Memories of Waldenia: Chapter I

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Spoiler

 

Aus Einigkeit Kraft

MEMORIES OF WALDENIA

Chapter I: Of Folklore and Legends

 

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FOREWORD

 

Greetings, reader! 

 

The Memories of Waldenia were first published in the Book of Waldenia, but I found them to be rather short and poorly describing the long and rich history of our culture. So, I took it upon myself to travel across the Waldenian realms, hearing and recording many tales, poems and legends along my way, from the eldest of our brothers and sisters.

 

I will be publishing my recordings in three chapters, which together will form the book to be known as Memories of Waldenia, which I hope to be another addition to the Great Book, written by Princes Johann and Ulrich. It is to be noted though, that many of the writings in these three Chapters have only been passed from generation to generation by word of mouth and there may be differentiating versions or parts that some might have heard told differently.

 

Nevertheless, I hope this writing sheds some more light to the history of our people, and if anyone wishes to tell a tale of their own, passed to them by their sires or grandsires, they may contact me at their earliest convenience.

 

Gott Mit Uns,

Herr Ludwig von Alstreim

 

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DIE BLUTIGE DAME VOM AESTERWALD

The Bloody Lady of Aesterwald

The first tale I was told takes us back to the long-forgotten times of Aesterwald, which you might remember was almost utterly destroyed by the vile attack of a group of blood mages, which sought to sacrifice the entire Aesterwaldian populace.

 

According to the tale, a single woman survived the explosion and remained in the ruins after the exodus of the other surviving Waldenians. This woman, who had left her home right before the attack, wandered the ruins before arriving next to her old - now destroyed home, which had become a pile of rubble. Desperately, she attempted to dig out her children from under the rubble and ash, but to no avail. 

 

The tale says, that hundreds of years later, as the expedition led by King Corwin von Alstreim made camp next to the ruins of Aesterwald, a group of men who went to patrol the ruins could hear a faint, sobbing sound coming from one of the collapsed buildings, the sound resembling a ballad with a tongue they could not comprehend. It began to rain as the men made closer, and fithin the fog and rain, in front of the building they could see a very faint humanoid form, its arms wrapped around its knees in despair.

 

It is said that if any man tries to venture close to the collapsed house, they can hear the Bloody Lady’s singing growing and see its form rising up, as if guarding the resting place of her children.

 

DER RATTENFÄNGER VON BORIËNWALD

The Pied Piper of Boriënwald

There are many tales used to warn children of not following strangers, but perhaps the most famous one is the tale of the Pied Piper. The legend says that in the ancient town of Boriënwald, the children would love to gather around a Piper, wearing a multicolored dress, who used to play his tunes to the children.

 

One day though, children would suddenly start to disappear in the town, and rumors said that after his displays, the Pied Piper would start to play a different tune with his pipe, and this would attract children, who would begin to follow the Pied Piper. The more child friendly version of the tale says that once the children were ruled away, they would enter into a land with only vegetables and no treats or playtime! … But in truth, they were most likely consumed by a frost mage, or some other Ibleesi serving scum.

 

DER GNÄDIGE UND DER UNGNÄDIGE WIRT

The gracious and the ungracious host

The Waldenians are known for their hospitality, among other things, but did you know there exists a story for where our hospitality comes from? A long, long time ago, a stranger walked through the cold northern lands, hungry and freezing. The stranger came to a pause next to a mighty Raevir castle, where the Lord of the castle was holding a grand feast, with the joy, music and warmth echoing across the barren lands.

 

The stranger asked for entry, but was refused, for he was not of noble blood, unfitting to enter into a Lord’s feast. The stranger continued on his journey, until he came to a small farmer’s hut, which was owned by a Waldenian family of eight. The farmer explained how he did not have much for the stranger, but would still share a meal with him. The stranger ate and slept, until the next day before leaving told the farmer, “For your kindness and hospitality, may your fields be plenty with wheat, and may no drought, heat or cold kill your crops for a hundred years.” 

 

And so it was, the farmer and his descendants would have a plentiful harvest for the next century, while the castle’s Lord’s harvest would feel the weather’s wrath.

 

AUFDENSTILZCH DER KLEINE

Aufdenstilzch the Little

Aufdenstilzch’s origin is quite unclear, but well, what wouldn’t be in a writing such as this. Anyways, Aufdenstilzch always appeared as a little man with a beard and a very deep voice, usually wearing a green tunic and a red homburg. His stature was small, hence the name. It is unclear whether he was a dwarf, a halfling or an imp, but most seem to agree that he was in fact an imp. 

