Legends: Albion

Over the centuries the land of Albion has accumulated a large amount of tales, some written and some passed down orally. Here are just some of them.

## The Two Knight Brothers

The story of two brothers receiving their father's inheritance. A cautionary tale where the older brother wasted away his inheritance and relied solely on the reputation his father had made, while the younger brother took only his father's old sword and made a name for himself, creating his own fortune and his own noble house via hard work.

## The Weight of a Gold Necklace and the Weight of a Pearl Necklace

The origin of the tradition of marriage proposals on Albion.

The tale speaks of a wealthy man who possessed every treasure in the land, but had yet to acquire a wife. The wealthy man, deciding it was time for him to marry, took a precious necklace made of gold and priceless jewels to offer as a dowry and went to the houses of many beautiful women to propose - but was alas rejected each and every time. One day, the arrived at the doorstep of a wise woman known for her great wisdom. This woman stated that no woman will ever agree to his proposal unless he brought back a pearl necklace made of pearls that he had to, without any aid, gather from a faraway cove.

The wealthy man heeded her words, thinking nothing of this trial, but soon he spent days upon days laboring to gather the needed pearls.

Finally, after much time had passed, the wealthy man had returned to the home of the woman with the pearl necklace. There she asked him thusly:

"Tell me now wealthy man, what do you think weighs more: the feelings behind that gold necklace or the feelings behind that pearl necklace?".

The wealthy man, realizing his folly thus far, went to the nearest cliff and threw away both necklaces. The next time he met a woman that caught his fancy he made a necklace for her and her alone - and with that he married and lived happily ever after with his new wife.

## The Brave of Tallwood

The story of a youth defeating an orc bandit with the help of the sage advice of a wise-woman in the forest. Within this tale the youngest of three brothers hides within pots of wine the bandits took back to their hideout and, with a blade blessed by within the church, slays the leader of the bandits, freeing all their captors and returning victoriously to the village.

## The Tale of a Nail

Prose passed down in hushed voices in the south of Albion. A remnant of events long past. Some scholars claim that this tale serves as a cautionary tale against negligence and haste, others claim that it has a deeper meaning - that a factor as small as a single nail could have tipped history in a vastly different direction.

> *The messenger could not wait for the blacksmith to craft a new nail and hastily rode his horse to his destination.*
>
>

> *Here is where it begun.*
>
>

> *For the want of a nail - the horseshoe was lost.*
>
>

> *For the want of a horseshoe - the horse was lost.*
>
>

> *For the want of a horse - the rider was lost.*
>
>

> *For the want of a rider - the message was lost.*
>
>

> *For the want of a message - the battle was lost.*
>
>

> *For the want of a battle - the castle was lost.*
>
>

> *For the want of a castle - the border was lost.*
>
>

> *For the want of a border - the capital was lost.*
>
>

> *For the want of a capital - the King was lost.*
>
>

> *And for the want of a King - the Kingdom was lost.*
>
>

> *And so this tale shall tell - how Orkney fell for the lack of a single nail.*"
>
>

Some rumors state that this tale also carries another, much more sinister lesson.

## The True Fields of Gold

A story depicting a youth traveling in order to save his town from a famine, meeting people that aid and oppose him along the way.