The Curse of Glek
Don't look him in the eyesAfter the Starfall, a new culture arose in the crater and the surrounding oceans. Didacy survivors who had grown disillusioned with the school set out to forge a new destiny in the ruins of their old lives, most becoming sailors on the new Stargash Sea. With this fledgling culture came an entirely new set of experiences, which inspired new folklore. One such piece of folklore is the Curse of Glek. While this tale was not formally written down until the 5th millennium, it is very likely that it has existed ever since the Starfall. It is one of the few myths in all of Perradin which has endured so precisely over the centuries with little to no change. Less of a story and more of a warning, the superstition around an entity known as Glek is primarily believed intensely by sailors who work within the Stargash Crater. The tale posits that a being known as Glek roams the seas, bridges, and coasts of the Crater to prey on travelers from the Didacian south pole to as far north as the northern rim of the Stargash Crater in the Final Kingdom. The tales state that Glek will find inexperience travelers and prey on their precious supplies. It starts small with small requests for food. If a victim feeds him, he becomes permanently bonded to them. The more people who are in the group, the more intense the bond, even if it is wholly undesired by the victim. No matter where the prey is, Glek will find them. Each visitation, Glek will ask of more from his victims, whether they realize it or not, until the victim either dies or performs a series of rituals to mask themselves from his gaze. His voice is said to instill terror in all who hear him as it signals an imminent loss in supplies, and often times sanity. His visitations have been known to become so regular and intense that his victims are driven to madness. If he appears aboard a ship, he is said to herald disaster, usually in the form of a ship sinking or in bizarre deaths. It has been claimed that he has been spotted eating the boards of ship's hulls in a ravenous nature while giggling to himself. It is widely accepted by virtually all sailors of the Consulate region that speaking his name is surely to evoke his presence. Doing so is a strict and intense taboo, and it is held that anyone who hears his name needs to immediately cleanse themselves with some essence of holiness to prevent his appearance. Many different sects of worship have claimed to be able to offer the ability to keep him away, yet none are confirmed. Most sailors hold highly personal superstitions on how to keep him away as well, but these also remain untested and unconfirmed. Historical sightings of Glek are scattered across the ages, but perhaps the most prominent was when he was said to have appeared during the penultimate battle of the Third Wine War aboard Deep Admiral Kenrith's flagship as it engaged with the enemy. It is said that one of the Deep Admiral's adjutants accidentally uttered his name in the form of an expletive while under fire. Glek is said to have promptly appeared and asked if he could borrow the rudder chain of the flagship, which he did so without an answer. The ship then collided with an allied flagship resulting in the deaths of nearly 400 sailors, including the Deep Admiral. This led to Shoal Admiral Kira Linseed's quick rise to prominence as she used the power vacuum to secure the Archipelago Fleet's strength in Consulate society. It is said that the Shoal Admiral maintained a small shrine to honor Glek until her death, but any rumors of this are considered immense slander. The Curse of Glek remains a mostly unspoken fear amongst all sailors and travelers of the Consulate and southern Kingdom. To this day, any verbalization of his name while at sea strikes fear into the hearts of experienced sailors and dooms unknowing ones.
Or even show him the way
Don't share with him your fries
Oh don't give him the time o' day.
Oh No Oh No He don't care and he's beyond reproach
His appetite sure ain't tame
Ya can't even hear him approach
So don't you dare speak his name
Oh No Oh No Please heed the words of this old fool
If he takes a likin to ya, he will stay
No matter how long you push or pull
He'll stay with ya till your dyin' day
Oh No Oh No -Old Didacian Sailor Sea Shanty
Date of First Recording
4563 (First Known Written Account)
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