Raila Deliean - Section IV - Lore Regarding Origins of Isle of Winds' Unique Properties
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Isle of Winds, or Isle of Four Winds
From the Personal Files of Raila Deliean, Scholar
Section IV: Lore Regarding Origins of the Isle of Winds' Unique Properties The origins of the Isle of Winds are the make of legend and lore, with little to no confirmed historical records as to how it actually came to be, nor how its unique combination of properties -- specifically its hidden nature, tempestuous ocean currents, and unexplained incidents -- exist. Section VIII of this report delves into the geographical and geological nature of the island, which gives direct evidence of its underlying volcanic nature. The proposed locations of the island, in Section II, also hint at how the island’s properties may be interconnected with documented events. This section of the report seeks to inform the reader of common lore as connected to the island’s unique properties. There are multiple tales of lore that relate their own versions of the island’s origins. Some likely refer to other islands, but have been modified to work as lore for Isle of Winds. Other lore is no doubt the creation of the imagination. And some of the lore may truly indicate what it is that causes the island to behave as it does. Far be it from this area of the report to determine what is truth and what it is fiction, as this section is purely a listing of common lore; it depicts the most popular of the tales and lore surrounding the Isle of Winds. For purposes of length, the report narrows the accounts down into three categories – elemental, religious, and mortal – with one tale to represent each category. Each telling reported here is highly indicative of other similar types of tales connected to the island. Part I: Elemental Elemental tales in this report tell of the natural world, including the spirits that inhabit it A wood spirit, Cah’tal, resided upon a lone island, his time spent reveling in deep jungle growth with similar beings. One day, as he danced along the edges of the jungle, he spied a creation more wondrous than he could ever have imagined existed: there, basking in the water, was a being more glorious than creation. He watched her from afar and was immediately captivated by her beauty. Little did Cah’tal know that this particular sea nymph, who was named Naleya, was betrothed to a spirit of the wind called Aeydor. Aeydor loved Naleya more than anything else in the world. He came to look upon her as often as he could, admiring her grace and beauty. When she allowed it, he would wrap his swirl of wind around her body. He looked forward to the day, coming swiftly toward them, when they would marry. Naleya, on the other hand, dreaded the day of their marriage. She and Aeydor had at first shared a kinship, even love. But Aeydor was a jealous of anything she gave her attention to, and he quickly drove away all of her friends. She grew to hate her solitude, and she looked forward to the times when he would visit the nearby islands, as was his obligation. Only then was she out of his sight, free to be herself once more. She dared not tell Aeydor of her feelings, for she had seen him rage before, and she was afraid. So it was that the sea nymph spent her days idling about on the shores, splashing in the water, miserable without her friends, and trapped in a loveless betrothal. Cah’tal was intrigued by her, and it was only by chance that he first called out to her when the spirit of the wind was far away. The sea nymph saw Cah’tal, and eager for a companion to talk to, she answered him. They became fast friends; Cah’tal was enamored of her and sympathetic to her story, and Naleya needed someone to speak to and was amazed at the tales of the jungle. They agreed to meet again, in secret. They began to meet regularly whenever Aeydor flew away. Weeks passed, and eventually Naleya realized that she had fallen irrevocably in love with the wood spirit. Soon after, Cah’tal declared his love for Naleya. They sought to create a plan that would allow them to be together, in the open, without enraging Aeydor. All the while, Aeydor began to suspect that something was amiss; his love was happier than she had ever been, but he could find no cause. So he decided to watch Naleya when she would think that he was nowhere nearby. Eventually, his spying set his sights on Cah’tal, who cradled Naleya in his arms as if he owned her. Jealousy ripped through Aeydor, and he flew in to attack the wood spirit without any hesitation. The sea nymph, seeing Aeydor’s descent, placed her body between Aeydor’s rage and her love. Aeydor could not stop himself in time, however, and the force of his passage left Naleya’s slender body nearly lifeless upon the shore. Cah’tal was knocked into the brush and would have been vulnerable to any attack, but the spirit of the wind was too horrified to continue his aggression. He instead knelt beside the object of his affection. As Naleya gasped her last few breaths, she begged Aeydor to swear