Myths and Legends

## Gnuk and Celladoor and the Serpent Ish Sah

*Thousands upon thousands of years ago, while the world was young, a horrific serpent terrorized world. This serpent, whose name was Ish Sah, roamed far and wide devouring anything of value it could find. It swallowed mountains of golds and rivers of silver. Whole kingdoms and empires were devoured, yet it's wrathful hunger was never satiated.*

*Eventually two demi-gods arose to challenge Ish Sah; the great dwarven smith Gnuk and the elven archer Celladoor. They chased after Ish Sah for a hundred years and a hundred more, but never caught the serpent, for it was too fast and too hungry. So the hunters decided to build a trap. Gnuk used his skill with hammer and forge to carve a mighty emerald, the size of an island, to lure Ish Sah into devouring it. And Celladoor placed a spell on the emerald, so that the moment it was swallowed, it would explode, destroying Ish Sah from the inside out.*

*So Gnuk carved the emerald, polishing it with sunlight itself so that it shone a beautiful deep green, and set it down in the ocean for all to see. And with her magic, Celladoor enchanted the emerald with powerful glyphs to destroy Ish Sah in his rapacious hunger. And they waited, and waited, for a century and another, until Ish Sah finally arrived.*

*Poised above the emerald island, Ish Sah was ready to swallow it whole, and Gnuk and Celladoor waited with baited breath. But then Gnuk saw something; he saw dwarves living on the island, crafting things of beauty that moved even him. He called to Celladoor and she too spied creatures living on the emerald, this time elves weaving such beautiful magic that it brought a tear to her eye. The demi-gods agreed that the civilization that had arose here was too beautiful to be destroyed, even if it meant being rid of Ish Sah.*

*As the serpent lunged down to devour the island, Celladoor leaped out from where she had hid and loosed an enchanted arrow, that bound Ish Sah to the ground. While Ish Sah thrashed and writhed in rage, Gnuk brought his mighty hammer Whelm down on the serpents back, breaking it in two. The serpent crippled, Celladoor drew her sword Moonsilver, Blade of Brightest Midnight, and chopped off the serpents head with a single stroke.*

*Ish Sah defeated and the world safe from his hunger, Celladoor and Gnuk decided to leave the emerald island and it's inhabitants to live in peace. Before they left, they gave the island a name 'Aldernon', meaning Emerald Island*

*And this is the legend from which the Ish Sah mountains get their name. The Ish Sah valley pass is said to be the spot where Gnuk broke Ish Sah's back, but the fate of the serpents head is up to debate. Some say Celladoor ground it into dusty and sprinkled it along the north coast, giving the island it's snow covered lands. Others hold on to the myth that Gnuk and Celladoor buried the skull beneath the ground and placed inside it a secret that would protect the island in it's time of need.*

## The Last Words of the Nevermore King

I*t is said that, in the moments following the shattering of his crown, as his queen and once lover lay dying, the Nevermore King turned to last remaining Knight Repentant and uttered these words:*

"*When my tainted spirit finds its destination, I will topple the master of that dark place. From my black throne, I will lash together a machine of bone and blood, and fueled by my hatred for you this fear engine will bore a hole between this world and that one. When it begins, you will hear the sound of children screaming - as though from a great distance. A smoking orb of nothing will grow above where you rest, and from it will emerge a thousand starving crows. As I slip through the widening maw in my new form, you will catch only a glimpse of my radiance before you are incinerated. Then, as tears of bubbling pitch stream down my face, my dark work will begin. I will open one of my six mouths, and I will sing the song that ends the World"*

## The Four Deceptions of An Strainsér

*An Strainsér and Sealbhóir Scálái, ever the outsiders of the Nornish pantheon, once beheld the rolling hills of Aldernon on a Samhradh evening, and An Strainsér turned to his sibling and declared "Behold, my trickery is so fine and magnificent, I could weave a trick so intricate it would spite all our brothers and sisters in one act." Sealbhóir Scálái had grown tired of his fellows bragging and so asked him to prove it. An Strainsér would have until the end of Samhradh to complete his great work of trickery, lest be declared an impotent braggart.*

*So An Strainsér set to work, his first victim was a mason that dwelt within a small village, and a worshiper of Brighid. Appearing to him as a pregnant woman, one of the forms of Brighid, An Strainsér bid the mason to build a cairn in honor of Brighid and to engrave each stone with special holy symbols. The mason did as instructed, not realizing that the symbols given to him by An Strainsér were gylphs and sigils in honor of Lugh. The mason completed his work and was proud of it, his error completely unknown.*

