Supplement Entry: A Legend at Storytime

There are a few things that pirates and vagabonds love, treasure, adventure, freedom, and stories. Haunted tales of the high seas or amazing adventures of old pirates who tried to take on all of Gaia with nothing more than their crew and their grit. Even none pirate tales are told around the campfires around the islands, A horned grey devil taking Gaia by storm with her music, a sultry eastern fox charming the countries, love stories, and even deadly evils that blight the land. All exaggerated of course, and missing volumes of content, like all great tales have in common.
 
Since the near end of Gaia due to yet another War of Madness about sixty years ago, tales of the heroes and villains have changed and morphed to become either more epic or more nefarious. Some developing into childhood ghost stories. The war changed so much about Gaia, but mostly it changed the people who tried to help the world. The luckiest warriors during that horrible time fell, or lost their souls completely, people don't truly understand the horrors of surviving.
 
A particular "boogie man" type story that spread like wildfire along the mighty Silver Seas was the tale of the Orphan Maker, the Angel of Disaster. This story being a particular favorite of a young woman who lived for a long time in a village on one of the main hub islands. Islands that house massive docks and take hundreds of ships a day that go back and forth, which means travelers aplenty. New people all the time to trade stories and treasures, one such group currently at an open way point gathered around a fire as the sun slowly faded over the horizon.
 
"That's so cool! What about you? Where are you coming from?" A young woman with crimson hair gets to know new travelers from over the seas. A young terran woman answers her question happily, "Oh I come from Pentagulia!" The excited young woman, Morrigan, suddenly looks a little less excited, "Oh...Pentagulia...that's neat." The terran woman raises an eyebrow, "Is..Pentagulia, bad?" Morrigan waves her hands feeling guilty about her reaction, "No no no I'm sorry, Pentagulia is fine...I have family there. Anyway have you guys heard about the Orphanmaker?!" Morrigan proclaims with an excited face, ready to tell one of her favorite scary stories. The new visitors looked on with interest, as few other locals rolled their eyes getting ready for yet another butchering of the tale by the excitable young demi-human. She was endearing in her own way and still just a child, but they stuck around for the spectacle of it all.
 
"Whenever the sky is clear sometimes you can see her, The Orphanmaker! She rules the skies with her decapitated....decepticon... deceptive, YES deceptive bright pure white angelic wings. Those wings hiding a murderous rage!" Morrigan jumps up on her chair and looks adorably menacing. Her large canine lifting his head and rolling his eyes.
 
One of the newcomers to the islands leans to a native, "Who is this kid, she just hangs out alone?" The native turns to her and chuckles, "Oh she may look like a kid, but she is a monster. I've personally seen her kick some bandit a good ten feet into the seas." The newcomer looks astonished and appears impressed. She is shocked as the energetic demi-human appears behind her and continues her tale, "Her short body being carried by these feathery wings, a short and deadly creature wearing a mask with green locks blazing like fire!.....does she have a mask? damn....sure YES a mask on her face. Some say she is a kind of halfling, or a gnome, other claim she is a mutant daiya-jin! Following behind her at all times is her companion, a terrifying deadly giant cat, WIIITH..." She pauses for dramatic effect facing away from the group. As she pauses a small woman slowly manifests on one of the chairs. The group suddenly looks over to see what appears to be a small gnome with large folded feathery wings, green hair framing her delicate sad face. A tressym landing softly on her shoulder and looking worried. The group's head filled with the description that Orri was giving and looked a little worried, the gnome figure glared at them very subtilty and most of them seemed to get the hint and snuck away as Morrigan suddenly turned back around,"...WITH IT'S OWN SET OF SCARY WINGS!" Morrigan looks around, "Oh...where did everyone go? Did they get scared?" She puts her hands on her hip with a little pride, "I'm a pretty good scary story teller." Orri looks at the new comer, and Artemis seems to get an uneasy feeling, "Hey...momma I don't think..." He is cut off by Orri waving friendly, "Hello!"
 
