Keepers of Lore/Regions/West Divide

Discover the height of West Divide.

The Air is Warmer on the Other Mountain

This was a story told to Bowie Ironsides while climbing through the West Divide. He recorded it and shared it with the Keepers of Lore. It is a popular tale used by parents to teach their nearly adult children.

The Tale

It once happened where a very young man living on this very mountain in this very village said to his mother that he had decided to leave the village and move to the South Divide. His reasoning was that the air was warmer more south and he would have a better life away from this stifling village. Here is what his mother said to him.

“Oh my son, every one thinks the air is warmer on the other mountain, but have they ever been to the South Divide? It is much bigger than our West Divide with a few more peaks and a great cave. The troubles they have are far worse than ours, and their people have more worries for food than us. You expect to find adventure and romance in the South Divide, right? What if I were to tell you that the young men living in the South Divide believe the same thing for the West Divide? Would you see this village as stifling then? There is a reason why your parents and their generation remained here, it is our home, and it is where we have chosen to build our lives. The South Divide belongs to other villages and other families. Let them toil on it. You belong to the West Divide. You know, when I was your age your father felt the same desire to leave the West Divide, except he wanted to go to a rural region and become a farmer. Do you know what his mother told him? She said, ‘Son, you must learn that home is where the heart is, and your heart is where your treasures lay, and family is what a person must treasure most, so there is nowhere you should rather be than right here with us at home.’ He learned that he did not have to waste time learning a truth his parents already figured out. Her wisdom convinced him. He accepted tradition and remained here with me. You must be disciplined and do the same.”

The young man still wanted to see the South Divide and live its great glory, but after he thought about what his mother said, and tried to place it in the context of his life, he too realized that he belonged home on the West Divide, just as all people belong to their homes wherever in Dwilight that may be.