The Desolation of the Crystal Vale

I decided to tell this myth/legend in-situ in my world, rather than merely document it. While this rightfully could be a "prose" piece, I felt "myth" was still accurate.

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Just Another Gathering

The Wild Marshes
7 Setùya¹ , AFD 553, 19 Ur

The sizzling Elk² steak, a rare gift, smelled almost divine, and the elders passed round Rushwater to those gathered around the fire, while those tending the meat finished their work. Pyotr accepted his with a smile and took a few moments to allow the subtle flavours cleanse his mouth before he could enjoy something that wasn't Marsh Lizard for once. The Elk had wandered down the mountains of the Forbidden Heights - or Forbidding Heights as the Wild Folk preferred to call them³. If the creature had not stumbled to its death from a ledge, they would have ushered it back to where it came from. Once the moment of shock and sadness had passed, the tribe decided to thank the Elements, and use the Elk's energies themselves, so they were not wasted.
But tonight, he reminded himself, wasn't about rules and the gathering wasn't really about traditions. It was merely the sixth night of another week and another opportunity to connect with his people. There had been a pause in the decidedly unseasonal rainfall, a concern he was putting to one side for the time being, though the worry was shared with his wife and even the mages of the Crystal Circle.
"Which story you gonna tell tonight, pa?", a cheery-yet-demanding voice asked, rightfully cutting into the temptation to feel despondent.
Pyotr glanced to his left and his eyes crinkled into a smile as he gazed on Kyri, his precious daughter and youngest child.
"Which would you like to hear, my dear?" he asked.
Kyri scratched her head and frowned.
"Well, we 'ad the ones about lizards, floods, our past as shepherds, and the wizard wars already this Ana."
"You remember... well, unfortunately," Pyotr laughed, to which she pouted.
"Someone around 'ere 'as to when Ma is out with the 'unters."
"Aye, that's true. Do remind me to keep some Elk back for Marêe, else she won't forgive me for a week."
"Nah, she'll forgive you right away, but jus' joke about it fer a week. Or longer," she giggled, "anyways, 'ow about the Crystal Vale one? One that's a real story, not jus', you know, 'istory."
"You mean one that's really a story, not one that really happened?" Pyotr asked, deciding clarification was preferable to disappointment.
"Yes!" Kyri replied excitedly, "you make some of the best stories!"
"The Crystal Vale wasn't invented by me, but..." he paused, eliciting a frown from his daughter.
A real story, not just history, the Chief mused, there can be very blurred boundaries between the two.
"Very well," he agreed, with a smile.
"Yay! Thanks Pa," Kyri cheered, then jumped onto his lap, flinging her arms around his shoulders, "love ya Pa".
"I love you too, Kyri. Let's get ready for story-time, shall we?"

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Desolation Retold

1 Ur Later, after Elk and Bread
(and after Pyotr has saved his own skin by saving some Elk for Marêe)

Not often were his people so content, especially of late, but fire, food and friends were three foundations their community thrived upon. The Chief smiled gently, also grateful for his equal portion of the Elk and fresh-baked breads. Faces and eyes were beginning to turn his way and Pyotr felt that combination of excitement and nervousness come over him as it always did for speeches and storytelling. He cleared his throat.

"So, tonight I've had a request for a tale I have not told, I believe, since before Tomà was born: The Desolation of the Crystal Vale."
Murmurs rippled around those gathered in front of him and Pyotr waited patiently for them to calm down before continuing. Kyri waited impatiently for the same thing, while her brothers ate even more bread and drew in the mud with sticks. The chief sat back in his hollow-wood chair and briefly closed his eyes, recalling the pictures he had seen through his life that related to the story.
"The Crystal Vale was once a wonder, a place where the Elements had come together to fashion a valley of such vibrancy that none could deny only Nature had the power to create it. Lush grasses, azure rivers, snow-white doves and swans, and smooth rocks either side of the valley towered to the heights beyond sight of most mortals. It was not how some like to believe in an otherworldly paradise, though. It was natural, which meant rain and sun, summer and winter, prey and predators. Species would come and others would disappear. The rivers would eventually carve their own routes from the original design of the Sénàkii⁴, but everything was in balance.
"Beyond all those things, what marked it as even more special were the many Crystal formations that marked the abundance of life energies - the pure expression of the Elements both condensed and yet proliferated. The tales talk of ice-blue Crystal Trees that gave water to any in need. A Bush of Light - or Tree, depending on which way you translate the tales - where one of its leaves could illuminate the way for a day, or a fallen branch could be a torch for many days. Green Crystals replenished grasses lost to a dry season, or fertility to creatures that needed it. Brilliant red Crystals emitted heat for cold nights and granted hope to any lost wanderers. For even in a place of balance, even perfection, a wanderer brings their troubles with them and these Crystals brought comfort to such folk, helping them to continue on in the face of their challenges.
"In this valley there were also pale grey, almost invisible, Crystal vines, strong enough to be climbed, but they waved in the direction the wind was to blow next. And even overhead, at times, in the sky one could perceive the jewel-like formations of some of the clouds that reflected light from the sun, and provided rainbows at Refraction Points in the Vale.
"The Crystal Vale needed nothing, and lacked nothing, save one thing: night never fell. So overwhelming was the power bestowed on each crystalline feature that they all glowed. There were different levels of illumination, of course, and animals that made dens by nature found their own makeshift night-times.
"But both Light and Power have a way of attracting the wrong kind of attention. It is one thing to desire balance, but another to shift the world from one form of imbalance to another."

