The Serpent of the Fiery Sea

There were a lass of poor abode
Who longed to live by the sword,
They told her that this bloody road
Was more than she could afford

Not keen on the way
That girls should play
She stood defiant of men,
And making her flight
Ran into the night
She never came home again

See to your young, lest evil be done,
Ye fathers, mothers
Or let it be, they fall to the Sea
If that ye'd ruther

She came upon the temple where
She knew her muse could be found;
And all throughout the vile lair
Within were nary a sound

For nearly a day
She wandered the maze
And found the relic she sought,
With it on her waist
She ran from the place
And searched for foes to be fought

See to your young, lest evil be done,
Ye fathers, mothers
Or let it be, they fall to the Sea
If that ye'd ruther

The sword was like a viper's crest
And none before it stayed whole;
But every swing, its blade's behest
Took too a part of her soul

She fell to the dust,
Consumed by the lust
To chase the thrill of the fight
And when she arose,
In serpentine clothes,
She was a slave of the night

See to your young, lest evil be done,
Ye fathers, mothers
Or let it be, they fall to the Sea
If that ye'd ruther

---

The Serpent of the Fiery Sea is a popular sea shanty and bardic ballad known in various flavors across most of Elysia.
The tale is an boogeyman story and apocryphal account of a young girl who, wishing to become a swordmaster against the convention of her people, fled from home and stole a forbidden sword. The tale continues that the sword granted her great strength at the cost of gradually consuming her life, and allegedly transformed her post-mortem into "the Serpent of the Fiery Sea" - a demonic thrall of the dark world of Tethil.
Of course, all stories eventually become mistaken retellings of original, true events...