The Story of Toth and the Giants

> *In the days of our Ancestors*
>
>

> *After the ship crashed*
>
>

> *After the those returned from cursed Tower*
>
>

> *And the High Places*
>
>

> *The people learned to love their new land*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *(Some of their ways are our ways,*
>
>

> *Others have been lost*
>
>

> *When the Ancestors disappeared East)*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Some loved it more than others*
>
>

> *Restlessness ruled in those hearts*
>
>

> *And the desire to know what Si-Ban (the lost one) had seen atop the Tower*
>
>

> *And in the High Places*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Many stories circulated*
>
>

> *Most believed they were Giants*
>
>

> *For great shapes had played across the lit smoke in the night*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *So a group of our Ancestors organized*
>
>

> *an expedition down the coast*
>
>

> *In small new boats*
>
>

> *Built to catch Waachi*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Celem journeyed along his path many times*
>
>

> *Before a small number returned*
>
>

> *It took twice as long for them to recount all what they had seen…*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *When the group came upon the High Places*
>
>

> *The Tower still stood—*
>
>

> *But they saw no fires at its top*
>
>

> *No sounds of drums either*
>
>

> *The land was deserted*
>
>

> *So a few scaled to the top*
>
>

> *And returned promptly*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *The top had been swept plain*
>
>

> *By the wind*
>
>

> *The only sound heard from that now lonely place*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *A group of our Ancestors*
>
>

> *Decided to journey up into the High Places*
>
>

> *To see what was there*
>
>

> *Another to take the boats further along the coast*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *They would return*
>
>

> *When Celem had passed the place twelve times*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *On Celem’s twelfth pass*
>
>

> *The boats returned*
>
>

> *Full of what they had seen—*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *An island –a paradise of exuberant vegetation*
>
>

> *That one could perceive*
>
>

> *Even from the distance—its beauty was so overwhelming*
>
>

> *That the group spent the whole time left with Celem*
>
>

> *Staring at it*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Then a storm rose up*
>
>

> *A fine powder filled the air*
>
>

> *Making it impossible to see*
>
>

> *And nearly to breathe*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *It blew the boats*
>
>

> *Scattered them around the sea*
>
>

> *Some nearly to destruction against the rocks*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *When the air finally cleared*
>
>

> *The island was gone from view*
>
>

> *The time had grown short*
>
>

> *Those in the boats decided to return*
>
>

> *To find their kin and bring them to the Island*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *But those who went into the mountains*
>
>

> *Could not be found*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Celem passed by three times*
>
>

> *Some declared – it was time to move on*
>
>

> *--that the Giants who use the tower had eaten the group*
>
>

> *And soon would return*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Some were ablaze with desire*
>
>

> *To return to the island*
>
>

> *Others to go home*
>
>

> *Only one – Toth – the smallest*
>
>

> *known for his bravery*
>
>

> *And his unbreakable spirit*
>
>

> *Said they should go find the lost ones in the mountains*
>
>

> *And slay the Giants who had taken them*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *His companions laughed*
>
>

> *--Why should we die too? They said*
>
>

> *--Be killed or worse?*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *And so a Great Dispute broke out amongst them*
>
>

> *Whether to pass on for the island*
>
>

> *Or to return to their homes*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Never had an argument been so fierce amongst our Ancestors*
>
>

> *Desire drove those mad*
>
>

> *--who wanted to go to the island*
>
>

> *Fear and a fierce longing to return inspired the others*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *The Dispute disgusted Toth*
>
>

> *He could not believe what came over his kin*
>
>

> *To make them forget their companions*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *--The true Valor of the Zem is not demonstrated by obtaining what is Easy*
>
>

> *He declared*
>
>

> *--but in pursuing what is impossible*
>
>

> *--Therefore I will go to the mountains, for I wish to find my companions*
>
>

> *Who are lost*
>
>

> *And, if possible, see and overcome a Giant*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *This slowed the Great Dispute*
>
>

> *For without exception they loved Toth*
>
>

> *Like only brother know how to*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *They knew Toth was quick and tenacious*
>
>

