2009-06-20
The lizard king and his wife stood there on their back legs, he in his little red coat, she in her little purple dress, both outfits rimmed with the purest white of dandelion down. His skin looked to be set with hundreds of tiny little dark emeralds, his underbelly a light jade. Her skin looked to be hundreds of tiny pieces of jade, her underbelly the softest ivory. Their eyes were the purest of amber set into their heads, their pupiles the blackest of onyx.
Underground in Saryria is the Faery Kingdom, lost to the knowledge of all but the greatest of wizards.
Long, long ago at the dawn of creation, the faeries danced and sang and gave knowledge and language to the many creatures they encountered.
Lizards and birds and insects were given vibrant colors and taught how to use them. The lizards and birds and insects entertained their newly-created audiences alongside the faeries every night. The faeries taught humans how to make wine. Perhaps a little too well, for many of those first nights in the beginning of creation have never been remembered by the humans. But, the faeries knew, and they wrote the first of the our history books. The faeries taught the creatures how to tend their special fruits and gave that for all to eat. Even the great cats and wolves couldn't resist the sweet fruits and never thought of harming another living thing.
All was very peaceful, all things were friends with one another, the nights and days passed merrily by.
But these weren't the only faeries in the world. No, there were darker faeries lurking in the shadows. Things were too quiet. They knew if things remained as they did, none of the creatures would advance in there respective evolutions and civilizations, and to have them drink their lives away in the sun was no way to live a life.So the dark faeries crept in one night, and one by one, whispered things in the sleeping creatures' ears, giving them not-so-nice dreams. To the wolves and great cats, the scent of meat and the teasing taste of it on their tongue was dreamed. The poor things awoke baffled. It was not the sweet fruits they so loved, yet it was also a very tempting thing to eat. For days the dark faeries flitted around the ears of the hapless cats and wolves, telling them that others held this meat from them, which confused the great cats and wolves greatly. All creatures shared with one another, why would they hoard another food? The faeries told them only of plants to eat, never of what this "meat" was.
The dark faeries saw that the great cats and wolves were eager to try meat and they looked for the first creature to be sacrificed for another's survival. By now, enough time had passed many creatures had small families and the dark faeries decided that a very young child would do as an easy first hunt. The dark faeries went to the child and whispered evil deeds into its ear. The child was told of the sweetness of puppies and dogs, and the only way to get this was to tap a wolf pup with a stick. Eventually its yelp would become a bark, and the first domestic dog and domestic cat would come.
The poor child, barely old enough to walk, much less comprehend the evilness of what he was asked, set out the next day to make the first dog. It didn't take him long to find a wolf pup, for back then all creatures lived close to each other, and he called the pup to him. The little pup still all grey in his puppy fur went to the child, not fearing anything, and his parents hardly watching for bad things never happened. But this memory was soon replaced as their pup yelped from being beaten with a stick. The pup's parents were very angry and meant only to nip the child as they did their own children. But the cub of a human is much weaker than the cub of a wolf, and the child received a deep wound. The wolf then knew where this new food was, and the child was gobbled up by the wolf family.
The child's parents searched for days and days, calling for their missing child. Nothing had ever died but many games were played, and his parents thought he was just being naughty by hiding from them. But the days went by and the child never appeared. The faeries then began to search, for they cared deeply for all of their friends they had found in this new world. They flitted around to all of the creatures, asking if they had seen the human cub. None knew where the child was.
The faeries came to the home of the wolves and asked them if they had seen the child. They had and the faeries wept over what the wolves had done. The wolves were more confused then some very sorry, others felt indignant that the faeries claimed they had done something wrong by defending themselves.
The first wrong and the first death had been committed in just a few brief moments, but those moments set about a rift between the first beings of the world. Long and unpleasant arguments came between friends. Creatures split into sides, some believing the child in his ignorance should have been instead lectured on behavior, others believing he deserved his death for being the first to ever harm another living thing. The humans were very angry and mourned the loss of their child heavily. The dark faeries coaxed them to take revenge on the wolves, and soon the same wolf pup that was beaten with the stick was killed by the child's parents. The pup's fur was made into a small shawl for another of the human children and this child bore it with pride against the wolves for she missed her playmate very much.
The wolves were very angered by this and declared war on the humans.
The faeries had to invoke a new magic they thought they would never have to use and spun a large net between the wolves and humans before they both fought each other to their deaths. They reprimanded both for having acted so wrongly and foolishly. Tempers were cooled, but not extinguished, and was able to work out an agreement between them even though the agreement wasn't very nice.
The wolves would not harm the humans again, so long as the humans did not harm the wolves.
The humans would not harm the wolves again, so long as the wolves did not harm the humans.
Both still harbored hate in their hearts and the fairies knew this. The days of fun and dancing were over for all of these creatures new in this world. The faeries called together all of their new friends and warned them of the faeries' darker brothers who they knew had been the ones to cause this terrible mischief. Each creature was told to go their own way in the world, far, far away from each other, so that none could be near enough for another tragedy to occur.
Sadly, each creature took its family and left the little land they had come to know as home. The faeries began to teach each one what to eat, because they could no longer live in the little enchanted grove with the faery fruit. They began first with the elk and rabbits.
But while they taught the elk and rabbits, the dark faeries came again to the great cats and wolves and taught them how to hunt the other creatures who had turned their backs on them, so they could always have the sweet meat. Still bitter from the loss of the pup and their home, the wolves didn't shoo the evil faeries away, and the great cats, who had been on the side of the wolves from the beginning of the whole mess, also learned how to hunt.
When the good faeries learned of this treachery, they were angry but couldn't change the minds of the wolves and cats. The faeries knew that it would be easy for the wolves and cats to hunt down their fellows, and decided to make things as difficult as they could for both. All creatures were then given new pelts and markings, whether for them to hide better with spotted and dappled pelts, to defend themselves better with claws and sharp hooves and teeth, or to run away faster with longer or stronger legs.
The humans were torn, not sure whether they should become hunters or remain farmers. The good faeries talked to them by day and the evil faeries whispered in their ears by night. Eventually they worked out they would do both, much to the displeasure of both faeries.
All the creatures since then have worked out their own philosophies and morals and have forgotten those first years with the faeries. The wolves and great cats do not hunt out of a wish to cause harm, but merely because they are not equipped to harvest the grass. The elk and rabbits eat the grass and make the survival of their hunters as difficult as the hunters make their survival by running or fighting for their lives. Each lives honestly to their own beliefs, neither good, neither evil, but just trying to survive without completely disrupting those around them.
The humans all but forgot the first years, and set about making their homes and farming and at times hunting. The humans who remember those years seek for the faeries. Some were lucky and found the good faeries, still dancing and singing and drinking their days away. The humans joined them and the faeries merrily imparted the last of their knowledge to the humans and taught them magic. Thus, where the first wizards came from.
But the other humans searching for the faeries found the evil faeries, and the evil faeries in their mischievous glee taught the easily tempted humans the dark arts. Thus, where the first warlocks came from.
The faeries withdrew from the world after that, or so everybody thinks. One can still find, if one looks hard enough, the lizards and birds and insects dancing and singing the way the faeries taught them to. And if one is unfortunate enough to find, the dark faeries still whisper evil things into the ears of creatures who sometimes listen and do very bad things to another.
