Northern Lantern

The Northern Lantern refers to a constellation formed by six close, bright stars. Four are arranged in a square, with a fifth centered above the square and the sixth and brightest positioned in the middle of the square, resembling a lantern. Various stories exist surrounding the star, but one of the most famous stems from Acron and tells the story of Telor, a trail guide who is credited with founding Lanternman's Pass between Acron and Barkgull.
The constellation lies in such an area of the sky that it always points north, and is used as a navigational aid by sailors, navigators, generals, and travelers alike.

Summary

Telor was a woodsman, known for his popularity with travelers at inns throughout rural Wispwood. He traded furs, told stories, and sang songs, but above all, he guided travelers through the woods, back before the kingdom had its road network.
One day, he was oversleeping at an inn, and a group of villagers from the south entered the tavern. Tired and weary, they sought refuge, and Telor asked them to tell their story while the barman brought them water.
Their town had been ransacked by hedge monsters, living trees, and rabid animals. They believed that Acuminata, the Forest Angel of Wispwood, was angered at a group of loggers from the village, for they cut down a tree, and instead of bringing it to the village to be used by the people, they left it in the woods to rot, having killed the tree in vain, which was a sin in her eyes. The people sought to get as far away from their land as possible, and to remove their curse, but they needed guidance to get through the woods. The town Telor was in was small, the barman in no mood to leave his inn, and the few farmers of the village were too old to travel. Telor agreed to take the people north until they found a solution.
Along the way, they were stalked by hedge monsters and other foul forest kin. At night, Telor shined his lantern at the beasts, and the light kept them at the edge of the encampments. But as they traveled more, more monsters came, and Telor grew worried. One day, while slashing through the brush of an abandoned trail, Telor found a gnome resting amongst the foliage. The gnome was named Jyrup, and upon hearing the tale of the villagers, he told Telor that he was a wizard, and agreed to help them. He instructed him to take the villagers through the northern mountains, a place where no Acronians had ever gone before. There he would find the land of the gnomes (Barkgull) and they would use their magic to remove Acuminata's curse.
Telor knew these mountains, and found them to be unsurpassable. He asked Jyrup how to get past the mountains. Jyrup gave Telor a lantern of made of pure Coralium, and told him to set up camp at the base of the mountain. Many of Acuminata's monsters would follow him there, but he would have to fend them off until midnight. As soon as the moon was at its highest, he was to shine the lantern toward the mountaintop, and simply exclaim "Hail Vytalii!" for this was the favored angel of the gnomes, and she had made the lantern herself. The path then, said Jyrup, would be opened for Telor and his travelers.
So Telor thanked Jyrup, and took Vytali's lantern with the villagers north. Indeed, more monsters appeared, and they crept closer to their camps every night. Finally at the base of the mountain, they attacked at nightfall, and Telor and the few fighting age villagers had to fend them off with sticks, pitchforks, and kitchen knives. After hours of fighting, Telor saw the moon glimmer off a pool of water in the starlight, and knew it was at its highest. He raised his lantern to the mountain, proclaimed "Hail Vytali!" and six of the stars fell right from the sky and blasted into the mountain, creating a great ravine and scaring away the monsters.
After the dust settled and the sky cleared, the six stars rose back into the sky and formed a lantern shape pointing due north, so that the woodsman Telor would find his way in the new, unfamiliar land. By Vytali's guidance, they found a city of gnomes and removed Acuminata's curse. Soon after, a road was built between the cities of Barkgull and Acron, named Lanternman's Pass after Telor.
It is said Telor retired into the mountains, and upon his death was adopted by Vytali into angelhood as the Angel of Roads. Rumor has it that his lantern lies hidden in his old duggout, lost to the depths of the mountain's deepest caves, but still retaining its ability to call down the stars in aid of its wielder.

Related Locations

• Lanternman's Pass

© Dylan Eugene Wheeler 2018
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