The Breath of the Esurient

In the northernmost parts of Eirinn and Duraloth, children are taught from birth to fear the fog. Fog is the disguise for the things that lurk within; the things that are borne straight from nightmares.
Everyone knows that fog alone can be dangerous; impairing vision, disorienting, obscuring other hazards such as beasts and monsters… But the biggest problem in the North is that you can never tell if fog is just fog, or the Breath of the Esurient, heralding the coming of its hunger.
Once trapped in the Breath of an Esurient, your physical hunger is amplified while your deepest, darkest desires are turned against you. It toys with your mind and body; encourages primal urges and whispers of all the things it could grant to you. Food, wealth, sex… even eternal life. But you are never alone in an Esurient’s Breath. Apparitions, things of your past and manifestations of your deepest desires, will taunt and haunt you, while the Biastan Gortach, the Hunger Beasts, stalk your every move, luring and driving you closer to the Esurient’s lair, where the monstrous Master of Hungers will decide your fate.
To die as food, or to serve as it's ever-tormented puppet.
Always fear the fog in the North, weary travellers. Seek shelter inside; lock your doors. If caught out… well… pray then, that your stomach doesn’t grumble…

Traveller's Verse; Multiple Origins

Origins of the Myth

The myth of the Breath of the Esurient is laid heavily in truth, but Esurients with the capability to produce such a phenomena are actually extremely rare. Records from early in the Age of Darkness (the 5th Age of A'arde) tell of travellers in the northern parts of Eirinn and Duraloth falling foul of mysterious forces that caused them to act irrationally, driven by their deepest, darkest desires. These desires often caused them to turn on their own people, killing and consuming them before fleeing into the fog, never to be seen again. Survivors talked of whispers in the fog, and shadows that stalked them at the edge of their vision, but associated writings then speak of those survivors slowly being driven mad and returning to those fog-shrouded areas, where they are presumed to have subsequently perished.

These early records do not go into many details about what physically happened to the people affected by the strange forces, and it is only five and a half centuries later that these events are attributed to the Esurient, revealing a power possessed by them that had been long-forgotten by Mortals after the collapse of the Age of Arcana and the reign of the Age of Chaos. The devastation brought about by the Ages of Chaos and Darkness allowed the Esurients to thrive, where previously the prosperity and magical advancement associated with the Age of Arcana had forced many of them into hibernation. These later journals, generally attributed to to an explorer or adventurer known only as Faolán, speak of how he and his associate, Ban-sealgair, were hired to accompany an adventuring party of seven into the north in order to investigate the phenomenon. The journals document the search, and how the fog would often roll in without warning, causing unease to spread amongst the nine. Faolán admits that he and Ban-sealgair did not experience the same level of unease as the rest of the party, but that those companions spoke of whispers in the night, shadows in their peripheral vision, and food not sating their hunger. Faolán, being an Elite of his time, suggests in his journals that his higher-than-average willpower allowed him to shrug off the majority of the torment, but those of a lesser force of will easily succumbed to the whispers in the quiet. The journals also feature some sketches of the creatures described by the afflicted party members, which later scholars confirmed were a type of Biast Gortach, a creature believed to be Fey in origin. During the first half of their journey, two of their party perished, one killed by the other before they ended up fleeing off a cliff, before the team decided to turn back. But then the fog rolled in once more; this time thicker and more dangerous. By this point, even Faolán and Ban-sealgair were fearful for their lives, knowing that something aberrant was amiss as the team became lost, eventually ending up at a cave beneath an unknown glacier, where they found the Esurient, hibernating. Faolán's journals feature many detailed drawings of the Esurient, made while the creature slept, as well as the husks and remains found about the creature; some more recent than others. But according to the journals, the creature woke up, and a thick, dense cloud of fog poured from its mouth, bringing with it whispers, shadows and psychic assaults that targeted people's desires. Again, Faolán and Ban-sealgair were resistant to these magics, but the others were not so lucky, forcing the team to flee back out into the fog, where they were persued by more creatures in the shadows. Three more of the party were overcome by the madness or slain, and Faolán himself speaks of an injury he sustained that never truly healed, always causing him great pain in the cold. The two surviving companions from the investigation team were never the same after that incident; one ended up with frequent outbursts of violence and had to be kept incarcerated, while the other suffered their days in silence before committing suicide.

