The Gift of Treyen

How did the inhabitants of Arkanis discover the magic lying in wait within their land? The gift of Treyen legend is one of the oldest stories passed down for thousands of years.

Summary

Thousands of years ago, Arkanis was divided into hundreds of individual settlement tribes, each governed by their own locally elected leaders. In tune with the rhythms of the seasons and the land, the tribes bartered and mingled with one another mostly peacefully.
One fateful summer, a drought ravaged the continent, killing off a year's worth of crops and bringing with it plague and starvation to all the land. Each tribe suffered, and skirmishes broke out over now limited resources. Treyen, a young leader of the jungle tribes who had begun earning her reputation in the land as the Fortune Summoner, sought to help her country and the rest of the ravaged world by pleading with the gods in the depths of the sacred caves of Zozai. For three days and three nights, she fasted and wept and danced and prayed at the base of the sacred statues, offering her life force in exchange for the lives of her people.
On the fourth day, her prayers were answered in the form of a thundering, vicious rainstorm that spanned the length of Arkanis for another three days. At first a blessing and then seen as a real danger, the rains forced Treyen deeper into the cave systems than anyone had ventured before. And it was there, in the damp darkness of the deepest cavern, where she discovered a warm, dark stone pulsing a rhythm that matched her heartbeat. Drawn inexplicably to it and desperate for rescue, Treyen touched the stone with her palms, and it came alive in her fingers. Legend has it that the stone flooded Treyen's senses with visions of the void, and in a trance she carved sigils and sacred symbolic language into the cave walls with her bare hands. As soon as the trance faded, the rains ceased, and the pathway home was revealed to Treyen. But she had been forever changed; the stone's power had blinded her, cursing her to see only the void for the rest of her days. However, this void became hers to control, a carrier for messages from the gods.
"Go forth from this cavern and answer the call." The gods told her. "Your sacrifice has earned humanity a second chance. Though you no longer see the beauty of the mortal realm, you have gained sight into the unseen worlds. With this sight, you shall heed the call of the sister stones that shall bring luck and prosperity to all."
Treyen returned to her royal court with this message and a heart-wrenching longing within her, her heart calling out to the four corners of Arkanis and the magical crystals that lay buried there. As she recounted her tale, word spread across the world of more sacred stones bestowing power upon the leaders of each tribe.
As the years wore on, Treyen's gift of vod'yris (voidseeing, or voidsight) was discovered as not hereditary, as she produced perfectly normal heirs. From then on, each firstborn daughter of Treyen's newly established tribal organization - Umbralta - was given as an offering to the gods to touch the Vode Crista (Void Stone) and acquire the power, continuing the legacy of worship and deference to the gods for their gifts.
This tradition was passed on to the other tribes once their respective crystals were found, and thus began the construction of the five queendoms we know today.

Historical Basis

Treyen has been exalted throughout history as a messenger, pathway, and sometimes even child, of the gods. Though the means by which each clan leader - now royal heir - gains their magical abilities is truth, the stories of the discovery of the Stones' powers differ greatly depending on geographic location.

Spread

The Gift of Treyen is a popular and common legend, widely found in poems, songs, plays, and other artworks. She is prayed to at the end of high summer in a grand festival celebrating her achievements. 
Though her holiday is still celebrated in modern times, it is seen more as a gratitude festival to the abundant success of the people's hard work of the year rather than celebrating gratitude for the gods' mercy.

Variations & Mutation

A little known part of the legend, said only to be known by the Voidine, described Treyen as acquiring knowledge of all five magics with the ability to wield them all at once. This could only be done by a Voidine, whose power acts as a neutralizing base from which all magics emerge. This part of the legend was consequently erased from modern history with the genocide of the Voidine people; however, a few rare tomes and religious sects still house versions of the legend deep within their archives, away from the public eye.

Cultural Reception

For the Mistine, the Mist Wielders, Treyen is a member of the ice clans who first discovered water magic; same goes for the Ignisine, Terrine, and Lumine, who each tell their own stories of Treyen's gift. However, the Voidine, the most ancient Shadow Wielders, held their legend above the others as closest to the truth before falling out of common circulation.
As Arkanis and its industry grew, the more fanciful and religious-leaning parts of the story fell into legend, replaced by more contemporary heroes and heroines who treated magic as a tool more than a gift. The Lumine of the Solassi Court, being the seat of the Empire, spread versions of the legend where Treyen is a hero of light, the champion of the Lumine, who gifted light back to the world in its time of darkness and despair. Thus, this version of the legend has become the most standard and popularly spoken of.

In Literature

Many poems and books have been written on and about Treyen and the nature of the Gifts, though those popularized by the Solassi Court are the most well-distributed and well-known in modern times, and is thus treated as the most factual and detailed account of the legend.

In Art

Statues of Treyen, big and small, are distributed and erected for good luck and prosperous harvests. Trinkets of an eye flanked by two moons are worn for protection and luck by many, and is used in religious ceremonies.

Country of Origin: Umbralta
Magic: Voidine / Shadow Wielding
Keywords:
Vod'yris = void sight, voidseeing
Vode Crista = Void Stone / Shadow Stone