Keepers of Lore/Regions/Dantooine

The following story was gathered by Aspirant Viktor during his service in Dantooine, when the region had been connected to the Lurian Empire just a little while earlier.

The Wise Man and the Monsters

The scourge of monsters raged across the lands of Dantooine, terrorizing the populace and destroying their homes. One small village in the north had yet remained untouched, though strange sounds could be heard in the night and livestock had begun disappearing from the outlying farms. The villagers were desperately worried for their own safety yet knew not how to protect themselves from the threat.

The village knew of a wise man who lived in the woods to the east of their settlement. They journeyed to see him, and the wise man listened to their fears about the monsters. “Is there one among you who can handle a bow?”

“I can,” said the best hunter of the village.

“Good, and is there one among you who has oils that may be set aflame?”

“I do,” said the village’s candlemaker.

“Very well,” said the wise man. “You are to all gather in one house of the village, and create a ring of oil and candle wax around the house. I will come once over the next few nights and make terrible yells and moans. You are to ignite the flames to drive me off.”

The villages understood and left the wise man. They set about placing oil and candle wax completely around the hunter’s house in the village, and every night they would silently wait inside. One evening the villagers heard the calls and moans of the wise man. The sounds grew nearer and nearer, and the hunter took up his bow and set the arrow alight. Taking aim out the window, he fired the arrow into the ring of oil. A wall of flames spread up all around the house and the noises halted their approach. The moans and grunts began to fade into the night, and the villagers were relieved.

The town was happy for the next few days, but then a rider brought the news that a nearby village had been destroyed by several monsters. Worried again, the villagers returned to the wise man for his counsel. Listening, the wise man raised his voice. “Can any of you handle yourselves with tools?”

“I am able,” said the master carpenter of the village.

“I see. And does one of you have large amounts of straw and hay?”

“I do, in my farmhouse in the village,” said the settlement’s most prosperous farmer.

“Good,” said the wise man. “You are to all gather in the farmhouse and distribute the straw throughout. You must barricade the front door of the building and create a small back exit for yourselves. In several nights I shall come to the farmhouse. I will have the strength of ten men and try to break through the front. If I do, you must flee through the back and set the farmhouse on fire.”

The villages nodded and departed the wise man. The carpenter set about fortifying the main door of the farmhouse while his son created a small exit in the rear of the building. Straw was thrown everywhere, and every night the people gathered together. One evening the horrible moans and grunts were heard again. Soon, massive pounding was heard at the door of the farmhouse. The villagers gathered near the back and waited anxiously as the front door buckled. Wood began splintering and the doors would not hold for much longer. The carpenter shouted for the villages to leave through the back exit as he took a torch and began lighting the straw and hay on fire. Just as the doors were about to collapse, the carpenter also ran out through the back.

The villagers watched from the rear of the farmhouse as flames began to consume the building. The front of the barn collapsed first, and soon otherworldly screams and cries were heard from the inside. The yells and howls continued as the villages watched in silence before the entire barn collapsed inward.

The next day the villages slowly approached the wise man’s house, fearing they had killed him the night before. To their surprise he sat calmly in his kitchen and awaited their arrival. Answering their questioning looks, he raised his voice.

“My friends, I am sorry to have deceived you. It was not I who approached hunter’s house and was driven off by flame, nor was it I who attacked the barn last night and perished within. You have fought the actual monsters of this land, and you have survived against them. I only had to demonstrate that by working together and overcoming your fear could you be successful. Your courage has allowed you to overcome the threats of the monsters, and I trust this shall not be a lesson you will soon forget.”

Awestruck, the villagers left the wise man. They realized the truth behind his words and resolved to defend themselves against any other threats to the home. Yet from that day on, monsters were never seen or heard from again near that one village in the north.