Silunsei and the Five Golden Tongues

Silunsei and the Five Golden Tongues (Silunsei Ve Pan Van Slamareluda Adescarde) is one of many Irocai myths detailing the exploits of Silunsei, a legendary figure know for stealing people's tongues as punishment or just to cause mischief. In this particular story, Silunsei takes the tongues of six different imperants as punishment for abusing their enmanity.

Summary

A young boy developed a reputation for Commanding the rest of the children in town when he became angry over the outcome of the games they played. Eventually, the children in town stopped playing with him. Angered by being ostracized, the boy Commanded his peers to play with him every day. After a series of warnings which were not heeded, Silunsei snuck into the boy's room in the middle of the night. His parents were startled awake and rushed to their son's bed to find blood pouring from his mouth where his tongue had once been.

by Xia Yang

by Klim Musalimov

A well-known gambler had cleared the pockets of everyone who sat at his table by Persuading them into telling him what their hands were. One day a stranger challenged him to a game. As they played, the stranger seemed unaffected by the gambler's Persuasion. Luckily, his hand was good enough there was no way the stranger could possibly beat him, but he couldn't match the stranger's bet. The stranger offered him a deal. if the gambler won the hand, he would take all of the money on the table, even that which the stranger hadn't bet. If the gambler lost, he would forfeit his tongue. There was always the option to walk away from the table, broke but in possession of all his body parts. The gambler took that bet, his eyes already counting the stacks of coins on the table as he revealed his cards. To his horror, the stranger revealed a stronger hand. The gambler begged for mercy, but the stranger would not be dissuaded. After cutting the gambler's tongue from his mouth, the stranger swept the coins on the table into his purse and left without another word.

Traveling the countryside was a cunning businessman who discovered that the quickest way to make money to was to sell a product that didn't exist. He would travel from town to town, Persuading those who listened to his sales pitch that the wild stories he told were true and that he was actually giving them something in exchange for their money. Before long he was traveling in luxury, but he remained unsatisfied with his ill-gotten gains and his greed pushed him to continue the grift. One day along the road, the man came across a beggar with a few coins to his name. Unaffected by the beggar's plight, the man Commanded the beggar to hand over his coins. As he drove off, the beggar straightened and stamped his foot onto the road. A crack opened in the ground, spreading toward the retreating cart until a wheel became caught, causing the man to be thrown from his perch. The beggar robbed the man of both his money and his tongue, leaving him mute and broke by the side of the road.

by Connor Hall

by Ruthson Zimmerman

The mayor of a large city continued to win elections even as the city began to fall to ruin and the stories of his corruption numbered in the hundreds. Its people went about their daily lives complaining about the mayor and his failures, but there was nothing they could do. The morning of the election he stood outside the only polling place in the city to ensure he would win once again. After an hour of Commanding citizens to vote for him someone asked him why. Shocked by someone ignoring his Command, the mayor was unable to verbalize an answer, if there was one at all. The man grabbed the mayor. He pulled out his dagger and sliced the mayor's tongue from from his mouth before throwing him to the cobblestone. To the relief of the people, a new mayor was finally elected and the city began thriving once again.

The kingdom was ruled by a corrupt king who stole from his subjects for his own pleasure, and anyone who challenged him found themselves at the business end of an embarrassing or potentially life-threatening Command. Petitioners were often Commanded to perform for his amusement, after which he would most likely deny their petition. One day a group of petitioners entered the throne room. The one at the front began as most petitioners did, begging for food and leniency on taxes, but he ended with a threat to the king's legitimacy should he deny the petition. Angered by the petitioner's audacity, the king Commanded the petitioner to throw himself upon a guard's sword. Instead, the petitioner launched himself up to the throne as his fellow petitioners drew blades to defend their leader. He grabbed the king by the throat, declaring his rule to be over, and cut his tongue out. Chaos ensued as the petitioner threw the king to the floor, sat upon the throne, and ordered his men to remove the tongues of every imperant in the room.

Silunsei personally installed a new king upon the throne, one who would rule with integrity and generosity. As a gift of thanks and reminder of his responsibilities, Sliunsei presented the new king with five tongues cast in gold.

by GR Stocks

Historical Basis

Silunsei himself has been present in Irocai lore for millennia, but this particular myth has its roots in the beginning of the Queendom of Leland when shifting views of the Linguasta led to imperant rule of the peninsula. The Irocai, notoriously a proud people who didn't bow to the authority of others, found themselves in no position to resist the new system of power after The Great Invasion. This story likely evolved as a reminder of the dangers of imperants and that abuse by them should not be accepted. In what was likely an effort to not be perceived as treason against the queendom, Silunsei's final victim is a king rather than a queen.

Spread

The myths of Silnusei had little spread outside of northern Leland until the release of Silunsei's Manifesto, which marked the beginning of the Silver Eagle Rebellion. As word of the rebellion spread, so did the myths associated with the name chosen by its mysterious leader, though Silunsei and the Five Golden Tongues resonated the most with the movement for obvious reasons.

Variations & Mutation

While the increase in the stakes of each victim's situation ties this story together, each segment can be treated as its own story. Depending on the intent and audience, the story teller may choose to omit victims or only tell one of their stories.
The most notable variation of this myth came during the height of the Silver Eagle Rebellion. Instead of Silunsei's final victim being a king, it was a queen that was sometimes referred to by the name of Queen Elena and her abuses of power were references to specific actions taken by queendom forces.