*Next, An Strainsér appeared to a farmer who worshipped Sucellis, brother of Brighid, appearing to him as a stag. The farmer was instructed by An Strainsér to take his healthiest calf and spill it's blood on the cairn at the next dawn. The farmer followed the instruction of what he thought was his god, he sacrificed the lamb. Unbeknownst to the farmer, a blood sacrifice at dawn was an act of consecration in honor of Niel.*

*Finally, An Strainsér found a maiden who worshipped Eadaoin and told her to take the boy whom she loved most dearly and give him the ultimate charity; a night of earthly pleasure. The innocent maiden obliged, laying with her lover at the base of the cairn in an act of carnal pleasure usually reserved for worshipers of Nemair.*

*On the last evening of Samhradh, An Strainsér returned to the hill where he found Sealbhóir Scálái waiting. Sealbhóir Scálái asked An Strainsér if it was done, if the trickster god had succeed. "It is done, my sibling" An Strainsér declared "I had a mason of Brighid build a cairn and adorn it with symbols of Lugh. I had a farmer of Eadaoin spill blood upon the cairn as is the way of Niel. And finally, I had a maiden of Eadaoin lay lustfully beneath it's shadow in the fashion of Nemair." An Strainsér chuckled to themself "The cairn is an alter to all gods and to none. They shall squabble over whom shall claim it and their worshipers shall wail at their foolishness."*

*Sealbhóir Scálái held up a finger and informed An Strainsér that they had failed, for they hadn't laid a slight at the threshold of the deity of balance. Sealbhóir Scálái then told their fellow god that there was no dedication of the cairn to themself and so An Strainsér had failed in their claim. An Strainsér stopped laughing for a moment, then burst into an even more raucous bellow. "Oh my dear kin" they cried between laughs "I have succeeded, for have you forgot, that as the one of balance, there are no churches to you? There is no way I could have dedicated the cairn to you and in taking this bet, I have tricked you into forgetting your very nature in expecting a mound in your honor."*

## The Quest of Quicksilver

*Many hundreds of years ago, during the end of the Age of Chaos, there was a great and famous bard by the name of Friedrich Quicksilver. Friedrich travelled the land, telling stories of the perils of dragons and the need for a unified Aldernon. He became beloved by everyone he met, his name on every tongue.*

*Friedrich believed in the fundamental beauty of the world, and saw no beauty my glorious than that of the Fae Queens. So Friedrich set about to compose his greatest work; an Ode to Summer, a Song for Winter. An epic song of tear jerking beauty dedicated to the magnificent glory of the Queens of the Summer and Winter courts.*

*Now, the fae are not known to accept gifts lightly, balance is fundamental to the very fabric that makes up the nature of the fae. Titania, Queen of Summer, paid back her 'debt' to Friedrich by granting him a beautiful summer in which to travel and spread the word of the threat of dragons. The bard stood before the Queen, tears in his eyes to behold her beauty, and assured her there was no debt to fear.*

*But Mab, Queen of Air and Darkness, Ruler of Winter, could not find a suitable compensation for the wonderful song in her honour. This weighed heavily the Winter Queen, she could not leave a debt unpaid. But as cunning as it is cold, Winter found a solution. There would be no debt if there was no debtor.*

*Mab appeared to Friedrich, at first in disguise, but he saw through her glamour, exclaiming that no magic could contain her beauty. Her presence revealed, Mab gave Friedrich her 'gift'. She told him of the secret of White Plume Mountain, a secret that could unite all of Aldernon in peace. Friedrich new he had to seek out this secret for the good of all the people of his land, and so he set off for the mountain and it's secret caverns.*

*While the Queen had not lied, nor could she ever, she had bent the truth through the icy labyrinth of her mind. The secret at the heart of White Plume Mountain was that the evil wizard Keraptis dwelt within. Much more powerful than Friedrich, the bard was slain by the wizard and his three greatest possessions were taken and added to the wizard's hoard.*

*But Friedrichs death prompted many would-be heroes to come to the fore and seek out the bard. Four such heroes, while on the search for Friedrich, slew a dragon, setting events in motion for the unification of Aldernon.*