Spirits are an ever-present reality in Quelmar. Often imperceptible to mortals, yet always there, an essential element in the cosmic stew of life. Some are borne of nature like the spirit guides of great Bremish warriors. Some are bound to magical artifacts while others float aimlessly across the Etherial Plane. And some are stranger still, like the Celestial Steeds named Jeff and Connor.
In the early days of the realm Jeff and Connor were most known for appearing in supernatural visions, such as the riddles told by Sandy Sphinx, guardian of the ancient city Ta-Shadet. They took corporeal form pulling a chariot through a starry expanse that would advance when riddles were guessed correctly. They may also have appeared in other legends. Lore passed down from early BR sailors tells of horses that pulled glowing chariots across the night sky, collectively creating the movement of stars and constellations over periods of months. When each horse’s “chariot” reached the edge of the horizon, it would take ghostly form and gallop across the land from the West to the East before ascending to the sky again, beginning each star’s path anew.
Another folk tale recalls a supposed event in prehistory when two enormous steeds appeared alongside the Levinkan. Spectral ropes shot out from the continent and affixed themselves to the horse spirits, who then pulled the continent into the Etherial Plane and traversed through the other landmasses before delivering it to its present location on the map. This story represents one possible (albeit fantastical) explanation for the Levinkan Warp theory.
In later periods of the realm, Jeff and Connor became known for appearances less legendary in scale. Yet it would seem that they always appeared to those of pure and honest heart when they were needed. An adventurer besieged by bandits is left wounded beside the trail, horse startled and run away? Jeff appears as phantom steed to carry them to safety. A town left half-destroyed after magical disaster strikes? Connor takes the shape of a stray draft horse to aid in clearing the rubble. A young child is distraught by the death of their favorite riding pony? Jeff and/or Connor’s there to take them to the Spirit Plane for one last bittersweet ride.
Spiritual scholars initially assumed that each individual horse spirit was unique, but this was thrown into question as they examined the many recorded visions and sightings of mysterious horses across the realm. Every single report where witnesses could remember the details, the horses were always described as having exactly one of two appearances, and always the same two, for millenia. Additional hallucinogenic inquiry revealed this to be true in the researchers’ own visions as well. One scholar recorded a particularly striking vision in which two great armies clashed on horseback; yet every animal on the battlefield matched the exact appearances of one of the two horses. This sage later hypothesized that this “recycling of assets” was an effort by the gods to save their own power and creative energy for more important tasks.
In naming the two horses the researchers eventually decided to copy the earliest recorded account they could find of the pair: a journal kept by noted Mercan explorer Serpen-tina Stellano.
