"Myra, Tomas, and the Lightbringer"
a Yarrin legend

Once, in the dim times before we had come to these lands, our forefathers, who knew themselves as "the People", met a kingly man. This man they welcomed, for the People were friendly and had no fear of strangers. But the man cautioned them, saying, "Although I value your welcome, there are those who would do you harm if they could; they would be like a snake in your home if you gave them this welcome. Indeed, three like this are coming to darken the skies and give you pain and war; but I can help you, and together we will bring back the light."

And so the People accepted him, and called him the Lightbringer, for they believed that he could return the light, if the world was darkened. In time, he was proved correct, for three dark men came to the lands of the People, and they made war upon the People, who had never before known war. Their names were Strife, and Death, and Fear; they were mighty in war and in magic, and the People were afraid. But the Lightbringer spoke, saying, "These are indeed fearsome opponents, and the land grows sere with their touch, and the skies darken before their gaze. But have I not told you that I shall bring back the light? Have faith in me, and in yourselves, and in your brothers and sisters, and we shall triumph." And the People were strengthened, and armed themselves for war, and the Lightbringer taught them to use swords.

Many years the People and the three dark men fought, with neither side able to secure victory. Now, among the People was a young woman named Myra, who was wise of thought, and she watched how the battles went, and came to the Lightbringer after the fighting was done one day. She said, "Lightbringer, I have noticed that the men of the People are very valiant, and that our enemies fall back before us early on, but that Strife seems to grow more powerful, until finally we must flee, almost defeated." The Lightbringer replied, "That is true, child; and I am puzzled by it, for although Strife is the strongest of our three enemies, still he should not be able to withstand us." To which Myra said, "I have noticed, he only has that strength where the fighting is thickest. Perhaps he draws his strength from the fighting."

Now, the Lightbringer was very excited by this idea, and he gathered together his war council to present it to them. They were skeptical, but he was the Lightbringer, so they agreed to try his plan of not fighting if Strife was at the battle. The next day, the soldiers of the People rode out to do battle. At first, the fighting was fierce, for only Death and Fear were present. But soon enough, Strife came forth from his fortress, and the warriors of the People were forced back. But the Lightbringer and the War Council gave the order, and all of the warriors of the People stopped fighting. At first, the Council feared they had doomed the People, for the enemy gleefully slaughtered many brave warriors. But, all of a sudden, Strife stopped. He seemed baffled, then angry. He commanded his allies to cease battle, saying, "It does me nothing if they die without fighting!" So the enemies taunted the soldiers, trying to anger them, but the soldiers would not fight against their orders. As the enemy kept taunting them, the Lightbringer rode out, and started singing to bolster the soldiers' spirits. Soon, all of the warriors of the People were singing, and the three dark men rode back to their fortresses, for they knew they would find no more battles that day.

When the People saw this, they gave a great shout of joy, and thanked the Lightbringer, and had a great feast in his honor. But he told them, "Do not celebrate overmuch, for you must always be wary of the Dark Ones." Althogh they listened to him, they did not really believe; surely they had bested the three dark men? And so they feasted and drank all through the night. And when the People at last slept, Death crept like a thief into the place where they lived, and took the Lightbringer, and carried him away to his fortress.

When the people awoke, they came to see the Lightbringer, only to discover him gone. As they realized what had happened, they wept and moaned, sure that the three dark men would defeat them for sure. But Myra spoke, saying, "Why have you become cowards, when just yesterday you sang against the enemy? Do you not see what we must do? We must rescue the Lightbringer from the castle of Death!" But the people were to afraid, and would not help her. And so she prepared to leave on own.

Now, Myra had a younger brother named Tomas, and he resolved that he would follow her, even though she had told him he was too young to join in the fighting. When she left, he carefully crept behind her, all the way to the fortress of Death. Here, she saw Fear standing on the battlements, and was afraid because her enemies were together, and waiting for a rescue. In her fear, she did not see Death creeping up behind her--but Tomas did. With a yell, he leapt out and attacked Death, so that the Dark One could not take his sister. Fear rushed down to aid Death, but Tomas ignored him; his only thought was to protect Myra. As he fought, he yelled to her, "Save the Lightbringer!" When she heard this, she ran into the fortress, past the guards, ignoring the dark things living in this dark place. In the lowest cell, she found the Lightbringer. She knelt beside him, but despaired as she saw that he was still in the enchanted sleep of Death. Behind her she could hear the dark men coming, all three of them now, and she knew that Tomas was gone.

