly impressed by his men's story of a falling star that had brought human life to his kingdom.  The superstitious monarch had no sons of his own and quickly decided that the Sky-Father had sent his own progeny to rule Umbaraka after Krodun.  Tollund and Ötztal were quickly adopted by the Gesar of Umbaraka and put in the care of professional nannies.

The regime of Krodun's household did not please the twins.  Tollund took to staging pranks on his keepers, but his quiet brother Ötztal invariably took the blame.  As the twins rapidly matured, Ötztal's complaining to Tollund turned into brawling.  The brothers' fearsome battles against one another so terrified their nannies that the Gesar was informed.  Krodun at first dismissed concerns, then replaced staff, but eventually he came to witness the twins' wildness himself.  Aghast at their behaviour, Krodun declared that such madness was less like men than the acts of wild beasts and banished the twins to the wilderness until they had at least learned to act like animals.  In truth, Krodun wished only to be free of the Sky-Father's offspring, but he knew better than to directly harm the progeny of a god.

After being escorted to the borders of Umbaraka, the twins wandered for many months.  Even as boys they were capable hunters and had little trouble finding food and water.  As the two grew in stature and their limbs thickened, their trail took them into the cold lands of the nomadic Mamutoi tribes.  But if the twins stood as tall as grown men, they still quarreled like children, each blaming the other for their exile.  Such arguments often led to even wilder brawls than those that had seen the twins banished from the court of Krodun.

Every midwinter, the smoke-walkers of the Mamutoi go out into the frosts to beseech the Sky-Father for the return of summer.  Young Issitoq was walking the sacred paths on such a journey when he heard a roaring at once like a beast and like a man.  He wondered for a moment if he should flee, but Issitoq summoned his courage and went to investigate.  It was his task as the lodge smoke-walker to seek out the Unknown and bargain with them.  When he reached the clearing where Tollund and Ötztal battled, Issitoq at once knew that he beheld the fulfillment of ancient prochecy - the legendary Skyborn!  He threw himself down into the snow, pleading,

:''"Hear me, Skyborn!  I am a faithful servant of your Father Who Dwells in the Heavens, and would serve you as well!  If you are enraged by the faithlessness of other men, know that my lodge and all the tribes of the Mamutoi will follow you and do the bidding of the Sky-Father.  Only stop tearing at your own flesh and feeding the snows with your own blood, and we will do all that you ask!"''

Shamed by Issitoq's sincerity, the twins set aside their quarrel and hoisted the smoke-walker from the snow.  Tollund bade Issitoq to lead the way back to his people and was quickly obeyed.  Though Mamutoi lodges generally expected their smoke-walkers to spend many hours ensuring the return of summer, all doubts were banished when Issitoq presented the twins.  Tollund and Ötztal were at once recognised as the Skyborn.  Their words were taken as those of the Sky-Father and over the rest of winter the twins claimed the allegiance of the other Mamutoi lodges.  In return, the Skyborn received the ritual scars of a plainsman warrior, forever declaring their kinship with the men of the great plain.

Yet the other tribes of the great plain had abandoned the Sky-Father.  The Zedonia followed the lion-headed eagle, Andugu, the Talut revered the great tiger Orgolesh, and the Crisavec were followers of the horned giant Huwadu.  Their elders spurned the twins, claiming that their spirits were superior to the Sky-Father.  Tollund called out to punish the other tribes with war, but Ötztal sought an alternative to shedding blood on the snow.  Most of the Mamutoi were too fearful to intervene in a quarrel between the twins, but Issitoq bravely suggested that the Skyborn should seek out and slay the patron spirits of the other tribes to demonstrate the power of the Sky-Father.  Tollund was satisfied that this course would show his willingness to shed blood, while Ötztal felt comforted that the violence would be limited to ritual.

In order to prepare themselves for battle with the spirits of the other tribes, the Skyborn waited for midwinter and went out into the darkest night to consult with the Mamutoi's patron spirit, Sabaka the great mammoth.  Sabaka was kin to Andugu, Orgolesh, and Huwadu, but she remained a faithful servant of the Sky-Father.  Recognising the Skyborn as the offspring of her master, the great mammoth gave her aid freely.  For three days and nights, Tollund and Ötztal walked with Sabaka, drinking her rich milk and learning her secrets.  In the spring, the Skyborn travelled to Mount Anshan, home to the lion-headed eagle Andugu.  Following Sabaka's advice, they crept into Andugu's nest while the spirit hunted and stole his shedded feathers to make flights for their arrows.  They then confronted the lion-headed eagle and drove him into the sky, where the spirit believed no missile could touch him.  But arrows guided by Andugu's own feathers drew the heart blood of the great spirit and the Skyborn claimed the eagle's lion head as their trophy.  In the summer, they traveled to the plains to stalk the great tiger Orgolesh.  For seven days and seven nights the twins trailed their quarry, first finding no more than Orgolesh's spoor, then catching sight of the great tiger on a rise, then finally chasing Orgolesh from his kills.  Eventually, the spirit did not have the strength to keep ahead of the Skyborn and fell to their arrows.  They stripped his skin and made garments from it.  In the fall, the twins went into the dark woods where the horned giant Huwadu lurked.  Clad in the hide of Orgolesh, the Skyborn could not be seen by Huwadu and although the giant fought fiercely his great head was taken.