to watch over Cah’tal and protect him. He promised her anything she wanted, desperate for her to remain alive. As her spark of life dimmed and then went out, Aeydor’s promise bound itself to him. He shot into the air, angry and devastated. Only then did Cah’tal kneel beside the sea nymph. He scooped her into his arms and gifted her small body back to the sea from whence she had sprung. As the swell carried Naleya out to its depths, the wood spirit returned to the jungle, weeping bitter tears of green liquid that fell to the ground and seeped into the earth. He blamed himself for Naleya’s death, for the blow had been aimed at him. So it was that the tortured spirit wandered back into the jungle and chose a fine fallen tree to sit upon. He spoke not a word, remaining everlastingly silent. True to his promise, Aeydor watched over Cah’tal, and thus over the island. He swirls constantly, never letting anything in, never letting anything out. Sometimes, he dances down by the ocean to remember his love, spraying up mist as he passes over the waves. The waves, in response, throw him away, knowing full-well that he was responsible for the death of the sea nymph. The emotional exchange creates tempests and whirlpools, perils that are just two results of a never-ending war. At times, the sea, as if in search of Cah’tal, will throw her waves high up on the shores of the island. But the waves cannot find him. He broods from his perch on his tree, deep in the jungle. Some say that time has healed his wounds, that he is responsible for the brilliant growth all over the island, and that he oversees a small force of spirits of the woods that consider him the maker of the world. Others say that his guilt has instead festered, turning to a dark malevolence that does not always remain contained and that has, over time, tainted the nature of the other wood spirits in the jungle. Always, the island, the place where love was gained and lost, remains the only thing that both the Cah’tal and Aeydor have left of Naleya, and so it is that they, in some small ways, keep it safe from true and lasting harm. Part II: Religious Religious tales in this report revolve around the Arkati, the Drakes, and similar forms of worshipful beings Isle of Winds is said to have been the sanctuary of one of the Drakes, Olex’Varanth. According to lore, Olex’Varanth was an oddity among the Drakes, a runt who was not expected to live far past his birth. He defied the odds and not only lived, but thrived. Despite his diminutive body and stunted legs, his wings spread as far as a fully grown Drake's. The combination of his small size and expansive wing-span made him one of the quickest Drakes in the air. Olex’Varanth exhibited a tendency toward spending his time alone, however, and he had little interest in socializing with others of his kind. Olex’Varanth found his place of sanctuary far away from the Dragonspine, choosing to live upon the shores of a large island, its environs not anything like the mountainous home of his birth. There, Olex’Varanth thrived among the flora and fauna. Water nymphs played upon the shore, wood spirits flitted about in the midst of the jungle, and a handful of small humanoids resided on the island. Olex’Varanth didn't bother any of them, and he was left to himself. When the great Ur-Daemon War began, Olex’Varanth fought bravely. He was one of the first to fly into battles, with his quick speed and deft maneuvering key in evading death. It was not until this war that Olex’Varanth was seen as a protector of the island; during the battle, he did what he could to keep it from being scored and scorched by the Ur-Daemons. But soon, he found himself mortally wounded, and as he plummeted from the sky, his keening cry was mourned by the Drakes, who had finally come to truly consider him one of their own. After Olex’Varanth fell, the island was open to attack. Fire soon fell from the sky and lit the vulnerable mass of jungle. In a matter of hours, everything on its surface had burned down. Only a few of the island's living inhabitants survived the fire by hiding in its cavern system or taking to the sea. The end of the Ur-Daemon War brought Imaera to the island's shores, but she was unable to heal the land there, and it remained a place of death, filled with the skeletons of trees and brush that no longer blossomed with life. With the lack of sustenance on the surface, the island's few surviving inhabitants had taken to hiding from prying eyes in the very caves that had allowed them to survive, where they presumably subsisted off of the ocean's life. They refused to have anything to do with the Arkati who came to work with them, and after some time, it seems that they were forgotten and very likely died off. It wasn't until much later, after thousands of years had passed and the sky was showered with ashes from the volcanic eruptions taking place across a string of islands, that Jaston truly noticed the island, which was just adjacent to the one spewing lava and ash. Despite the cloak of death that hung over this particular