> *But he was no match for one bigger than he*
>
>

> *Much less a Giant*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *They all wished him well and themselves separated*
>
>

> *Some for the island*
>
>

> *Others for home*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *It was these few who brought the story of the expedition home*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *They spoke of the Tower*
>
>

> *Of the Giants*
>
>

> *Of the glorious island*
>
>

> *Some said it had never been there*
>
>

> *But only existed as a dream*
>
>

> *The wishes of a body addled by the sun*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *It is said that when Toth separated from his brothers*
>
>

> *That he made a fire*
>
>

> *By the sea*
>
>

> *An offering to Celem*
>
>

> *And to burn away his fears*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Thus prepared he climbed into the High Places*
>
>

> *In search of his companions*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *His search took him to all the canyons, valleys*
>
>

> *To every High Place and*
>
>

> *To every hidden low place between*
>
>

> *Toth looked until he consumed all his food*
>
>

> *Drinking from the pools of water that sometimes collected in the rocks*
>
>

> *And found no trace of his lost companions*
>
>

> *Nor of the Giants*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Forced by necessity to leave*
>
>

> *He headed towards where Celem rises each morning*
>
>

> *Once on the plain he journeyed along the High Places inland*
>
>

> *Hoping for a sign*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *He lived well off the peaceful land*
>
>

> *And was never in danger*
>
>

> *But his frustration grew*
>
>

> *--for nowhere were there signs of Giants*
>
>

> *Nor of the disappeared*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *He travelled far to the north*
>
>

> *To where it is cold*
>
>

> *When Celem sleeps*
>
>

> *This surprised Toth*
>
>

> *Who had to seek out shelter in a cave*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *It was the first time*
>
>

> *Toth tasted real Fear*
>
>

> *The kind that makes the teeth chatter*
>
>

> *The skin to turn cold*
>
>

> *And the soul to shudder*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *But his cave was small*
>
>

> *Too small for a Giant*
>
>

> *So he lit a fire and*
>
>

> *Fell fast asleep*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Deep in his slumber*
>
>

> *Toth saw a Giant*
>
>

> *Waiting alone*
>
>

> *At the base of the High Places*
>
>

> *With great feeling he cried*
>
>

> *His screams rebounding off the canyon walls*
>
>

> *He was waiting for his Love to return from the sky*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Like a slap in the face Toth awoke*
>
>

> *The screams weren’t just in his dream*
>
>

> *At the mouth of the cave*
>
>

> *A great creature, covered in hair*
>
>

> *With bulbous eyes and folds of skin*
>
>

> *Flopping around fierce teeth*
>
>

> *Clawed past his fire to get him*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Rapidly Toth produced his Wakat*
>
>

> *To stab the creature*
>
>

> *Not accustomed to struggle*
>
>

> *The beast flew into a rage*
>
>

> *Bashing the walls of the cave with his paws*
>
>

> *Stamping the ground*
>
>

> *He bellowed*
>
>

> *And approached Toth*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Despite bloody cuts from the Wakat*
>
>

> *The beast shoved Toth to the wall*
>
>

> *Toth sent a mighty blow from his blade*
>
>

> *Which hit the wall and broke into pieces*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Reaching out, the beast grasped Toth*
>
>

> *Pulled him into a deathly embrace*
>
>

> *Toth prepared for the End*
>
>

> *Fought with what was left of the Wakat*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *The beast let fly a howl*
>
>

> *Lost his grasp of Toth*
>
>

> *For the piece of blade had pierced him*
>
>

> *Cut his heart*
>
>

> *Toth grabbed his blade*
>
>

> *And with a mighty strike*
>
>

> *Dispatched the beast*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *When Celem rose up Toth surveyed his dead enemy*
>
>

> *From the beast’s skin he made a cloak*
>
>

> *To fight off the cold*
>
>

> *He departed from the cave*
>
>

> *Bellowing to the Giants to come find him*
>
>

> *For fear had left him for good.*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Toth continued his search in the High Places*
>
>

