Deer cart

General

The cart on which Ruibheadh the sibling of Ruiseadh was riding. In some oral traditions it was named after the settlement Fiadh'ruindæ had to abandon prior to the outbreak of Forced oversight in the land of Talamhoidh. By many seen as a symbol of hope that the times of peace and bliss will return, by some as an omen of a cruel death and the return of oppression.

Symbolics

On both sides of the cart there are elaborate engravings in the wood, filled with a mixture of chalk or other light-coloured powder for contrast. The scene shows a mountain with a ridge seen on front. Its top is flattened and on each slope there is a single river, the right one passing next to a cave and entering a lake overgrown with water flowers. There are several deer and boars drinking water from the right stream and fish jumping above the lake's surface. On the left side there are people going up the slope bearing gifts and holding musical instruments.

The scene is typically connected to lake Æchinnen, placed in the ancient land of Talamhoidh. The right, or western slope was the one, Fiadh'ruindæ shared the strongest connection with. The left, or eastern slope is likely a reference to the annual ritual of ascention of the neighbouring tribe of Svîdæ.

Over time, especially during the 1st War of Ætereal Mist the symbolics were simplified and modified, giving rise to the new forms, known today. For example, the rebellion symbol, referring to the entire Talamhoidh region, pictured a vertical double wave on both sides of a simplified mountain.

Death or hope

The vehicle became a symbol of hope for the sibling and Fiadh'ruindæ but at the same time a symbol of dread and brutality for the Tamers of Æter. This was because of 1st War of Ætereal Mist, which caused persecutions. People began using the symbol as means to mark their dislike towards the Tamers of Æter, which slowly expanded to other skalds.

Those images were in parts connected to the head of the great stag fixed in the front and especially to skalds and to those affiliated with them the usual symbolics of fertility and fruitful year was lost to the plain sight of death of a powerful entity.

Other versions of the tradition

During one of the nights, when Ruibheadh's mind was in peace, Ruiseadh told them that one day they will go back home and it will be just like the old days. To give their sibling hope, they named the cart with the name of the settlement they had to abandon and carved a symbol characteristic for their tribe. In some versions the symbol was a simplified horned head of a very old stag with no branching on the antlers, or a water lily or a blooming Mountain bulrush, characteristic for lake Æchinnen.

The end and a new beginning

The symbolics of the deer cart slowly faded even before 1st War of Ætereal Mist ended. When Ruiseadh learned the ways of the Tamers of Æter he was able to fulfil the promise made to Ruibheadh. With the initial goal for the cart achieved and with the danger presented by Forced oversight taken out of the way the fuel for the conflict slowly ran out and peace was struck with the leaders of the skalds.

The cart was dismantled after the settlement was reclaimed with every surviving family taking a piece as a memory of the journey. According to oral tradition it was proposed by Ruiseadh as means to save the memory, though bitter, and not let the mistake be repeated again. The wheels were hanged on the family building of Ruiseadh, as was the piece with the carved symbol.

One of the emerging skaldic branches of Fiadh'ruindæ had a strong connection to the the Void and adopted the cart symbols with slight modifications. More emphasis was put on the cave and the mountain aspects of it, so the two vertical rivers on each side of the mountain were replaced by a single horizontal one below it. The cave was modified as well and was replaced with a blackened tripple moon symbol above the river and on the mountain slope. The ridge was removed, so it is assumed the author(s) focused on the western slope of the mountain, if of course the symbol remains a represantation of the same place.