With the revelation that the Esurients were coming out of hibernation now common knowledge, the spread of the Breath of the Esurient myth was a foregone conclusion, and the fear of the fog in the north became a very common occurence. Attempts were made to reach the remains of libraries in the ruins of the fallen Floating Cities in order to learn more about the Esurients, but few records were found, and what little did survive only fuelled the myth of the Esurient's Breath.

Truths of the Myth

The myth itself is mostly true, it is merely the frequency at which it occurs that has been exaggerated. The Esurient's Breath is a real ability, but only the oldest and most powerful Esurients are capable of affecting a full geographic area with it. Most experiences of whispers within fog can be attributed to paranoia and natural phenomena, however, stumbling too close to the lair of an Esurient, whether hibernating or not, will increase the likelihood of psychic attack. Esurients and their Biast Gortach servants are also known to attack without the cover of fog.

During the latter stages of the Age of Darkness, there was a large number of powerful Esurients vying for dominance in the northern territories, making the likelihood of the use of an Esurient's Breath significantly more common. However, after several campaigns to decrease the number of Esurients and improve the survivability and living conditions of those who choose to live in the north saw great success, the actual physical use of the Esurient's Breath all but died out. However, the people of the north still fear its return, and pass on the myth regardless of actual evidence to support its continued existance.

Impact of the Myth

The myth has become one of the most widely shared warnings and horror stories across the northern regions of both continents, as well as providing inspiration for various adventuring novels and plays. It has also become a staple of the culture of the north; children are taught variations of the myth from the moment they are born, and the fear that the myth propagates does not dissappear as northerners get older.

The 8C6AA (8th Century 6th Age of A'arde) explorer Matthieu Collineau, a Halfelin from the central region Duraloth, frequently made expeditions to the northern lands and the Wyld Floes, and wrote a great deal about the Esurient's Breath myth and its impact on the lives of northerners. He noted that despite Esurients and Biastan Gortach being known to attack without fog, the merest hint of a wisp of fog is enough the send a northerner running for cover. He suggested that the subconscious fear of "that which you cannot see but know to be there" plays a significant role in the propagation of the myth, and it has a lot in common with other tales of shadowy boogeymen and monsters hiding under the bed. However, he also noted that despite no evidence of the Breath being used within the last 3000 years, northerners continued to believe in the Breath as a very real threat, and made sure to drill the story into their children, and anyone else who would choose to travel in the area.

In the mid and south of the continents, as well as the continent of Karadal, the myth is considered more a warning against travelling in fog than that of an actual creature. The belief is that while such beings may have existed in the past, the Rime Crusades put an end to them and that northerners are just superstitious people living in the past. Despite scoffing at the continued existence of such creatures and magics, poets and bards have taken the myth and transformed it into a variety of horror stories and plays. The most famous of these is called "Step in the Breath", an account of the travels of Faolán and Ban-Sealgair, which was written by a Bard known by the pseudonym Farlan, who supposedly had access to the original journals during his writing of the play. Dramatic and dark, "Step in the Breath" is not only used as a horror tale, but also as a warning of travelling in thick foggy conditions, though it remains ambiguous as to whether or not the author believes that the Esurients, and their Breath, still exist.

The Use of the Myth in Everyday Life

"In the north, there is nothing more frightening than that which comes from the mists. We are taught to both fear and respect it from a young age. You never know when the rolling fog might be the Breath of the Esurient, waiting to consume you. The Silver Hand will not be too comfortable with this unnatural entity rolling in, and that will give us an advantage."

Senior Guardsman Neyon Vihan, 16th Firewane 1478,

as preparations for the People's Revolt of Fuldair began

The myth is typically used as a warning against travelling in the fog in the northern parts of the Eirinnean and Duralothian continent. Travel in these parts of the world is perilous enough without the fog, but the added possibility of the fog containing something more monstrous often provides incentive for those who would otherwise recklessly tackle the trecherous paths to remain stationary.
The myth, and the fear it illicits in northerners, was used to the advantage of the Fuldair Underground during the People's Revolt of Fuldair in 1478. The Silver Hand, being highly superstitious and northern in origin, did not handle the sudden arrival of an unnatural fog during the summer particularly well, which gave the Rebellion the element of surprise, as well as providing them with additional cover against the occupying forces.

"Esurient"

Impression in Charcoal and Chalk

Artist Unknown