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Around the Realm, many stories were told about the Elemental Demi-Gods, who were said to be as old as the realm itself, only rivaled by the Creator Gods in primitivity. These fairy tales have been passed down through generations, and while many of the details have been lost by millenia of oral storytelling, a number of them managed to survive into the era of timekeeping and written documents. Below are four accounts of ancient stories recovered by the The ArchCrystal Tower in the 400s PR.
It is generally agreed that the figure in the stories was a real dragonborn by the name of Bruneld Redmane who lived in Ravendale in prehistoric times before The Crown of Empyrosis.
Fairy Tale 1: Dragonborn Story out of Amusa[edit | edit source]
Long before the time of Bahamut, Kossuth, the Primordial Welder, was the ruler of dragons. Hence his descendants were intrusted with the preservation of fire, while he himself was made the Fire-God. He is a personification of Creation, who showed himself at the beginning of the world as one of the Four Ancients. The Fire-God is worshiped as the Lord of the Holy Southern Mountain. In the skies the Fiery Star, the southern quarter of the heavens and the Red Aarakocra belong to his domain. When there is danger of fire the Fiery Star glows with a peculiar radiance. When countless numbers of fire-crows fly into a house, a fire is sure to break out in it.
In the land of the four rivers there dwelt a loyal red dragonborn who was very rich from the gongs he created. One day he got into his wagon and set out on a long journey to deliver gongs to the far north. And he met a girl, with a mane of red, who begged him to take her with him. He allowed her to get into the wagon, and drove along for half-a-day without even looking in her direction. Then the girl got out again and said in farewell: “You are truly a good and honest firewalker, and for that reason I must tell you the truth. I am the Fire-God. You have done me well. For your generosity I will make your family name as immortal as the Undying Flames of the Fiery Star" Humbled, the dragonborn faced his horses about and drove home as fast as he could. And, when he was about to lie down to sleep, a fire broke out on the hearth which could not be quenched until the whole building had collapsed in dust and ashes.
Yet, thanks to the Fire-God, the dragonborn's family was saved. When the dust had cleared, he had choked to death on the smoke, but his wife and daughters survived. When his son found his father's favorite tiara, still warm on his cold body, he prayed to the Fire-God, only to hear a response from the tiara. "You will be safe with me, son. Our family will be protected now, and I will stay with you all your life to protect you. Wear me and your belly will fill with the protective warmth of the Fiery Star" Since those days, all children of the gong maker have been able to breathe fire and keep themselves safe when facing overbearing threats of flame.
Fairy Tale 2: Satyr Story out of Isonhound[edit | edit source]
When Manabush the Druid was still young, he once said to his grandmother Drimoma, "Grandmother, we have no fire and it is cold in here. Let me go and get some fire." Drimoma tried to make him forget the idea of getting fire because it was dangerous, but Manabush insisted.
Manabush knew he had a long journey ahead, so he made a canoe made of bark-it was the very first canoe. He took on the shape of a rabbit so he wouldn't be recognized and started east across a large body of water. He knew that there was an old chime-man living on the island who had fire. As Manabush-in the form of a Rabbit-approached the island it was still dark, and he pulled his canoe ashore and hopped along until he came to the house of the old man. The old man had two daughters, who came out of the house and saw the little Rabbit, all wet and cold. They picked him up and took him inside, setting him down next to their father, who warmed him with his crown.
The girls went about their evening duties while the Rabbit sat by the warming man. He hopped a little nearer to the man to try to take his crown but as he moved, he disturbed the chimes scattered around the island, waking the man who was napping. "What was that?" said the old chime-man. The daughters said it was nothing, and told him that they were only trying to warm up the poor little rabbit they had found. When the girls went back to their work, the Rabbit grabbed the crown and ran out of the house, hearing the alarm of the disturbed chimes behind him. He was going as fast as he could back to the place where he had left his canoe. The girls and the old chime-man dashed out of the wigwam chasing the Rabbit who had stolen the crown.
The Rabbit reached his canoe safely and pushed off into the water, leaving the old man and his daughters on shore. He paddled as fast as he could toward his grandmother's home but the crown spoke to the Rabbit. "They will come for me and take me back" it said to the Rabbit. "I will use you to make fire for my cold Grandmother then I will destroy you" the Rabbit said. "Silly Rabbit, your tricks will not work. For I can only be destroyed if I am returned to what I once was long ago" The air rushing past the canoe made the crown burn fiercely, and by the time he reached home, Drimoma could see that her grandson's fur was badly burned on his feet, showing only bare hooves where there used to be fur. She took the burning crown from him and made a fire with it, and then dressed his wounds so his fur would grow back.
When Manabush returned to his normal form of hoof and horn, the old chimes man had come to his house. "A rabbit has taken my magic crown and come here" The old man said. He was suspicious of the young Satyr, who appeared burned. But Drimoma the Grandmother spoke up "Yes we saw that rabbit, he tried to hide in our house, but my grandson Manabush tackled it. He was burned by the crown but it has been recovered safely" The old man trusted Drimoma, and Manabush handed the crown back over to the chime-man, who went back to his home, fooled by the grandmother. And that is why every Satyr is loyal to their elders and why every satyr has no hair on their feet.
