The lightkeeper and the glass-eyed whale

"For if you light the sky with this shard, the guide whale shall open the path for you if you need to brave the endless sea above. For as the whale found, the power of working together can brave the biggest challenges. And by this oath, she will come to your aid in your time of need."

Summary

The myths of Bloodroot Marsh  tells of a legendary whale with eyes of glasswork made a promise to a creature that saved her from blindness and a dangerous predicament, stuck behind the rubbles of a collapsed cave. The man was working in a lighthouse, but always dreamed to work in glassworks. with simple knowledge in arcane, he decided to offer his services to the whale after helping her. The process was really demanding and took several years and worked out the lighthouse worker, having to help the handicapped whale. Over time, his work got notice and he received the assistance of a handful of natives that decided to stay after the cataclysm and rebuild again. After a long time and the help received, the lighthouse man managed to restore the whale's sight with magically included glass eyesockets. The whale was then astonished to also being able to see now in colors, flabbergasted by such impressive new visions. As it was quite the thing to notice at first, the whale tought it was to go back and rest for a while in the sea depths. But she desired to reward her benefactors. She thus asked for a piece of metal which she crushed , and gave back shards magnificient multi-colored diamond. She thus mentionned that if those shard where to be used in the lighthouse, it would change it's color and she would see it, knowing they would need help, and offer them her assistance in times of need. And that they could give them to those deemed worthy of it by showing selfless communal support.
The lighthouse worker himself used his crystal once has the end of his life came a to reach, as he wanted after all this time to see what's beyond the ocean. The whale came to travel his benefactor. Nobody knows what happened of him since, if he reached the land in time or not.
Shards of the diamond are rumored to remain in some ancient parts of the marsh, while a couple of shards managed to travel outside the island it originated from. However, the current owners either haven't heard of the legend or neither tested it.

Historical Basis

The origin comes from the Wehiika , a race which mostly served as mutated underlings for the Serpentfolk , which manages to lure and capture a rare megafauna specimen: the guide whale Fashneh. The purpose of getting this whale was to corrupt her offspring to make them easier to use for serpentfolks as aquatic forces. However, they could not make use of the whale for long as the cataclysm happened. The aftermath of the cataclysm also made the cave formation where the whale was to collapse on itself. This removed her from her captors, but she remained injured and struggled to leave the underground. the lack of food and injuries also made her blind.
Stories are shared about the culture of the remaining tribes on the island of this whale, considered a divine creature for them.

Spread

The myth remains almost solely from the cultural art and the storytelling of the tribes on the island. Most of the stories related to the shards that traveled overseas went lost in translation and memory.