The Demon of Bargains

Legends say that long, long ago, before our country was even born from the splinters of Old Medeea, there was almost nothing here. No city, no villages, no sign of human activity around this lone mountain of ours, nothing at all. They say that a powerful mage, driven mad from their own magic, completed a ritual in the middle of a deep forest that spanned the entire area of the noble manor and the surrounding villages. Yeah, a whole forest, can you imagine it? Full of wolves and deer and bears and whatnot.

And here in the middle of it all, the crazy mage did a ritual to summon a demon, a hungry being of pure evil. They say its skin was made of charcoal and its eyes were red like hot iron. They say when it spoke, you could feel the breath of death brush the back of your neck. Its mere presence would make the blood freeze inside your body and drain you of life. This vile creature was born around these parts through the powers of the crazy mage to fulfill all their wishes. But the old fool did not know what they were doing. The demon acted all submissive, all tamed, like a collared wild wolf pretending to obey their new master. The fool wished to make the world kneel and for the power to kill everyone who opposed them, corrupted by his own magic and the devilish presence of the demon that sought to twist his mind further.

When they uttered the wish, the demon took over their body, granting them power without equal, but using their body as a vessel to roam this realm free. Now liberated, the demon made the forest its home, tricking wandering adventurers to sell their souls to it, growing in strength day by day. Its gaze grew fierce, burning through the flesh of its host. Its darkness swirled stronger inside, forcing its body to flex in unnatural shapes. That was bad, for if the vessel were to break, it would return back to its hellish dimension from where it had come. Luckily, a fresh victim approached the entrace of the forest...

With its last embers of control, the demon made its way to the road, stopping the traveller. "Kind sir, would you take pity on me and help me find a place to live?... I am an old mage, but I can only use my magic to grant the wishes of others. I only know how to give others, but nobody ever returns the favor, and now I don't even have food or a roof." The man looked at the being that crossed his path and smiled softly. "I have seen your kind, your perverted, twisted existence. But you do not frighten me, nor do I feel pity for you. I only desire to fulfill my duty - my punishment. And all I can offer you is these rags I wear, this stale food I still have, and the sins of my past." "Your sins? Sure, I can lift your sins, so help me find a place to live. Come now, shake my hand!" The man shook the demon's hand, and in an instant the devilish monster was crushed into a flat cake. It died a very slow death under the sins of that man, sins that it had accepted without batting an eye. For you see, that man was none other than the legendary Saint, tasked to repent for a transgression commited at the dawn of time by the First Gods themselves...

What the Saint has done to deserve such punishment, no one knows. All we know is that he might be living to this day, helping those in pain and in need no matter their species or their origin, giving them what they deserve, be it retribution or salvation. That's why the noble family of this zone celebrates this story every year, so that the purity of our actions to match that of the Saint. It also teaches children a good rule to follow - mind the kindess of a stranger, for you never know what hides behind it.