Common Cruinthian Legends

[Azuloth]

Many Cruinthian legends have been lost to ages. Those listed here are those that have survived through oral tradition.

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• The Hooded Crow
• The Mask of Death
• The War of Light and Shadow
• The Twin's Justice
• The Shattered Rose
• A Tumble Down Stream
• The Kingdom of Skulls

[Azuloth]

The Hooded Crow

This is a cautionary tale for children. Usually told by mothers to their children before bed by a fire.

"Caw caw!" Goes The Hooded Crow! Bounding on two legs as he goes!
His hood is long and black, like the feathers on his back.
"Caw caw!" Goes the Hooded Crow! Like his brothers on the tree bough!
In the dark he waits for true, to snatch a child or three or two.

He waits in the dark of the alley,
He waits in the dark of the gully,
and in the dark of the night,
and in the dark with a bite.

Here comes The Hooded Crow,
"Caw caw!" you must not go,
For you'll call The Hooded Crow,
"Caw caw!" and he will show.

If you run to and fro,
in the dark without a care,
Then there is The Hooded Crow
To snatch you as he will dare!

"Caw caw!" Goes the Hooded Crow! As he eats you alive and whole!
Down his gullet in to his stomach you will stack.
"Caw caw!" Goes the Hooded Crow! Like his brothers on the bough!
You have just became his tasty middle night snack!

[Azuloth]

The Mask of Death

-This is two segments erroneously blended together as an adaptation of the Drokagr tale "Azuloth's Many Faces and Warm Embrace"

Once upon a time in a land of stars, and smoke, and spirits, a conversation occurred between Death and the first man. The man suffered a grievous blow from a beast terrible and mighty. He came to Death's court, and sat at his table and dined with him. Death and the man feasted on meat and vegetable alike, they drank and were merry. Reunited as comrades would be after a long arduous journey. After recounting his stories and tales, the man changes the subject and asks a question of death:

"Tell me. Why do you sit and listen and not tell your stories, Death? Is it not so that you have many? Why do you stay so quiet?"

"I say to you, that every one of your tales features myself. In your stories I am as ubiquitous as the stars above and below, and all around us in my court. Look out into the void and see them yourself. Though there is darkness there, there are many colors and lights as well. As each of your stories moves from one point to the next, there is darkness, and then there is light again. Each light in your tale is a conquest of yours. And that is where I come into your story!"

"How so?"

"Do you not see? As you strike the final blow, I come and take your foe away. Off the stage they go, from the great story of your life. You give me so much work that I have to change my face and costume all the time. You slay a beast or a man, destroy three or four, with savagery or nobility, I am there putting on a mask and helping you to win."

"I understand! Your every conquest is my every conquest! You are the brightest star in the sky, and yet no one sees you! It is as if life is day and none can meet you, a soul's oldest and most loyal friend, until it is over. How very sad it is! I lament for you, dear friend, we feast here on delicious food and gorge ourselves on fabulous drink now. But how could I know to celebrate you when my every conquest was made possible by you! I foolishly praised others for my victories! Woe to me and my blindness. You were always there for me when I needed you most."

Then the first man realized something. 

"But wait... when the beast took me who were you there for? The beast? Does the beast attain your attention so that I would lose?"

"Oh how sad it is. I do indeed shine bright but all the others ignore me because they believe me ugly and cruel. They do not see the inherent beauty in the struggle. But every soul is a shooting star, some burn longer than others, some travel farther. You my friend, my greatest friend, shine the brightest in this night. At first I saw your energy and the life inside of you and I fell in love with it. Create you I did not but the souls of your people are beautiful, your suffering, struggle, sacrifices, and war against your fates, and your ultimate catharsis I both envy and facilitate. No other force or creature whose story I participate in do I do so with such love as yours. You who shed your mortal bodies so your immortal souls may move on."

Then death paused and began again.

"When the beast took you it was I that was taking you, not monstrosity. Your time was done and in your final moment I was there to bring you here. Was your passing into my court not easy? Do you not wish to go to Aeternae? Here among the stars and the seas, with the soil of the earth, and the sun and the rain? Come, feel my warmth forever."

The man left his chair and embraced Death.

"When you hold me, I feel alive, I feel soothed. I realize so that I was scared, and I am still scared of what forever means but it is not so that I do not wish to go to Aeternae. It is that I can not yet go there. There is an unjust suffering permeating below in the world. It is everywhere and for the sake of my people I have to ease their pain. I have to fix what is broken. The others dance about and around in the sea of the stars and the void. To their fingers strings are tied, and they make us dance violently for their own enjoyment. We are not their toys. I can save us from the puppet master that snatches us in the dark before we can find you. That deadly Shade. I have opened my eyes to the truth, I can see the end and the beginning of this world."

"Fear will grip them if you return as you are. Instead, wear this mask of mine. With it I will not recognize you down below and I will not take you to my court until you have completed your mission. I made it with you in mind, my love. Do not fear. You will see me again, many times. Time spanned soul, go! Destiny awaits you!"

"Will you be there? Will you be there for the final blow? Will you watch me? Will I get to embrace you again?"

"Oh, noble soul, I will be there. I will be there, blind to you, but I will be thinking of you. And I will see you again when you take the mask off. Then we may embrace once more, and I will lead you to forever."

The noble soul wept and put the mask on, accepting all that it meant, and disappeared from Death's sight.

[Azuloth]

The War of Light and Shadow

According to legend, in the beginning, there was only the world. It was barren and dry. Nothing but rock and mountain. No trees, no wind, no water. A lifeless husk. The aspects of Power, Wisdom, and Justice, came to this world and saw its potential. They created many gods to fill the world with life, in both the day and the night. The gods of day were righteous and proud. They saw all the glory of what the world had to offer. While the gods of night could only see what was close to them.

An argument ensued over what was more important, the night or the day. Two gods murdered each other in combat, soon the war would spread until Power, Wisdom, and Justice commanded them to leave. The gods that were of the night sequestered themselves into their own dark worlds. While the light gods went to their worlds of light. Over time they looked upon their creations, oblivious to the gods they left behind, and the tribulations of the life they left behind.

One day one god reached to the world full of life and made a deal. For sacrifice and glory, the god would grant victory to all that worshipped it. The war that had once been fought individually now had spilled over the boundaries of space and time, and into the hearts of all those living. They all feel the pull one way or another. Towards dark, or light. Religions rose around the dark and the light. Humans, and elves, fought each other and themselves in the name of their chosen god. The beautiful and bright world we lived in was forever stained with blood. The earth, the water, the sky, all filled with blood.

And all the while, the deal grew stronger, and stronger.