Fairy Tale 3: Elven Story out of Osugbo[edit | edit source]
Note, a native elven name was used in the original version of this story, but we have replaced it with [Yro], the name currently attributed to the crown.
One cold morning in the low valley near the plumes, a great, red Crown sat covered with dew. The Crown was very old and had sat there, mundane and untouched for generations. It had seen the passing of many creatures and monsters and many seasons but Kossuth heated the Crown and the dew rose as a mist from it as Kossuth decided to give life to this Crown. So as the Crown grew hotter and the steam from the dew hovered over it this one old Crown was heated red hot and forged into the body of an old, bellman. This was [Yro].
Vulcana had been watching the birds and the plants and the animals and learning all she could. Now there came a day as she traveled that she wandered into this Amusan valley and there she met [Yro]. As Vulcana talked to [Yro] she realized how much wisdom he had and she wanted to learn all that she could from him. [Yro] explained that he would be happy to be her grandfather and share his wisdom but as an old man, he needed help. The men who swam in and worshipped the water could not live, as their constant bathing cooled the air and hurt [Yro]’s red hot bronze.
Vulcana was so happy to have a grandfather that she called to Mairilliya swimming in the river. She asked Mairilliya if he would give his life so that Vulcana's grandfather could live happily. All of the Istishians were friend to Vulcana and Mairilliya said he would do this for his friend. Now Vulcana told Mairilliya that for this sacrifice she would make Mairilliya her brother. So [Yro] snapped Mairilliya's neck and placed him on the ground but Vulcana felt so bad that she called to Istishia to return Mairilliya to life.
Now Yro used his power to speak with Istishia and Vulcana, and Mairilliya was brought back to life so he could return to his river but where he lay on the ground was the body of another Istishian. [Yro] earned his sacrifice and Vulcana could keep her friend, but the greediness of the hot heads caused a price to be paid. [Yro] told Vulcana that from this point the Istishians would be bothered by the unpredictable hot heads. They would no longer be willing to share food and clothing, shelter and tools.
Vulcana asked the birds to fly to the valley where Yro had been given life, and bring the bells that were there to him. A robin flew to the place but he had to use two dry sticks to carry the bells because they were so heavy. Still he brought the bells to [Yro], who put even more wood on the sticks, and rang the bells on this pile, and [Yro] breathed on the bells so that they rang out and created a Great Spirit of Fire. And because of this intervention when two dry sticks are rubbed together they make fire.
The body of the Istishian was brought forth and so the first meat was cooked over fire and Vulcana and her grandfather started their time together. Vulcana would help his grandfather survive and she would share his wisdom and knowledge with her.
Fairy Tale 4: Hobgoblin story out of Pteris[edit | edit source]
Note, a native hobgoblin name was used in the original version of this story, but we have replaced it with [Yro], the name currently attributed to the crown.
Long Long ago, there was a cold watering hole in Pteris. Many animals came at night to the lake to drink some water. But people never came to the lake at night. The animals could kill and eat them. Now, a rich general with a beautiful daughter once said, "Whichever young hobgoblin who will go to the lake in the evening and stay in the cold water till morning, will have my daughter for his wife."
There lived a poor young goblin nearby whose family was noted for the sirens they created and delivered to the realm. He loved the rich man's daughter very much. He said to his mother, "I shall try to stay all night in the lake and then marry my dear girl."
"No, No," the mother said, "you are my only son! The water in the lake is very cold and the animals will eat you up. Don't go there!"
She cried and cried. But her son said, "Mother, don't cry, I am strong and will win her love." So the young goblin went to the girl's father. He told him that he wanted to go to the lake and stay in the cold water all night. The rich general sent his servants to a place where they could watch the young goblin.
When night came, the young goblin went to the lake and his mother followed him. But he did not see her, nor did he see the beautiful crown she wore on her head. There was a hill forty paces away from the place where the young goblin went into the water. His mother climbed up the hill and spoke on her magic crown. She called it [Yro] as the crown had long since forgotten its original name.
"[Yro], I need you to protect my son" she said. And the crown started a beautiful fire outside of the watering hole. On a hill forty paces away. The wild animals saw the fire and were afraid to go near that place.
The young goblin saw the fire, too. He understood that [Yro] was being used. He thought of his mother's love and how much she risked by using [Yro] in public. Her love made it easier for him to stay all night in the very cold water. Morning came. The young goblin went to the rich general's house. The rich general saw him and said, "My servants say that there was a fire on a hill forty paces from the lake. It warmed you and that is why you could stay all night in the water. So you cannot marry my daughter. Good-bye."
The young goblin was very angry. He went to the chieftan. "Well," the chieftan said, "this is a very simple case."
The next morning the young goblin with his mother and the rich general with his servants came before the chieftan. There were many hobgoblins there who wanted to hear the case. The chieftan asked for a pot of cold water. Then he walked forty paces from the pot and made a fire.
"Now," he said, "we shall wait a little until the water is warm."
The tribesfolk cried, "But the fire is so far away, it cannot warm the water in the pot."
Then the chieftan said, "And how could that young goblin warm himself at a fire forty paces away?"
So the case was over and the young goblin married the rich general's daughter. They lived happily for many years.
