A story

((Wyrmrest Accord))

Allow me to tell you a story my father used to tell me as a boy.

It is a fairy-tale. But, it is not the sort of fairy-tell that they tell children now. It is a raw story, to teach a lesson through blood and pain.

If you're willing to listen, maybe you will even hear what it is that is meant to be learned.

There once was a cave. Within the cave, the Earth Mother gave birth. From her loins sprang all the gods and goddesses there ever were. From the cave and her womb was all the things that ever came to be in the world. From joy and happiness to death and change.

Centuries passed, and a large kingdom and small village was built near the Cave of the World. However, no citizens dared ventured near it. For the cave was a sacred and hallowed ground.

But, the kingdom and the village were in dire strife. A drought had killed the crops and threatened to destroy the people.
Within the kingdom was a large castle. The castle housed the king's massive army and noblemen and women. The king would not let his army starve. Even though the village was on the brink of collapse, he still had grain and water to feed the people closest to him.

The village would not stand for this. They demanded their king come and address the issues of the drought.

The night before the king arrived to speak to his people, a bold girl within the village traveled to the Cave of the World. She prayed to the Mother Goddess and all of her children.

The girl heard a voice. And the voice told her to take a rock from the cave and strike the king when he came to speak.

Only a fool ignores the voice of a god.

The king came. He was a greedy and wicked man, and when the people called out for food, he laughed at them and told them to make their bread with sawdust and ash.

Out of anger, the girl threw the rock from the Cave of the World. It soared through the air, above the villagers and soldiers alike. It struck the king in the temple, and he fell dead.

Days later, the king's son took the throne. He was a generous, kindly man. He took all the grain from the castle and distributed it to the villagers. And they were happy.

But, the soldiers and noblemen noticed their rations being depleted from what they once were. One soldier in particular found the rock that killed the king. Out of a sense of irony and justice, he struck the prince in the back of the skull and killed him with the stone Of the World.

Both the castle and the village were now facing disaster. Both were starved and leaderless. Both were set to collapse.

The bold girl of the village found the cursed rock from the Cave of the World. It was the same stone that had tasted the blood of the gods, the blood of the evil king, and the blood of the benevolent prince. Out of bitterness, she threw the unlucky stone off a steep ravine.

Then, the voice of the gods whispered to her. If she threw herself from the ravine and sacrificed more blood, all would be forgiven.

She had no choice. She could kill herself and follow the will of the gods, or she could starve. The girl threw herself off the cliff. Her heart was crushed against the stone, and her bones turned to seafoam. The stone devoured her blood as it promised.

The next day, rain began to fall. It was a hard, weeping rain that cleansed the world and swept the drought away. Crops began to flourish, and the seasons harvest was in abundance. Both the castle and the village was saved.

And that is the end.