Legends

The History

As is true with most mythologies, there is a basis in truth. Thus the legend is tied up with the history of the planes. As with any complex system, certain rules evolved. The most important of theses concerned man.

Humanity was created when a now-defunct god became bored and moulded his own image and likeness out of clay. In sculpting man's form, the first god gave humanity a bit of himself. He was so enamoured of his reproduction that the god endowed upon them earthly existence, and he breathed life into the species. In so doing, he imbued it with an immortal soul. It is the reclamation of this spirit over which the immortal and the divines constantly vie.

The Accords

In the ensuing struggle over man's soul, it was soon decided that Satan --as the Great Trickster and a being totally without scruples--had an unfair advantage. The angels, the gods and even the elementals were all constrained by their own sort of morality. The Devil and his dark minions were not.

So the first pact originated, which limited the Demonlord's influence on man. This agreement prohibited Satan from the earth plane, denying him direct physical contact with the mortal inhabitants unless invited. The Prince of Darkness could, however, send his lackeys to solicit support for his dark works and, when need be, project his image from the immortal planes to the earthly one. Once the devil was summoned, it was assumed that the individual's soul was already in jeopardy.

A direct outgrowth of the first accord was the second, which saw the erection of times' portals. For to be mortal is to know time with a distinct beginning, middle and an end. To view time as linear in a non-linear cosmos was a definite disadvantage. While the unstructured universe did not seem to faze animals, who had not been empowered with the god-like trait of reason, it confused man, who was forced to witness many versions of himself all at one time. The ability to view one's own demise had a similarly adverse affect on man, predisposing him to evil, for the Great Trickster could promise anything, including immortality, but amoral as he was, Satan was not required to fulfil his covenant.

The subsequent dissension caused by man almost brought about his ruin. The gods--tired of their creation, whom they felt did not show the proper respect--and the angels--weary of contention and miffed by man's apparent lack of gratitude--felt man should be destroyed. Only elemental earth, from whose breast man had sprung, saw potential in the species. However, the combined apathy on the part of air and water, and the more selfish motivation of the darker species, allowed man to continue on what has now become the mortal plane.

The elders of elemental earth stood for man. Water remained indifferent, deciding not to attend, while air's queen simply forgot. The elders sacrificed their lives to uphold the accord, becoming the Martyr's Bush of the southern desert region and the Starflowers of the north--their innate sorcery devoted to strengthening portals of time, the stone circles of Daklha and Eubonia.

The Tale

The legend is an outgrowth of the accord. With the shutting of the doors, man no longer had the balancing, softening--if somewhat befuddling--influence of the all the immortals. And the elementals so easily distracted became involved in their own internal squabbling. Darkness rushed in to fill the gap. Human society stratified and solidified, becoming even more unbalanced. During this period, Queb under the influence of evil created the Black Grimoire, and it in turn attained a life of its own, as all books do. The Mage or Wizards' Wars was fought over the control of this book--as if foolish mortal could control such a thing begotten of Satan. The war, which in fact took several of our decades, had only one real battle. It has no name because people prefer to forget it, and the Wizards' College, newly relocated to Pelopnos, and the guild laws effectively repressed any mention of it.

War became venerated, and the godling Og became an object of worship, elevated in the mortal mind to the status of god, feeding Og's ideas of greatness.

The long-forgotten tale, is based on the rape of Brigitta by the then-godling, Og, which is said to have occurred about the same time as the wizard's conflict. Before that Brigitta was the primary--in fact, the only-- `human' god in the entire northern pantheon of divines, and she claimed precedence over all the other deities of Eubonia, who were strictly local--with Fennec the Fox worshipped only in Firth, and Ullr the Bear in Uri.

After the rape, from which the godling Ares sprung, Og became a god. His influence was extended throughout the northern continent and even reached as far as Daklha. The goddess was eclipsed, becoming of secondary, while Fennec and Ullr were largely unaffected.

The rape is believed by some to have been a direct result of the imbalance caused by the sorcerous battle. Others contend, however, that the opposite is true. The downfall of the goddess and the subsequent instability caused the conflict on the earthly plane. Not surprisingly, it is the priestesses of Brigitta who have the only written record of the poem which they keep well hidden, even from themselves.

After the war, the sorcerer's guild barred women in its by-laws, from entry, and since the sorcerer's guild was the basis upon which all guilds were formed, women were eventually banned from all professions. So too, elementals and their descendants were prohibited for sorcery's halls, and the Wizard's College became solely man's domain and the two magics, of humanity and elf, became very different things. Man's being more frivolous and much less practical. One of the ironies of the situation was that the contestants in the deadly conflict that precipitated this edict had been strictly human, and the College lost a great deal more than it gained by closing its doors to the other races.