> *And learned many things*
>
>

> *About the wolves who howled at night*
>
>

> *About the Eagles who lived on high*
>
>

> *And visited the Gods in the air*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *He also learned some secrets of the mountains*
>
>

> *Of the rocks that were stronger than flint stone*
>
>

> *From these he fashioned a new blade*
>
>

> *Short and straight*
>
>

> *And repaired his wakat*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Toth crossed and re-crossed the High Places*
>
>

> *Until finally he came to a river*
>
>

> *That cut the tall peaks in two*
>
>

> *And flowed in the direction Celem travelled*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Toth followed the river’s path till it came to a tall cliff*
>
>

> *And leapt off into an abyss*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *But Toth didn’t watch the water on its journey*
>
>

> *He saw the plain beyond the High Places*
>
>

> *It stetched for leagues upon leagues*
>
>

> *Till it reached the point where Celem disappeared*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Dry and barren*
>
>

> *A harsh wind blew across this land*
>
>

> *But its beauty stole Toth’s heart*
>
>

> *And he decided that he had found where to remain*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Toth at first gave up his hunt*
>
>

> *He built a dwelling with rocks and trees*
>
>

> *Practiced hunting and fishing*
>
>

> *Found vegetation to eat*
>
>

> *And explored his new world*
>
>

> *Meditating on the vast space*
>
>

> *And the world beneath Celem*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *But soon his thoughts returned to the Giants*
>
>

> *The dream returned in his sleep*
>
>

> *And haunted him when Celem ruled the sky*
>
>

> *--It must be true – he thought*
>
>

> *The Giants awaited their lovers*
>
>

> *In agony at the base of the High Places*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *So he founded a plan*
>
>

> *To create the form of a Giant*
>
>

> *Looking up to the sky – so as to attract one into his camp*
>
>

> *He could then slay it*
>
>

> *Or trapping it*
>
>

> *Find answers to his many questions*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *He began his immense task*
>
>

> *By finding a rounded hill*
>
>

> *Made of soft rock*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Every day he cut at the rock*
>
>

> *With tools he formed from the High Places*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *He rose before Celem did and returned*
>
>

> *Just as Celem left the sky*
>
>

> *And every journey brought him a little closer*
>
>

> *To creating his Giant*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *After two cycles (in which we Shinse measure the progress of time – 400 times Celem passes by on his eternal journey)*
>
>

> *Toth finished a form*
>
>

> *15 times his height*
>
>

> *And many times around*
>
>

> *Cut out of the hill*
>
>

> *Sat a giant with flowing hair*
>
>

> *And arms outstretched*
>
>

> *In a silent scream to heaven*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Meditating upon his work*
>
>

> *Toth realized he no longer cared to see*
>
>

> *A real Giant*
>
>

> *But, satisfied with his new home*
>
>

> *With the work of his hands*
>
>

> *And his way of life*
>
>

> *He would now leave it behind*
>
>

> *To find others amongst his kin to join him in it*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *He prepared for his journey*
>
>

> *Closed up his dwelling*
>
>

> *Put up enough food to sustain him the long way*
>
>

> *Staying a day to bid his Giant good bye*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *It was while beholding the work of his hands*
>
>

> *That Toth noticed them for the first time*
>
>

> *A long line of travelers*
>
>

> *Making their slow way across the steppe*
>
>

> *From where Celem goes to sleep*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *As they approached Toth realized*
>
>

> *They were not his brethren*
>
>

> *But a strange folk*
>
>

> *Of great stature*
>
>

> *Dressed in black*
>
>

> *With long hoods that hid their faces*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *His heart filled with darkness*
>
>

> *For somehow he knew*
>
>

> *That though not Giants*
>
>

> *These were the people he had sought*
>
>

> *The people behind his companions disappearance*
>
>

> *The ones who dwelled on the tower*
>
>

> *And haunted the dreams of our Ancestor’s children*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *They moved as if in a trance*
>
>

