Post by Palustris on Dec 2, 2022 14:17:13 GMT 1
The Wraiths.
Many generations ago, the Dark Forest stretched from the mountains in the west to the end of the world in the east. It grew from the cold grass plains of the north, where the land of the Ice Queen began, to the hot deserts of the south, above the burning lands of the Fire Demon.
The caves and deep, dark valleys of the mountains were the home of a race of beings that shunned the sunlight. They claimed to have begun in the shadows, and so they stayed in them.
They didn't need to go out into the Dark Forest for a long time because the mountains provided plenty of space and food. Eventually their numbers increased so much that finding enough food did become a problem.
They began to explore the Dark Forest. There were plenty of places under the trees where the shadows were deep and the sun did not reach. They found plenty of roots, fruits, herbs, and mushrooms, which they ate.
They were a gentle, peace loving people, so they did not come into conflict with the animals that lived in the forest. The wild boars, deer, bears, foxes, martens, wolves, and all the other woodland creatures soon lost their fear of these new comers.
Then man appeared, sailing in from the west. Slowly but surely, these newcomers cleared the trees between the mountains and the Dark Forest, cutting off the shadow people from their original home.
This did not really matter as the humans were creatures of the light, and they tended to avoid the darkest parts of the mountains and the places in the trees where the sun did not shine. The shadow people knew about the humans. They watched from the shade and in the darkness of the night. The humans did not know about the creatures in the shadows, except for a vague feeling that they were being watched when they went into the Forest for firewood or for hunting.
This was about to change. The shadow people were horrified to discover that there was an evil thing stalking the shady places where they lived. Everything it touched died. It stalked the darkness, spreading fear and destruction.
The humans on the plain between the mountains and the forest were also affected by this evil creature. The shadow people watched in disbelief as two groups of humans fought and killed each other. The victorious army even went so far as to kill everyone in the losing side's village and burn the homes so completely that nothing remained except ashes.
Watching from the edge of the Dark Forest, the shadow people watched as another evil rose from the ashes. It made its way into the forest, destroying everything in its path. Soon it joined forces with the other creature, and between them they set out to wipe out all life. Wherever they went, everything died, even the very soil itself became lifeless.
The shadow people decided that as the evil beings were in the forest, they had no choice but to return to the mountain caves, which were their original home. This meant crossing the open plain between the edge of the forest and the mountains.
The journey was difficult. They could only travel at night, and finding somewhere dark to hide during the day was difficult. Human villages were the only places where there was anywhere to hide. For the first time in their history, the shadow people came into close contact with people.
The humans were already frightened, by the ferocity of the attack by the soldiers. They had also seen and felt the destruction caused by the evil beings, so when shadowy creatures began appearing, they were even more nervous.
They began to blame these shadowy things for anything and everything that went wrong. They called these shadows. the Wraiths. If a fox got into the hens, they blamed the Wraiths. When someone fell ill, it was the fault of the wraiths. The fear of the soldiers and the evil beings became mixed up in people's minds, and so the wraiths became the evil beings that stalked the night, stealing children. Seeing one meant certain death.
The poor wraiths tried to explain to the people that they were only passing through and meant no harm, but they could not make themselves understood.
Some of the wraiths decided that they could not carry on with the journey across the human lands. They turned back and returned to the Dark Forest. The ones who decided to keep going called this the Great Sundering. The ones who went on had no idea if the returning ones survived.
Eventually those who survived the journey across the plains reached the mountains. Thankfully, they went into the caves, vowing never to leave again. Generation after generation, they stayed in the deep dark, until even the light of the moon was too much for them.
Those humans who did go into the mountains usually stayed out of the caves and dark valleys. They never met a wraith, but the fear stayed with them. When they did go into the darkest places or the caves, they took torches with them. Without realising it, they often hurt the wraiths with their lights. The wraiths could not do anything about these humans. They had no weapons, nothing they could use to chase these people away.
One day, however, a human went up into the mountains looking for the wraiths. This was the witch of the Dark Forest, and she wanted to meet these evil wraiths to see if they could be of any use to her. She never made light and never did anything to frighten or harm the wraiths.
To the delight of the wraiths who watched her from the safety of their caves, they found that she could speak their language. In the end, their curiosity got the better of them, and one very brave wraith answered the witch when she called a greeting into the darkness.
The witch was interested in the herbs that grew in the lighter parts of the caves and valleys. She also wanted the different coloured clays and rocks from the caves. The wraiths collected these for her. In return she showed them how to use the darkness to make weapons. She taught them how to make bows and arrows. She showed them how to fashion knives and swords.