 

The story goes that Aufdenstilzch was like a ghost or a spirit, few ever saw him, but his presence could be felt as he made noises in the dark, or broke plates and other furniture, or when he beat two pans together, waking the entire House. But whenever someone tried to catch him, they only got a glimpse of his red homburg before he had already disappeared.

 

However, one night a local guardsman managed to capture Aufdenstilzch, but instead of jailing or killing him, the guard promised to let Aufdenstilzch go, only if the imp would steal the key to the city’s treasury from the Treasurer. Aufdenstilzch accepted, and the next day he brought the Treasury’s key to the guardsman. The guardsman managed to rob the treasury, but for the remainder of his days, he could hear Aufdenstilzch sneaking around his house, making noises and whispering of theft and treachery.

 

DIE LEGENDE DES BOREALIS-WALDES

The Legend of the Borealis Forest

During the times of the Westerlands, there reigned a Lord of a small keep, inhabiting a section of the Borealis forest. The Lord was cruel and sinful, enjoying the ways of gluttony, inactivity and torture in opposition to the rest of the Westerlandian Lords. His ways were known to the local populace, and one day, the Father of the local church had had enough of the Lord’s sinful ways. 

 

The Father made his way to the Lord’s court, where he proclaimed that unless the Lord renounced his sinful ways and pledged his levies to the fight against the undead, his family and holdings would be forgotten to history and swallowed by the earth. The Lord in response, had the Father executed for supposed High Treason. 

 

After this, the forest around the Lord’s keep kept growing uncontrollably, soon encompassing the keep’s gates and windows. Any attempts to leave were thwarted by the thick forest. It is said that the Lord ate himself to death, all the while the forest around him swallowed his keep and family.

 

DAS SCHICKSAL EINES BLUTSVERRÄTERS

The fate of a blood traitor

There exists the phrase; “No Waldenian shall spill the blood of another Waldenian.” To our luck, these words have held true for decades, but it always wasn’t so. Once upon a time, there existed two brothers, not of blood but of arms and culture. They had grown together, played together, but by the whim of destiny, the two eventually found themselves on the opposite sides of a brutal war.

 

They faced each other on the field of battle, but one of the brothers would not wish to fight against his brother. He evaded and parried, not once making an attempt to strike at his brother, who instead kept on charging at him. Eventually, his strength would leave him and he was struck down. For his act of treachery, the remaining brother would be cursed to wander through that field of battle, never able to stop, with the memories of their lost childhood playing in front of him.

 

EIN WICHTEL UND EIN ZAHN

A Imp and a Tooth

Beware, children, for there is a tale of a child who didn't brush his teeth, and it is not a kind one. One day, a young boy noticed how his teeth had fallen off. Excited, he showed it to his mother, who placed the teeth in a jar … Which was a habit, for some reason, anyways.

 

During the night, the boy woke up to a sound of someone sneaking in the kitchen. The boy rose up and went to see what the noise was all about, and in his shock he saw a small, plump man in a green tunic and a red hat observing his tooth, murmuring something to himself. The plump man then suddenly turned to the boy with a hiss! “It is dirty! It needs to be clean! Clean, I say!” And with that, the plump man just seemed to disappear..

 

Next day as the boy woke up, he noticed that the tooth seemed to have never left his mouth. As he went to observe the jar, it was gone from there also, but the boy could see small footsteps in the snow leading from the house to the forest.. From that day on, the boy washed his teeth properly, and no teeth ever again reappeared in his mouth!

 

DER BRÄUTIGAM IM MONDLICHT

The Groom in the Moonlight

First off, it is important to make some clarifications. In old Reinmaren times, a horse groom would be a man who had been taught and had mastered the ways of horsemanship and horse care. Although the Reinmaren were distinguished by their horsemanship and pure number of horses, one man stood out from the rest, named Hermann Baier, who acted as Groom to the Chief of the Reinmaren.

 

Long after Hermann’s death, one Reinmaren horse groomer would earn the nickname of ‘Geist-Hermann’, meaning the Spirit of Hermann, as he followed in the footsteps of the old Reinmaren horse groomer. One night, a raiding party attacked the Reinmaren village, with a battle raging on for days. Geist-Hermann, incapable of fighting, instead fell to his knees before a statue of the old Hermann Baier, muttering a silent prayer.

Suddenly, the moon’s light brightened to a flash, and a figure stood there before the statue. The figure had long, blond hair, and the mightiest of war steeds Geist-Hermann had ever seen. The figure charged the bandit lines, with none being a match to his mighty steed. Soon after the bandits fled the field, and the townsfolk turned to look at their savior. The figure extended a faint smirk to them, before a flash of blinding moonlight engulfed the town, taking the mysterious rider with it.

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