Linoon scans the area, pretending to just have noticed the missing people. "Yes, they must have left after your description of that fierce panther," she lies with a smirk. "Pardon my asking, but I arrived a bit late. What does the 'Orphanmaker' look like again?" Orri smiles brightly, “Oh yeah! Some say she is some kind of short gnomy sort of person, an angelic figure, with bright feathery wings! Pretty but deadly! Only children survive her wrath.” Morrigan makes a scary fingers gesture. "Is that so? Sounds so familiar," the small figure states while flying closer, and what summons these terrors? What causes them to leave only children behind?" Orri nods, “It IS so!” Orri smiles not making any connections, “No one knows for sure, it might be because maybe the Orphanmaker likes kids, or maybe couldn’t have them…I’m not sure people always stopped telling me those parts, saying I was too young.” She huffs a little bit, “I prefer love stories anyway.” Linoon sinks a little, "Love stories? What if I told you the Orphanmaker started as a love story? A love between two people who found each other against all odds as the world fell apart due to the chaos of war around them?" Orri’s eyes light up brightly and start listening intently, “REALLY?! That’s so beautiful! Just like my parents story!!” Morrigan steps closer waiting for more, with her hands clasped together, hearts in her eyes. "Yes, it was..." she says while drifting into memory, the slightest wetness forming around her eyes. "They were so happy. They had such great dreams. In her early life, the Orphanmaker only had one dream. One goal. To prepare for the War of Madness. To recruit whoever she could to halt the abominations seeking to destroy Gaia. Her earliest recruit and most loyal companion was Sedna..." The gnome stops suddenly, as if saying that name caused her great pain. Orri looks at her with hearts in her eyes, then looks concerned, “..oh are you ok?” "No," she says honestly, wiping a tear from her eye. "It hurts so much to talk about them...but it's so important for her deeds to live on. Sedna..." her voice cracks again but she quickly recovers. "She was the best of us. The best of the platoon the gnome gathered together to fight in the War of Madness. A proud shaman from the Great Plateau ten times the size of her diminutive companion. She was blessed by Undine with mastery over healing water. Sedna always left a place better than how she found it...caring for the sick, helping the poor, and taking in kids into her orphanage." Morrigan smiles happily, somehow knowing the word orphanage, “Oh wow, that’s so amazing! I’m adopted myself. So she was a hero, my mother told me some people from the tower fought in the war. It must have been them!….um do you need a hug?” Orri looks down at her with a simple but compassionate smile. “Yes…” she says in a whisper. “I mean no…it’s…it’s just.” The stranger seems unable to get the words out and focuses in on something else. “They were heroes…selfless heroes willing to sacrifice everything. More than anything else, the gnome wanted her love to survive. Her hands were best able to heal the world in the aftermath of all that devastation. But the gnome wasn’t able to save her. She wasn’t able to save anyone from her platoon.” A river of tears erupts in a flood down the tiny stranger’s face. Orri starts to cry with her, moved to tears by this story, without a moments hesitation Morrigan hugs the tiny stranger, “Stories get to you too huh? But my mom always likes to say that a tragic love story can still be beautiful! The fact that the love was so strong is the important part!” Orri wipes the tears from her face. The stranger breathes, “Just the stories I bore witness to,” she finally says after a long time soaking in the hug. “The love was so strong…and so pure…she was carrying my child…but love wasn’t enough. She was stolen from me by a deceiver who broke the chains of Fate!” The “Orphanmaker" sees the lack of turning wheels in Orri’s head, almost a reminder of Sedna’s similar intelligence, “You were there?! Is that last part a portion of the story? The big lady stole your baby?!?!…oh my goodness….broke the chains of fate?” Orri whispers, “..like the tower?” The similarity to her shaman were almost comforting “Yes…I was there,” she says somberly. “The story is mine. I am the monster that is left without my sweet Sedna. I followed the rules, protected Gaia, and restored the Chains of Fate. For that, I was punished. Mayvin the deceiver…the breaker of the chains…she was rewarded for her selfishness with eternal bliss with the woman she loved…all while I picked up the pieces of the mess she left behind.” A sudden look of horror is plastered over Orri’s face, “Uhhh wait…are you sure?” “You’re the love story?!” Linoon looks up “I was…” she says bitterly. “You know of the tower so must be one of the new Fated. Ask the merchant. He was there. He and I were good friends back then.”
 
“Well I was told about the tower…um..by someone…I haven’t been there yet. Do…do you think there are a lot of people named Mayvin?” A look of confusion on the tiny gnome, “Then your parents must be former Fated. I haven’t met any in a long while. When your time comes, always remember that there are consequences to your actions.” She dwells on Orri’s question for a bit before answering, “Perhaps Mayvin could be common, but the one I speak of hails from the Weathersby family of Citadel. I idolized her when I was younger because of her generosity to Ruin’s Gate. Little did I know then that her charity was a weak act of penance. She passed on her problems onto the next generation so easily in the name of love.” Orri stands there silent for a few seconds blinking, slowly hiding her sketchbook with her familt crest on it, “Oh…Wheatherby huh?..what a stupid name...." Morrigan attempts to recover, "Well love is a powerful thing to motivate, it's beautiful and pure!” her mind seems to do somersaults as she reels from someone talking about her moms in such a way. These things couldn't be true, right? Mom had to be given back her name so Terra could heal...right? The true romance of punching fate in the face for love swirled in Morrigan's head. Her brain went into a thought spiral.
 