Now the wraiths had a way to defend themselves from the outlaws and smugglers, who were the only humans to go up into the mountains. The wraiths were still a gentle, peace-loving people, so they only used their new-found weapons to defend themselves.
The outlaws and smugglers soon learned to avoid the caves and dark valleys. The wraiths only attacked under the cover of darkness, and what really frightened the humans was that when it became light, the wraiths' arrows disappeared, as did the bodies of any wraiths that the humans managed to kill.
The wraiths never found out the name of this witch. She stopped visiting after many years, and there was no more friendly contact with humans for many generations. Then, once again, a witch came to visit. This was Magalan. Like the first witch, she was interested in herbs and different rocks. The wraiths were only too happy to collect these for her.
Magalan did very little in return, except to teach them how to make a kind of cloth from the stems of one of the herbs. Wraiths had no need of clothing, so they never learned how to weave. This cloth, though, was not woven.
Bundles of stems were placed on the flat floor of one cave and beaten flat with the ends of logs. More bundles were added at right angles to the first ones, and the beating was repeated. This was done until the stems fused together to make a fine cloth. It was hard work, but the finished product was perfect for the wraiths. It kept out light. They could cover themselves and go out in daylight.
When the first wraith used the cloth, he made another discovery. When he was covered from head to foot he could no longer understand what Magalan was saying. Nor could she understand what he said to her. As soon as he removed the cowl that covered his head, then they could once again speak each other's language. The cloth not only kept out the light but also magic spells. Magalan had not learned the wraith's language, she was using magic.
Once again, a witch stopped visiting. The wraiths were puzzled by it, but as they still believed that the evil beings were still wandering the Dark Forest and the plains were full of humans, they did nothing much with the cloth other than use it to go out in bright moonlight to collect food.
Again, generations passed until, one night, they were disturbed by a summons. They had no choice but to go to the royal palace of King Rolan. Magalan was back, and she needed their help.
They brought her back to their caves as she ordered. Wraiths are honourable creatures that do not understand lies and deceit, so when Magalan told them that King Rolan was planning to clear them out of the mountains, they believed her.
She ordered them to take over a town called Ingford. There, she had armour made for them. They lined it with the cloth so that they could go out in daylight.
They chased the outlaws and smugglers out of the mountains.
I think you know the rest. "When Magalan no longer needed them, she tried to lock them in this valley. That was her last evil act."
Many generations ago, the Dark Forest stretched from the mountains in the west to the end of the world in the east. It grew from the cold grass plains of the north, where the land of the Ice Queen began, to the hot deserts of the south, above the burning lands of the Fire Demon.
The caves and deep, dark valleys of the mountains were the home of a race of beings that shunned the sunlight. They claimed to have begun in the shadows, and so they stayed in them.
They didn't need to go out into the Dark Forest for a long time because the mountains provided plenty of space and food. Eventually their numbers increased so much that finding enough food did become a problem.
They began to explore the Dark Forest. There were plenty of places under the trees where the shadows were deep and the sun did not reach. They found plenty of roots, fruits, herbs, and mushrooms, which they ate.
They were a gentle, peace loving people, so they did not come into conflict with the animals that lived in the forest. The wild boars, deer, bears, foxes, martens, wolves, and all the other woodland creatures soon lost their fear of these new comers.
Then man appeared, sailing in from the west. Slowly but surely, these newcomers cleared the trees between the mountains and the Dark Forest, cutting off the shadow people from their original home.
This did not really matter as the humans were creatures of the light, and they tended to avoid the darkest parts of the mountains and the places in the trees where the sun did not shine. The shadow people knew about the humans. They watched from the shade and in the darkness of the night. The humans did not know about the creatures in the shadows, except for a vague feeling that they were being watched when they went into the Forest for firewood or for hunting.
This was about to change. The shadow people were horrified to discover that there was an evil thing stalking the shady places where they lived. Everything it touched died. It stalked the darkness, spreading fear and destruction.
The humans on the plain between the mountains and the forest were also affected by this evil creature. The shadow people watched in disbelief as two groups of humans fought and killed each other. The victorious army even went so far as to kill everyone in the losing side's village and burn the homes so completely that nothing remained except ashes.
Watching from the edge of the Dark Forest, the shadow people watched as another evil rose from the ashes. It made its way into the forest, destroying everything in its path. Soon it joined forces with the other creature, and between them they set out to wipe out all life. Wherever they went, everything died, even the very soil itself became lifeless.
The shadow people decided that as the evil beings were in the forest, they had no choice but to return to the mountain caves, which were their original home. This meant crossing the open plain between the edge of the forest and the mountains.