> *No step seemed out of place*
>
>

> *They used beasts*
>
>

> *To carry their belongings*
>
>

> *Creatures that looked like Toth’s enemy in the cave*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *As they approached Toth*
>
>

> *They created a half circle*
>
>

> *Lined up arm to arm*
>
>

> *Looking inward*
>
>

> *The silence created a feeling in Toth*
>
>

> *Of despair*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *But he did not show it*
>
>

> *Straight he stood*
>
>

> *His pack on his back*
>
>

> *And a wakat in each hand*
>
>

> *He was strong*
>
>

> *And Wild, Celem had made his skin hard*
>
>

> *The Steppe had made his eyes sharp*
>
>

> *He was ready*
>
>

> *The visitors began to raise their arms*
>
>

> *As one living creature*
>
>

> *They moved inward*
>
>

> *Each step*
>
>

> *Brought the circle in tighter*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Toth felt it in his toes first*
>
>

> *Then in his hands*
>
>

> *A coldness*
>
>

> *Accompanied by a stiffness*
>
>

> *His body no longer obeyed him*
>
>

> *He let out a yell*
>
>

> *So powerful it shook the air*
>
>

> *But he could not move*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *The coldness advanced into his face*
>
>

> *Covered his eyes*
>
>

> *Brought a living darkness*
>
>

> *A wakeful sleeping*
>
>

> *And dreams*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *At first Toth saw his homeland*
>
>

> *The misty forest*
>
>

> *His people about their business*
>
>

> *And the sea*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Then images ripped out others*
>
>

> *The tower*
>
>

> *The High Places*
>
>

> *And the Island*
>
>

> *He saw faces of his comrades*
>
>

> *The great dispute*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *The images moved more rapidly*
>
>

> *As they leapt*
>
>

> *before his eyes*
>
>

> *Toth realized he no longer could remember*
>
>

> *What had gone on before*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *The desert has a stillness*
>
>

> *It penetrates so deep into the soul*
>
>

> *That the soul no longer knows its name*
>
>

> *So it was with Toth*
>
>

> *But this stillness was a weapon*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *He watched the visitors make preparations*
>
>

> *Around him*
>
>

> *As if he were not there*
>
>

> *They stretched out a covering*
>
>

> *That became a dwelling*
>
>

> *Rolled great drums off the weary beasts*
>
>

> *All without making a sound*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Then Celem went to his rest*
>
>

> *The visitors created their own light*
>
>

> *Everywhere it shone*
>
>

> *And then it began*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *A quiet sound that grew*
>
>

> *In complexity*
>
>

> *As well as strength*
>
>

> *The visitors pounded on their drums*
>
>

> *And brought the lights*
>
>

> *towards Toth*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Toth felt the heat from afar*
>
>

> *Like a pain from a dream*
>
>

> *But in what was left of his soul*
>
>

> *He could sense it was the end*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *The drumming intensified*
>
>

> *Until it was no longer merely the drums*
>
>

> *But Skara herself*
>
>

> *Beating a rhythm*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Skara’s rhythm grew stronger*
>
>

> *It overcame the visitors*
>
>

> *For it had not come from them*
>
>

> *And it shook Toth back to himself*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Amidst the chaos*
>
>

> *Caused by Skara*
>
>

> *Toth let loose with his weapons*
>
>

> *Caused havoc with each wakat*
>
>

> *Exacting revenge*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *He cut the beasts free*
>
>

> *He sliced and hacked at the visitors*
>
>

> *Tore their black cloaks*
>
>

> *His heel smashing those who fell to the ground*
>
>

> *Toth’s rage knew no bounds*
>
>

> *Countless fell by his hands*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Then*
>
>

> *Swiftly as it had come*
>
>

> *Skara was silent*
>
>

> *She shook no more*
>
>

> *Though the High Places still rumbled*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Toth’s rage subsided*
>
>

> *And he realized*
>
>

> *The very earth had given him a chance*
>
>

> *To escape*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *So he ran*
>
>

> *Away from that place*
>
>

> *From the statue*
>
>

> *From the visitors*
>
>

> *From death itself*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *He crossed the High Places*
>
>