Up until that time, commerce between elf, dwarf, goblin, troll had been common. Only after man turned his back on the other species were the elfin mists erected, while goblins retreated to caves and trolls to their bridges. The tension became greater and greater, until the latter two species did the untenable, eating human flesh.

Another irony was that the College suppressed the information so effectively that even they forgot. They forgot the ballad, the prediction, even the existence of women within sorcery's halls before the great battle. Only the Archmage and the Grand Inquisitor both, charged with the keeping of the Black Grimoire, knew that Queb was more than just a myth. But the book was a thing best avoided; it could tempt many, and no few Archmages became a little strange. While Queb's name was still whispered, in college, cottage, hall and hold--invoked to scare unruly children into obedience. Some of more the archmage's damning preoccupations, such as the creation of human life, were neglected, and avoiding such dastardly crimes became the basis upon which wizardly ethics was built.

The Prophecy

The prophecy dates from the period immediately after the battle between Queb and the Wizards' College--during that time after the battle and before the complete suppression of women when they still found work as troubadours, minstrels and seers, largely self-employed occupations. Then an epic was written which told of a return of the old age, when men and women walked as equals. Each treated according to their talents. It predicted the return of women to their positions of helpmate. A word that had a far different meaning than that does now, implying neither submission nor subservience but assistance between peers.

This would occur after certain criterion were met. When mage and elf, mortal and elemental lie in love's embrace. When godling Ares walked abroad in mortal flesh. And the `houses' of immortal and mortal, elf and man would wed.

Then would follow a time of great chaos and upheaval when all the species would have to choose between isolation or unity. Of course, no legend or war is respectable unless good and evil get thrown in there somewhere, and in this, the epic was no different. It described a conflict where dark would be light and light, dark. So, the forces of darkness would work for the common good and forces of light mistaken for evil.

Salvation would come in the shape of a woman, both princess and priestess in her own right, and a sorceress whose talent no man could deny. The maid would be to pass `time's portals unhindered'. (It is interesting to note that this is the only time, in these specific verses, that the phrase is used, implying that once man knew of elementals's sacrifice and the planar accord.) Thus, bringing down the walls that divided the different species. The inequality between man and woman would be redressed and the balance would be restored. And wizard and priestess would walk the land once more as before.

Like many things "female", the epic and that which it foretold was dismissed after troubadours formed a guild and the occupation denied to women. Queb became a name to frighten children and the saga itself relegated to the status of nursery rhyme.

The Poem

The ballad exists in fragments. As often happens with folktales, there are several regional variations. The most of complete of which belong to the snow elves. In essence they all say the same thing. The various versions are listed below:

Snowelves

When human grasp exceeds his reach,

And sorcery's circle is undone,

Goddess magic no longer preached,

Mortal destruction is begun.

The great mother ravaged by godling.

So, consort raises himself to king.

With goddess abused and overthrown,

Then man prevails o'er aged crone,

Og's hammer crushes the dove,

And war is valued over love.

When mortal lord and fay queen wed,

The covenant's renewed in marriage bed.

When Priestess of the gentle dove,

Couples with black mage in act of love.

When godling Ares walks abroad on earth.

Turning his back on the land of birth.

To attend rite at open portal door,

So, elementals fight an unholy war,

And mortal time roams mortal plane no more.

When elemental, elf, man and mage

Join their hands on world's stage

And plight their troth and as one unite

With the forces of eternal night.

When moon of blue and star of white

Bathe the world in silvery light,

To herald the beginning of a new age.

Human

(Shalop)

When mortal lord couples with air's fair queen

And Brigitta's Bride cleaves to night-dark mage

When star of blue wed flame of white, between

Sacred circle stones and time's great gate

Then comes the hour of man's darkest fate

When Hades teeming hordes rise and fight.

Then man and elf must chose between might and right.

Heralding the onset of the coming age . . .

(Norvon)

When woman and elf grace wizardry's halls,

When healers walk beyond temple walls,

When maid take hold of the sacred sword,

To turns aside Satan's hoard.

When strong hands, hands of steel,

Become the hands that heal.

When woman of indigo, like the darkest night,

Weds man of snow and northron lights

Stand side by side, together to fight

Human corruption and Satan's might

(Ticino)

When mortal lord and fairy queen wed in covenant's sacred marriage bed,

And Brigitta's fair bride couples with necromancy's black mage,

While moon of blue and star of white unite in silvery light.

Then time's scales will swing in the balance of eternity.

And demonic overlord with Hades hoards will rise to fight.

A battle between earth and fiend that shall usher in the coming age.

Of either virtue and light, or night's dark dread and living dead.

(Firth)

Firth has an additional stanza not found in any other of the regional variations.

When mountains topple in Highland home,

And the fox driven from his den to roam,

Through hill and dale to land of birth,

Then king is crowned in ancient Firth.
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