The journey was difficult. They could only travel at night, and finding somewhere dark to hide during the day was difficult. Human villages were the only places where there was anywhere to hide. For the first time in their history, the shadow people came into close contact with people.
The humans were already frightened, by the ferocity of the attack by the soldiers. They had also seen and felt the destruction caused by the evil beings, so when shadowy creatures began appearing, they were even more nervous.
They began to blame these shadowy things for anything and everything that went wrong. They called these shadows. the Wraiths. If a fox got into the hens, they blamed the Wraiths. When someone fell ill, it was the fault of the wraiths. The fear of the soldiers and the evil beings became mixed up in people's minds, and so the wraiths became the evil beings that stalked the night, stealing children. Seeing one meant certain death.
The poor wraiths tried to explain to the people that they were only passing through and meant no harm, but they could not make themselves understood.
Some of the wraiths decided that they could not carry on with the journey across the human lands. They turned back and returned to the Dark Forest. The ones who decided to keep going called this the Great Sundering. The ones who went on had no idea if the returning ones survived.
Eventually those who survived the journey across the plains reached the mountains. Thankfully, they went into the caves, vowing never to leave again. Generation after generation, they stayed in the deep dark, until even the light of the moon was too much for them.
Those humans who did go into the mountains usually stayed out of the caves and dark valleys. They never met a wraith, but the fear stayed with them. When they did go into the darkest places or the caves, they took torches with them. Without realising it, they often hurt the wraiths with their lights. The wraiths could not do anything about these humans. They had no weapons, nothing they could use to chase these people away.
One day, however, a human went up into the mountains looking for the wraiths. This was the witch of the Dark Forest, and she wanted to meet these evil wraiths to see if they could be of any use to her. She never made light and never did anything to frighten or harm the wraiths.
To the delight of the wraiths who watched her from the safety of their caves, they found that she could speak their language. In the end, their curiosity got the better of them, and one very brave wraith answered the witch when she called a greeting into the darkness.
The witch was interested in the herbs that grew in the lighter parts of the caves and valleys. She also wanted the different coloured clays and rocks from the caves. The wraiths collected these for her. In return she showed them how to use the darkness to make weapons. She taught them how to make bows and arrows. She showed them how to fashion knives and swords.
Now the wraiths had a way to defend themselves from the outlaws and smugglers, who were the only humans to go up into the mountains. The wraiths were still a gentle, peace-loving people, so they only used their new-found weapons to defend themselves.
The outlaws and smugglers soon learned to avoid the caves and dark valleys. The wraiths only attacked under the cover of darkness, and what really frightened the humans was that when it became light, the wraiths' arrows disappeared, as did the bodies of any wraiths that the humans managed to kill.
The wraiths never found out the name of this witch. She stopped visiting after many years, and there was no more friendly contact with humans for many generations. Then, once again, a witch came to visit. This was Magalan. Like the first witch, she was interested in herbs and different rocks. The wraiths were only too happy to collect these for her.
Magalan did very little in return, except to teach them how to make a kind of cloth from the stems of one of the herbs. Wraiths had no need of clothing, so they never learned how to weave. This cloth, though, was not woven.
Bundles of stems were placed on the flat floor of one cave and beaten flat with the ends of logs. More bundles were added at right angles to the first ones, and the beating was repeated. This was done until the stems fused together to make a fine cloth. It was hard work, but the finished product was perfect for the wraiths. It kept out light. They could cover themselves and go out in daylight.
When the first wraith used the cloth, he made another discovery. When he was covered from head to foot he could no longer understand what Magalan was saying. Nor could she understand what he said to her. As soon as he removed the cowl that covered his head, then they could once again speak each other's language. The cloth not only kept out the light but also magic spells. Magalan had not learned the wraith's language, she was using magic.
Once again, a witch stopped visiting. The wraiths were puzzled by it, but as they still believed that the evil beings were still wandering the Dark Forest and the plains were full of humans, they did nothing much with the cloth other than use it to go out in bright moonlight to collect food.
Again, generations passed until, one night, they were disturbed by a summons. They had no choice but to go to the royal palace of King Rolan. Magalan was back, and she needed their help.
They brought her back to their caves as she ordered. Wraiths are honourable creatures that do not understand lies and deceit, so when Magalan told them that King Rolan was planning to clear them out of the mountains, they believed her.
She ordered them to take over a town called Ingford. There, she had armour made for them. They lined it with the cloth so that they could go out in daylight.
They chased the outlaws and smugglers out of the mountains.
I think you know the rest. "When Magalan no longer needed them, she tried to lock them in this valley. That was her last evil act."