Suddenly her odd compulsion starts to itch, “Wait a minute?! You were a fated? So that means you’re really strong right?!” The tiny stranger nearly reeled from the change of subject, “Well…I didn’t start off strong. My talent lies in Magecraft, but my mastery over spells grew till I became nearly unequaled.” Morrigan's excitement waivered slightly, mages weren't big fighters and her Mother's prejudice in her mind, “Oh..magic huh?….” Linoon notices the young girl doesn’t carry a single weapon, but is oddly toned and muscular for someone so young. Also the medium sized dog that seems nervous behind her, worried that his master might say something murder worthy. “So you’re like goddish now? Could we spar sometime?!” Artemis does a face paw and starts to worry. Linoon looks her up and down and remembers Gwinne, “A member of my platoon was a master of unarmed combat. Though she could also lash out with the tendrils on her back. I’ve never been asked to spar before.” Morrigan looks at the mage and thinks that a god like person can do many things, “It’s so much fun! My Uncle Chuchu taught me all about it! You knew someone like me?! Are they around?!” Orri seems to get truly excited. “She is…watching over us right now, but not in a form that can fight as she used to. You can spar against her puppet if you like.” In an instant, a circular portal opens and a woman carved of wood steps out. “WHOA! A wooden lady?!…So she did that ascension thing and became a god? What was her name?” Linoon looks at the puppet, “Gwinne, say hello to…to…I’m sorry, I never caught your name. Gwinne the Dragonslayer was one of her most widely known names.” Orri goes into noble bred mode and stands straight, “Oh! Right!.” She bows a little, “My name is Morrigan Whe…uh...the Crimson Hero!!….wait a minute! Gwinne?! From my favorite book?!” She produces a paper back version of “A Knight to Remember”, “This Gwinne!?" Orri hugs the book and sighs happily, "The man in the book is so....Oh Sir Aaron...he is so dreamy!” Linoon takes the book and looks over the image on the cover fondly. “That’s them. Sir Aaron was quite the charming knight. I remember their wedding as if it were only yesterday.” Orri's jaw drops, “YOU WERE THERE?! Oh my gosh oh my gosh…it must have been so beautiful, it’s so romantic! She forgot him and he works hard to make her fall in love all over again!” She gets dreamy eyes again and nearly swoon but gracefully catches herself as if her body has it’s own mind and she stands tall again. “Been there? I basically planned the whole thing. I was almost her maid of honor but Grunnhilda beat me to it. Oh the dress shopping I forced everyone to do!” Morrigan looks more excited, “Dresses? I make dresses! It’s so much fun!….Grunnhilda?…oh…Mother wouldn’t let me read that book.” She look annoyed. “Really? The fairy that wanted to fly is a children’s book. No harm in that. But you make dresses? I used to have dresses and robes in every shade of purple. But none of them were made with room for feathered wings. Might be nice to get something new.” The demi-human looks impressed, “Purple?! Wow you must be rich! Like dozens of..” the dog walks up and growls something at Orri, “Oh..like thousands of gald” the dog rolls it’s eyes. “Oh that one? No not the children's book. I think the other one was called Body Count…I still don’t understand the title.” Linoon’s face goes red at the mention of the book title. “Oh no…don’t read that one. Our favorite dirt pixie had an open door policy with the nobles of Tressenia. The sequel was even worse…The Bush of Plenty.” Orri looks at her with an all too familiar unintelligent look for Linoon, “She never locked her doors?” The Orphanmaker shakes her head, "Nope, kept it wide open."
 
Morrigan spends the night barely understanding the significance of meeting a living legend, demanding to fight her wooden puppets and getting beaten nearly every time. Linoon surprised at the joyful and child like demeanor as the demi-human jumped back up from every defeat and wanted to try again. The distraction of this simple minded young woman a very welcoming thing. Hoping this heroic type martial artist would remember their encounter.
 
A couple weeks later Morrigan completely forgets the meeting between her and a legend, due to a new series of ships coming into port, one harboring an old green goblin. While on that ship finds a novel about a beautiful new love story of a gnome and an Arakai, no recollection was had, but pray that legend never finds the connection between Morrigan and her dear Mother, Mayvin Wheathersby.