As the snows began to fall, the trophies of the Skyborn were presented to the tribes of the great plain.  Now, none could doubt the power of the Sky-Father and every man of the plain followed his progeny.  But before the Skyborn unleashed the fury of the tribes, the twins decided to reclaim their rightful inheritance and set for Umbaraka.  A band of their most loyal followers waited just outside the patrols of Krodun's soldiers, but faithful Issitoq went with them in case a messenger was needed.  When the trio reached Krodun's capital, they found the city bedecked for a great festival.  Tollund asked a local what was being celebrated and learned that Gesar Krodun had decreed a great chariot race to determine the new heir to Umbaraka.  Though the twins were furious at their patrimony being held up as a prize, they swallowed their anger and decided to enter the race.

When Tollund and Ötztal approached Krodun's captain to register for the great competition, the insolent man at first mocked them, asking if they intended to drive a chariot on their own.  The twins drew up to their full stature and glared in response, and the captain's courage drained from him.  Under false names, Tollund and Ötztal entered a race to claim what had been promised them so long ago.  Their victory over the other chariot teams was unsurprising, for the Skyborn were far stronger and quicker to react than even the greatest of mortal men.  Yet when they revealed their true identity, Krodun reneged on his promise and refused to will Umbaraka to the Skyborn.  Tollund snarled and started towards the Gesar, but Ötztal checked his twin's violent impulses.  The Skyborn stalked out of Umbaraka.

They were not gone long.  Once the twins had reunited with their followers, messengers were dispatched across the great plain to gather the hosts of the Sky-Father.  Within three passings of the sun, the followers of the Skyborn had assembled before the capital of Gesar Krodun.  Within one more, the city was in the hands of the plainsmen and Krodun was Gesar no more.  Though Tollund wished to slay Krodun for his treachery, Ötztal argued that the twins had been promised Umbaraka only on the old man's natural death.  To slay him would prove that Krodun had been right to swindle them.  Seeing that Ötztal's words caused relief among the advisors of the Skyborn, Tollund unhappily accepted placing Krodun in a comfortable prison to see out his days.

Yet Umbaraka was only the first of many conquests.  The Skyborn swept forth across the face of Tisenjoch, bringing city after city into the realm of the Sky-Father.  In the wild places between named realms, the twins found hardy men to take the scars and join their legions.  Finally, they had conquered from ocean to ocean in the name of their sire.  With the whole of the known world at their feet, the twins set about building a capital in Umbaraka.  They spurned Krodun's city and instead developed a small fishing village into the great city that would be known as Cyrgyt, jewel of the Shivering Sea.  Tollund and Ötztal determined to build great palaces of their own design as the chief ornaments of their capital.  Each palace represented the character of its creator.  Tollund's home soared heavenward, grasping at the sky with towers of gleaming marble.  By comparison, Ötztal laid out a squat fortress of sturdy granite.  As they had so often before, the twins quarrelled over their differences.  Tollund came to Ötztal's fort and mocked it, even going so far as to leap over the walls to demonstrate their feebleness.  As their attendants looked on in horror, Ötztal seized his brother and wrestled with him, finally throwing Tollund into the mud and laughing at the ruin of his wardrobe.  A few courtiers laughed with Ötztal, but were quickly silenced when Tollund fixed his brother with a cold stare and swore that he would have his vengeance.

The next day, Krodun's broken body was found in his cell.  Even the most casual observer could tell that the old man had been crushed to death by a warrior of tremendous strength, but who could question the Skyborn?  Issitoq, as the twins' oldest companion, was sought out and implored to seek out justice for Krodun.  The smoke-walker was not pleased by this duty, but he knew that even the Skyborn must answer to justice.  When Issitoq questioned the Skyborn, Ötztal was shocked but quickly turned to blame his brother.  Tollund laughed at the accusation, saying that he could do whatever he wanted, but Ötztal cut him off with a blow.  As Issitoq shrank back from the Skyborn, the twins wrestled on the ground until Tollund was subdued.  Ötztal announced that the crimes had gone too far and wrapped his twin in a carpet, commanding that Issitoq bring horses and have them kick Tollund to death.  After the steeds had done their duty, Issitoq asked in a quavering voice, "Gesar Ötztal, has justice been served?"

Ötztal replied that he still had to live out his part of the crime.  The Skyborn commanded that henceforth he would be known as Tollund Ötztal so that none would forget his part in the death of Krodun.  The soaring palace of Tollund was completed but never lived in, serving only as a monument to those who had died in the Skyborn's conquest of Tisenjoch.  Tollund Ötztal would dwell in his plain fortress, leaving as much of the business of government as possible to bureaucrats and busying himself with hunting.