> *And before Celem rose in his glory*
>
>

> *Toth was on the other side*
>
>

> *Making his way home*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *It was not many of Celem’s trips*
>
>

> *Before Toth arrived to the misty forest*
>
>

> *And the sea*
>
>

> *At their first glimpse Toth knelt*
>
>

> *And wept with joy*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Our Ancestors at first*
>
>

> *Did not know him*
>
>

> *With great fear they looked on the wild man*
>
>

> *Covered in a fur cloak*
>
>

> *And stained in a strange blood*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *The Toth spoke*
>
>

> *--Zem, It is I, Toth*
>
>

> *Who left from the tower in search of missing brothers*
>
>

> *And the Giants that slayed them*
>
>

> *I am here now to declare*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *--I have found those who slayed our brothers*
>
>

> *But they are not Giants.*
>
>

> *They have come from the land where Celem Sleeps*
>
>

> *And with your help*
>
>

> *We might rid ourselves of them*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *With grave wonder*
>
>

> *Our Ancestors listened to Toth*
>
>

> *They made their mind as one*
>
>

> *To commit to a hunt*
>
>

> *The first war*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *A great company of warriors, male and female*
>
>

> *Followed Toth to the High Places*
>
>

> *They fashioned new Wakats*
>
>

> *Like his*
>
>

> *And learnt to deliver*
>
>

> *swift blows with them*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Toth led the warriors across*
>
>

> *To the waterfall*
>
>

> *His old home*
>
>

> *There by the statue of the Giant*
>
>

> *Lay the signs of the battle*
>
>

> *But none of the visitors in black*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Our Ancestors were overcome*
>
>

> *By the steppe*
>
>

> *And by the place Toth had learned to call home.*
>
>

> *Seeing no battle was immediately at hand*
>
>

> *Each went his way*
>
>

> *To explore and discover the new land*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *When Celem went to his rest*
>
>

> *The warriors gathered by the statue*
>
>

> *Toth felt the same uneasiness in his heart*
>
>

> *Haunted*
>
>

> *his memory of the battle kept him quiet and alert*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Late into the dark time*
>
>

> *Toth kept watch*
>
>

> *While his fellow warriors*
>
>

> *took their rest*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *That was when he heard it*
>
>

> *The sound of the drums*
>
>

> *Far off in the darkness*
>
>

> *Then the drums stopped*
>
>

> *And out of the darkness they attacked*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Our Ancestors suffered heavily*
>
>

> *That night*
>
>

> *The deliberate visitors moved swiftly*
>
>

> *Made no noise*
>
>

> *And carried strong weapons made with the material*
>
>

> *Toth used to build the wakat*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *In their circles the visitors*
>
>

> *Created the power that had imprisoned Toth*
>
>

> *Many it overcame*
>
>

> *Except the female warriors*
>
>

> *These feeling nothing*
>
>

> *Of the coldness*
>
>

> *Fought bravely and killed many*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *When Celem awoke*
>
>

> *The battlefield lay strewn*
>
>

> *With bodies of Our Ancestors*
>
>

> *And the visitors.*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Amongst them lay Toth*
>
>

> *Surrounded by dead enemy visitors*
>
>

> *He was cut and bloodied*
>
>

> *Almost beyond telling it was he*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Our Ancestors had prevailed*
>
>

> *But at great cost*
>
>

> *For every three who left our home*
>
>

> *One still stood*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *If some had survived of the visitors*
>
>

> *They had left*
>
>

> *For whence they came*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *Our Ancestors built a settlement there*
>
>

> *But many did not stay*
>
>

> *Instead they returned*
>
>

> *To the soft life of the misty forest*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *They buried Toth and honored him*
>
>

> *Raised a great pillar*
>
>

> *Where he had died*
>
>

>
>
>
>

> *It was not the last*
>
>

> *Our Ancestors had seen*
>
>

> *Of the visitors in black*
>
>

Go back to:

* Stories of the Ancients
* "The Shinse" Lore page
* Skara main "Lore" page