But even as she wept, she realized that she was at peace, for the dark men could hurt her and kill her, but they could not take her away from the two she loved: Tomas...and the Lightbringer. As she realized that she loved him, he awoke, and stared into her eyes. He wiped away her tears, and told her that he loved her as well. Then they stood, and watched the dark men approach. As the dark men drew near, they taunted Myra and the Lightbringer, saying, "Now we will destroy you, as we did that boy!"

The Lightbringer heard their taunts, and then calmly replied, "But you did not destroy him, and you cannot destroy us. We do not give into your despair; you have no power over us. And we are bound in love, which you cannot take away, and armored in peace and honor, which you cannot pierce. Now begone!" And as he shouted the last, the roof of the fortress split open, and sunlight pierced into the heart of the darkness. And at its touch, all the foul things cried out, and ran to hide themselves in the dark crevices of the earth. And the three dark men were caught in the light, and screamed as one; and as one they fled far away, and never came to make war upon the People again.

After this, the People came out of their homes, saying, "The light shines upon us again. But how can this be, without the Lightbringer?" As they wondered, the Lightbringer and Myra came back to them from the ruined fortress. The Lightbringer heard the People and said, "Have you still learned nothing? This girl saw it...the light was always in you, and still is, whether I am with you or not. All I did was help you find the path to it. And you must find this light, and believe in it, for though the three dark men are gone, still their agents will come upon you from time to time; you must be ever vigilent against them." And the People understood at last, and promised the Lightbringer that they would keep careful watch. The Lightbringer then told them, "Although I must go, do not think I have forgotten you. Those who follow me will have my healing hands, and will be able to once again show you the path if you should lose it." And with that, the Lightbringer left, and Myra went with him, for she was now his light.

"The Gift of Fire"
a Rheen legend

Once the world was covered in ice. Our people struggled to live, for it was bitterly cold, and all was bleak and desolate. And when the world is bleak and desolate, so too are the hearts of men, for all men's hearts are schooled by the world around them. Now in these days, many of our people were hunters, for this was the only way to have food. And one of these hunters, Khazec I believe his name was, hunted farther than any others. One day, when Khazec was very far away from the village where he lived, he followed an animal to an area that was warm. He was amazed, stronger and better than he ever had before, and so he sought the source of the strange warmth. In time, he realized there was heat coming from pools of water and mud, and also heat coming from the ground itself. As he looked around still more, he found a cave that had a warm but foul-smelling air coming from it. He went inside, and wound his way down to a vast cavern, where far below he could see a red glow. It was vey hot here, and Khazec thought he had found a god. He gave the animal to the glow, and also his stone knife, in thanks for the warmth. And the glow spoke to him, and told him that it was a god, and that if his people followed it, then it might be able to defeat the cold. And so Khazec returned to his people, and told them what had befallen him. They were amazed to see the spirit in his eyes and hear the passion in his voice; if nothing else, they believed him to have been touched by a god. So some of the people accompanied him back to the cave, and they too heard the god. And they struck a pact, that they might serve this god, in return for warmth. And the god taught them to make fire by striking stones together, adn the people were very glad.

Now the people had warmth; but that was not enough. The world was still cold. Khazec asked the voice what to do, and the voice told him that he must convert others to the worship of the flame. And the voice taught him how to make war, and then how to make sacrifice. And so Khazec's people marched on another village, and they burned this village and captured its people. All of the people of the other village were marched to the cave and allowed to bask in the warmth, and then the leaders and priests of the conquered village were fed to the flame. All who remained were then given a choice: to swear, or to feed the flame. Many swore, and became part of Khazec's people. The ones who would not became as tinder. Many villages were taken like this, and both Khazec's people and the flame grew stronger. In time, the people called for the flame to keep its end of the pact. It said that it was almost ready...but warned the people that when it did, there would be a war between the fire and the ice, and that the ice would have humans on its side as well. Then the cave, and all the ground about it, exploded, leaving a vast firey crater. Spirits of fire danced out away from it, fighting the ice as they went, adn Khazec's people met the people of the ice in battle.

Long that battle was, but in time, the ice and the people who served it were pushed into the far north, and the flame could not follow. So it sent servants to the people who had followed it, to help make them stronger; and these servants taught the workings of metal. Even today, there are those who follow the pact, and hold back the ice; and these priests can still call those small servants with the bronze skin and the hair of fire when there is need. Remember loyalty, for had our ancestors not done as the flame requested, we all would be buried in the eternal ice.