Folk Tales and Heroes

The old tales are as numerous as the stars in the sky. Every little girl grows up scared that the Mountain Eater is lurking under her bed or in her closet waiting to get her. Every young boy wants to grow up to be just like Sire Matthew of the Glade, the heroic knight of yore. Every grown man knows of the beauty of Haley the Alluring. Some tales are told universally, with their own variation in every culture. This article details the most common stories and their regional variations.

### The Mountain Eater

"Beware the night, lest the Mountain Eater take you"

The Mountain Eater was a historic figure, a sorcerer who made a pact with one of the Nine Devils. He became infamous for his incredible power. He lived in the early third era, so many of the facts of his life are lost to history. Instead what we have is a legend. According to tales, he was a sorcerer bound to the Lightbane, a devil. He became so powerful that once when he cast a vile spell it caused one of the Sep Mountains to fall into the earth, creating the city of Dread and earning the mage the nickname "Mountain Eater."

In modern times, he is the common man's boogeyman. He is no more than a story that a farmer tells his son so that he stays in bed at night. He is described in Midland as a horrible old man cloaked in black who takes disobedient children and cooks them in stews. The Yotheshi depict him as a man with tree bark for skin who turns children who look into his eyes to trees. The Whesh people rarely tell tales of the Mountain Eater, instead claiming that Charik Myrk, a legendary chieftain, killed the Mountain Eater.

### Haley the Alluring

Haley of the Fords is often credited with being the source of the War of the Forest, the only serious Etrallian military conflict between the Mariatic Wars. Haley was a concubine who served the Chieftain of Whent in 4e.152, when a knight named Heralt stole her form the Chieftain's court. He took her back to Oakenfield Citadel and married her with King Yohn III's permission. Outraged, the Chieftain started a war over Haley and besieged the Kirkfall forest for four months. After the war ended, King Yohn III took Haley to be his own bride because of her unparalleled beauty. Not long after their marriage, Yohn, Heralt, and the Chieftain all met strange fates and Haley disappeared. It is said that she sailed west, off the edge of the world and into a new one where she has not aged a day and remains beautiful.

### Sire Matthew of the Glade

Matthew Bolster, or Matthew of the Glade as he came to be known, was a Sire in the late third era. He was Sired under the rule of Edmus II, one of the great kings of Yothesh who presided over a golden era in the nation's history. Matthew was an orphan from Acton who grew up dreaming of nobility and Sirehood.

He was taken in by a blacksmith's family, and by the time he was seventeen he had forged himself his own armor under his adoptive father's supervision. According to legend, he donned his self-crafted plate armor and went off as an adventurer errant in the Acton region. This is when he supposedly came across Gleam.

According to the tales, Matthew came across a small glade west of Old Acton where he met an old sorceress. This sorceress was the Lady of the Glade, an ancient servant of Sylvia and a magical protector of the realm. She blessed Matthew and granted him a magical blade called Gleam, a longsword said to shine brighter than a thousand torches at night and radiate powerful holy light even in the day.

From here, Matthew returned to Acton and defended the city from a goblin attack in Sylvia's name. For this, he was Sired by Edmus II. He rose quickly to be Edmus' right hand advisor and most trusted Sire. Matthew went on three bouts of Errancy in his time as a Sire. In these periods of wandering he accrued many tales, which have been passed down in a tome, *The Wandering Sire*, written by a bard named Thesolonius. Matthew became one of the most revered figures of legend in all of Yothesh. All men and women hail him as an ancient hero and respect him. There is a large monument dedicated to him at the Greatspire.

### Kethius Rajah

Kethius Rajah is a historical figure responsible in large part for the modern state of religion on Etrallia. Born some time in the Third Era in The Grotto in Yothesh. From his youth, he was a dedicated Disciple, following Sylvia faithfully. He became a monk at the age of fourteen and rigorously studied at a Yotheshi monastery into adulthood. It was not until he was nearly forty years old that Kethius had a world-changing realization: that the gods could advocate peace.

Etrallia has been a historically bloody place, and the gods have been historically bloody figures. Disciples and Vanklings have been murdering each other and themselves for thousands of years in the names of their gods. Kethius, however, preached that Sylvia and Vankor were at peace, and so should be their creations. While perhaps a simple idea in retrospect, it was novel for Kethius' time. He traveled across Yothesh preaching his message of peace and love between brothers and sisters of faith. He delivered his sermons to thousands, and eventually was murdered by Errant Vanklings who felt his message was a threat to them. His martyrdom immortalized Kethius as a figure that stood for peace and love in the world, something Etrallians desperately needed. His death opened the door to Disciples and Vankling ultimately making peace and coming to terms with one another.

While he is often criticized for opening the door to the intense Yotheshi isolationism felt in the modern era, Kethius is an important religious figure and a legendary hero known across the continent.

### Lydia Tomas

Lydia Rukelwas the first and, to date, only queen of Midland. In 4e.153, Lydia ascended the throne after her father Yohn Rukel III was murdered. She presided over a prosperous and peaceful Midland for nearly fifty years. She ruled during the rebuilding of Kirkfall, and the large cathedral there is named in her honor. She is regarded as one of Midland's finest rulers and her name is honored and respected across the state.

### King Rickard the First Lion

Rickard Steele was the first king of the Steele dynasty, the royal family of Midland to the modern day. Rickard overthrew King Ivon Rukel, the last king of the Rukel dynasty, in 4e3.381 and took the throne. Rickard gained the acceptance of his people quickly. His kingdom called him the First Lion for the blue lion that emblazoned his banners. Rickard Steele I is best known for defeating both Marias of Baring and the Bloodmonger in the second Mariatic War. He died at the hands of a rogue Kirkfall Ranger named Walker, leading to the dissolution of the Ranger and the appointing of his estranged brother as King Rickard II. Though no one could ever prove it, the people of Midland always suspected that Rickard II was responsible for his brother's death. The First Lion is the quintessential Midlander hero and has gone down in history as the greatest king of the Steele dynasty thus far.