place, Jaston's charges, the Four Winds, immediately recognized it as the isle that Olex’Varanth had soared on the winds to reach time and time again. All at once they wondered where it was that Olex’Varanth had gone, where he had fallen after his final flight -- for the Winds had been all aflight and set in chaos during the Ur-Daemon War, and thus had not witnessed the tragedy. What a shame it was that a Drake so bold and unique as Olex’Varanth had fallen with no fanfare or true memorial. Olex’Varanth had always been kind to the Four Winds, treating them as his equal, as if he were one with them. And how he had loved his small sanctuary. They now spoke to Jaston about Olex’Varanth, and their sentiments painted Olex’Varanth as a revered friend. So it was that Jaston and the Winds scoured the lands, looking for where any remnants of the fallen Drake lay. Finally, Jaston learned from Niima that many Drakes lay in the depths of the ocean, untouched since they had fallen and of little concern to Charl. Niima offered to search the seas for the Drake in question. Never one to turn her back from the rescue of anyone's lost friend, and given her close relationship to Jaston, Niima looked far and wide until she found what she believed were the remnants of Olex’Varanth. With the sea's help, Niima retrieved the remains of the body – simply a skeleton after years and years on the floor of the ocean – and carried it up to the ocean surface. From there, Jaston and the Four Winds helped Niima to lift the Drake to the island that had once been his home, and there they laid his bones to rest at the center of the island's mass. Jaston implored his creator, Imaera, to once again try her hand at healing the island. This time, when she tried to revive it, the soil no longer rejected her touch but instead responded, avidly, to it. Within weeks, the life that had once existed on the island seemed to rise up out of the depths of burnt destruction, and within years, a thick mass of jungle once again shrouded its surface. Vines and flowery masses grew over the Drake's bones, encasing them until they eventually disappeared from sight. When flora first began to spring back up, Jaston directed the Four Winds to keep watch over the isle. The Four Winds follow this directive by keeping a constant swirl around the island, far off from the shore. Their motion accomplishes three purposes. First, they move through the ocean, just near the surface, creating whirlpools and non-navigable ocean disturbances. Second, they keep those who would travel to the island by air from ever getting anywhere near even sighting the land mass. Third, they kick up water from the ocean, sending little droplets into the air that hover in the high humidity and create a fine mist. Thus, the island remains shrouded in a cloak of mist. When the Winds took up their guardianship, it was as if the island had been wiped off the face of Elanthia. The rare and unfortunate ships or sailors that move in close enough to the ocean disturbances are able to set eyes on an island through the mist, only to find that in the swirl of nature, the Winds will not spare them to live to tell nary a tale. Part III: Mortal Mortal tales in this report revolve around mortal desires, needs, emotions, logic, and reasoning. Often they are based on historical events, though often the tales, over time, depart from the true facts. This tale tells of a woman and her child, and how their time on the island passed. The woman is a different race, age, and height depending on the story. It seems as if her underlying origin is easy to interchange when it comes to folklore. What is not ever changed in the story, however, is the relationship between the mother and son. Her son was a mere child, barely able to formulate full words on his own, though he was well-versed in walking, fishing, and trying his mother's patience. The mother loved her child more than life itself, and she did everything she could to care for him. As a young girl, the woman had grown up amongst the nobles, and she had bonded with a rakish young duke. They were the first to love and explore one another, but as time moved on, the duke embarked upon other conquests and left his friend to fend for herself. He then only called to her for companionship from time to time because while he did not love her, he was fond of her. She bore this with good grace, for she loved him, but when he married another, she was heartbroken. Even then, he continued to take women, including the young girl herself, to his bed. When at long last she grew with child, he denied any association with it and ordered her to get rid of it. When she refused, the duke threatened her with death. Despite her hardship, the woman still had a head on her shoulders. She used her close association with the family to take from the noble's home some of his most precious jewels. The young woman then set off to the seaside. With the jewels, she bought passage on a trade ship as a cook, a lifestyle she knew the duke would never think to look for her in. It soon became