Lands of Osai/Myth and Legend

Tales

Nocaneb's Watch

Legend has it that there was once a captain of the Nocaneb Guard with eyes as keen as a hawk. Being a handsome man, he attracted the attentions of a Dark Witch, but he refused her advances. Infuriated, she cast a curse on the captain, and his wondrous eyesight was lost.

Suddenly, the whole world became a blur, and the closer an object was, the worse his vision became. In a fit of despair, the captain stumbled up the long stairwell of the tallest tower in Nocaneb; the White Spire. There, at the highest point on the continent and the lowest point of his life, he readied himself to jump...and suddenly found clarity. Though everything close to him was only a mass of color, he saw the surrounding woodlands which stretched miles and miles away as clearly as if he were looking through a spyglass.

From then on, the captain established the Nocaneb Watch and to this day members of the watch guard the city like hawks.

How Euran Kandurell Lost His Nose

So you want to know how I lost my nose? I'll tell you the tale.

There was this enormous battle in Lenamaziel - Cathayans pouring down on us from all sides. We were all but trapped, we were massively outnumbered, and those Cathayan devils were coming at us screaming like devils. My men and I held against the onslaught - took a good many of them down to hell, but as time passed it became obvious that we Arcaeans just didn't have enough /men/. We were losing one man to their three, but that wasn't good enough odds. So, give this epic battle a few hours - imagine the stench, will you - and I'm standing on top of a pile of dead men about a dozen metres high!

All my men were dead by now, y'see, and I'm surrounded by the Cathayan horde. Let me tell you about the smell! I've got the bodies of a hundred men decaying below me, I've been sweating and bleeding on the battlefield for half a day, and then there are the Cathayans ... Anyway, after a while it gets so bad that I just rips my own nose off.

The Slaying of the Wyrm

There was once a King whose Queen was of great beauty, such that all wanted her. First she stayed by the King's side, and they went hand in hand everywhere. But on the eve of a great battle, a man came into her tent. The King mounted his head on a staff, but all in the realm knew that the Queen was not safe. So the King took her to a stronghold in the middle of a deep forest, where no man could reach her, with a tower so high that it touched the very clouds themselves. But there came a great bird, which could fly up to the tower's top, and almost snatched her away. The King made the bird's feathers were made into a cloak, but all in the realm knew that the Queen was not safe. So the King took her to a mighty city of pious people, where she would be protected by a thousand swords. But there came a fearsome dragon, which scared her guards and burnt the city. It was beaten off, but not before stealing from the Queen.

The King's fury was terrible, and he knew that so long as the dragon lived his Queen would be in danger. If this awesome beast could be slain, however, nobody would dare to cross him again. So he asked for the bravest knights in the realm to seek out and slay the dragon. First, a noble knight of valour and chivalry stood up, and fought the dragon with shield and sword. He was roasted in its flames, and there was great fear in the realm. So the King offered half his Kingdom to any man who could slay the terrible creature. Next, a clever knight with the speed of a sparrow went to fight the dragon. But the dragon was faster, and its cunning more base, and it slew the sparrow knight. And the realm greatly mourned, for the knight had been well loved. The King and Queen despaired that they would ever be rid of the dragon. So a fearful creature, a devil-knight, stepped forward to fight the dragon, and in a contest of strength slew the beast.

There was great rejoicing, and all were happy, for the demon knight proved a strong duke, and the King and Queen would not be troubled on the matter again.

Vusatu and Tuhpos

Long ago in the age of darkness before Arcaea first united these lands under one flag. The land devastated by the undead and monsters alike.

A dark castle dominated the landscape of Apasor, and in it a Diamon lord, Vusatu, intent on the extermination of man. He could see the devestation, and knew that with his leadership, the human blight could be removed from this land. Everyday he would gaze across the channel wishing for the death of humanity, but unable to act for long ago his wings had been stripped from him and he was cursed to never again travel without the ground soundly underfoot. Apasor was his prison for the rest of eternity. Gazing, thinking, hoping and wishing Vusatu's burning rage consumed him, but one day an idea struck him. "I can travel across any land, what I must do is transport the land I am on!"

Vusatu built a ship out of the land of Apasor, turning the moss into sails and the root of a great treat formed the backbone and main mast of the ship. Dirt and grass covered the exterior and clay sealed all of the inside. it was a marvelous ship, worthy of praise, and as Vusatu launched it towards the main island, a chilling roar of laughter was heard across the land.

a young noble heard this roar and peered out in the direction of Apasor, he knew well the legend of the trapped diamon, an as the monsterous ship came into view, he knew that it could not touch land. Quickly he gathered all his warriors together, spear men of the finest caliber and headed into the shallow water. He studied the ship as it approached, looking at its construction, and devising a plan. "Men, hold it back with your very lives! Soon it shall be destroyed."

the young noble sprints back to shore, and grabs a section of a dead tree, a chunk of good dirt, and his families amulet of enlargement. As he returns the boat is inching towards the land and Vusatu is not long from realizing his dream. The nobleman places the dirt next to the boat and chants the incantation used to activate the enlargement amulet. An earthworm wider than the wheel of a caravan grows from the dirt and begins borrowing through the sides of Vusatu's ship. Again with the wood and a termite as large as a man begins eating the great tree. soon all this is left is the clay that lined the boat, and the young man grabs his soldiers spear and thrusts with all his might. the side splinters and the boat begins to sink. Vusatu lets out a earth rattling roar as the water touches him and forces him from this dimension.

Wild cheers echo across the sea as those gathered erupt in praise. The king of the land rushes into the watter to thank this young nobleman and asks, "Great sir, what is your name."

"It is Tuhpos my lord."

The king smiled, "Hence forth this land shall be called Tuhpos, and be the possession of this knight and his family"

And from that day until his last Tuhpos ruled the land.