obvious to the crew that the woman was with child, but her good nature and delectable cooking kept their mouths quiet, and at night, they listened to her sing hauntingly beautiful songs of shining lands and love and tragedy. On the eve the child was born, he was welcomed by the crew -- despite a rather eventful birth -- and the mother and child were embraced as family. When the ship next came to port and changed out some crew, the woman offered to unburden the ship of her and her child, but the crew would not hear of it. So it was that the child grew into a little boy while at sea. An unfortunate turn of events found the ship under attack by a warship that wanted to capture its goods. The crew immediately stowed the woman and the child away on a small rowboat and bade the woman row as far away as she could. The crew, it is said, suffered for their actions, but none apologized for it. The woman, desperate with fear, rowed away, never looking back. Although she and the boy soon suffered from hunger and dehydration, after days and days, the rowboat finally grounded upon the shore of a jungle-shrouded island. At least a year passed with just the two of them on the island before a ship finally spied their smoke signal. The ship's crew was polite enough, and the woman was glad for some sense of civilization, but when the ship's captain made advances on her, she rebuffed him. When he tried to take what he wanted by force, one of the crew members pulled him off of her and received a lance through his gut for the effort. The captain spit in the woman's face and declared that he would leave her on the island. Unbeknownst to the woman, the captain had taken her son with him. The captain meant to use him for labor or possibly sell him into slavery. But the small thing started yelling for his mother when he caught a glimpse of her. When she yelled loudly across the ocean that she would do anything, the captain responded that she had had her chance, and that the boy would come with them. Her son responded to the angst in his mother's voice, though, and he struggled away from the captain's grasp and jumped overboard. The boy, not old enough to possibly understand that the water here was much more violent than what he was used to by the shore, did not realize that he was jumping toward his death. He struggled helplessly in the water before going under. He popped back up once more, then disappeared completely. His mother, seeing at once what was happening, fairly flew into the sea to swim toward him. Some of the crew on the ship made ready to jump after the boy, but the captain forbade it and ordered them to set sail. By the time the mother reached where her son had been, the ship was a speck on the horizon. She frantically dove under the water time and time again, searching for her son. And finally, she found him, carried further away by the ocean current, pale and wet, with nary a spark of life in him. She cursed the ship -- its captain and crew -- for what they had done. She cursed the ocean for taking her son. She cursed any who would come to the isle and violently take away what wasn't theirs. Perhaps the love of a mother is strong enough to give full force to a curse. Perhaps this woman had magical strength in her that she did not know. Perhaps someone else was watching and heard her cries and truly listened. Whatever the reason behind it, it seems that her wishes were fulfilled. The ship that sailed away met some dastardly fate, and when it was found, only corpses clothed in expressions of terror were all that remained aboard it. The ocean around the island began to writhe, as if in misery, and it to this day cannot help but take the lives of those who try to sail to or from the island. Death… death comes to those who take too much of the island when they have no true need. As for the woman, she lived with her own sort of curse for some time. After spending laborious efforts to retrieve the boy's corpse, she carried her son deep into the jungle. There, at the heart of the island, she buried him. She herself lived in a natural state after that time and became what civilized people would call a “wild woman.” She would wander and talk to the trees and sing to the flowers, and never did she hurt any living being that made its home on the island. She often talked aloud to her son, and it seemed as though – at least to her – he responded. Years passed, but she remained young and lived well past her natural life span. She tried to kill herself on several occasions, for her grief remained sharp and new – she often felt that this was the curse that she had to live with – but it seemed she just would not die, try as she might. It wasn't until one day when she wasn't giving any thought to anything in particular that she tripped on a vine and fell down a deep jungle ravine, hitting her head and ending her life. Even in death, however, her curses live on.
Raila Deliean - Overview and Table of Contents
Raila Deliean - Section II - Location of the Isle of Winds
Raila Deliean - Section V - Early History and First Settlements