A Refreshing Pause

"Have some more drink Pa," Kyri said, just about holding onto his large, wooden goblet in her two tiny hands.
"Good idea, precious one," he nodded, taking it from her and drinking gratefully.
"I love how you honour your children, Chief," a villager piped up. Pyotr shrugged.
"They are people of equal value to myself. They have their opinions - and liberally share them," he grinned, eliciting a laugh, "if we do not lift them up, they have to pull themselves up. It may be how some creatures raise their young, but it is not how we do it. If our child is correct - and gracious - in correcting me, then I have to accept that correction."
Kyri scuffed her feet on the ground and looked down.
"I isn't great at being corrected, Pa," she mumbled.
"No one is at first, Kyri. Some people never are. We have to learn to be. And sometimes, the only way to learn for the future is to take lessons from the past. Either literally, or from those who wrote lessons for us."
His daughter looked up and smiled gently, before easing herself onto her father's lap.
"Carry on the story, Pa."

Unexpected Sickness

Pyotr cleared his throat once more.
"It is told that, one day, seemingly without a foreshadowing, nor hint nor sign, an ill wind blew through the Crystal Vale. I do not mean a rumour, or people of malintent, but a literal Wind of Sickness. It came in thick wisps of grey and black that swirled and swept from one end of the valley to the next. The Crystal Trees, once a vivid blue, were bent and twisted, dulled to a sickly purple. Fiery red formations were sapped of their vibrancy until they were the colour of dead leaves and the sky was blackened. Later, people would call it a Shadow of Aun."
"Isn't that linguistic repetition?" one of the elders asked, "as Aun means darkness in the Common Tongue."
"Indeed it is," Pyotr agreed, "and if an idea is repeated, what does that usually signify?"
"Oh," the elder responded, realising, "that the hearers should take notice. Shadow of Aun is like 'deepest darkness' or 'shadows in the darkness', which, by definition, must be darker still."
"Exactly. This Ill Wind continued to blow through the Vale until one day, it stopped moving, leaving a dank fog hanging over the once-pristine region. Even the grass had withered to black, yet did not die. It lived, but Nature shuddered.
"It became known as the Desolation of the Crystal Vale. Where life died, light was all but snuffed out, where air could barely be breathed and where water was toxic to the touch.

Unexpected Life

The Elements looked on their ruined masterpiece, unsure of what to do. For, while their work was spoilt, new creatures began to develop. You see, some believe perpetrating evil in the darkness is easier but the Darkness itself is not evil. Thus, the new creatures were just as gentle as those that went before - or perhaps not, if they were predators. Some portions of the valley became marshy, due to the wet mist hanging over it, spawning ever more animals and plants.
"Things were still not balanced, but one tree had been left unspoilt by the Shadow of Aun. The Bush - or Tree - of Light. While it is great to do good in the light, Light itself is not moral, any more than Darkness is immoral. But the shadow had not dulled even a leaf of this tree, nor had the gentle glow around it penetrated the darkness beyond it. It was as though both accepted the other.
"Yet one of its roots hung in the Great River that flowed through the Crystal Vale. Being gem-like, it did not take water from the river, for it did not need it. But from that root, gentle swirls and sparks of light flowed into the River, breaking up any of the Shadow that had disrupted its life-flow, and restoring it to the brilliance of The Before. Only this time, the Shadow of Aun was permitted to hover over it. As that River was used by plants and creatures, they too flourished as Before, but Aun could watch over Their own creations too. As Light and Life began to return to the Vale, the other Elements joined in and their Crystals began to recover their former vividness. But, this time, for half of the day, they shone at less than half of their capacity, illuminating the way for any that needed it, but permitting slumber and rest as never before.
"As life slept and stirred in turns, the fog lifted, permitting the sun to shine for the greater portion of the day, but the Crystalline Clouds took in some of the Shadow of Aun, blocking the sun's rays in a cycle allowing a pattern of night to develop that did not involve choking, hazardous mists. It was as though, once the other Elements relented, so too did Aun.
"It is thought that, thereafter, if one were to see the Vale from above as the Great Hawks might have, you could observe Light and Shadow shifting as ripples across a day, much as the oceans ebb and flow. But that shift was unstoppable, ever moving, even in rhythm. True Balance had finally come to the Crystal Vale.
After all that had happened, it was still a wonder."

From Reality to Reality

Pyotr took a breath, aware that the smallest children were falling asleep. Except for the one perched on his lap, who stared blankly, while her mind pictured her own version of his tale. It would probably come to him as a drawing tomorrow, or she would have a "story inside a story" for him, as she liked to call them.
"So, my dear people, whether or not this place exists, or ever existed, is irrelevant. Though, I admit, it is fun to talk about factuality sometimes. Life may seem balanced, but we're always lacking in something. Do not be quick to label something as good or evil, instead wait to see its effects. And, what Nature feels it is deprived of, it will work to restore. The Vale seemed ideal and balanced, until it was proved otherwise. As I was with Kyri earlier, always be open to being corrected, learn from each other. Do not fight each other with aggression, but relent and listen. Finally, not everything that shines is good - it has to be in the right hands for the right purposes.
"But not everything that is dark is evil either - including the night where we let sleep embrace us. Well, most of us, anyway.
"May the Elements protect you tonight, my dear people. May your homes remain balanced on their poles, while Nature permits their presence. Sleep well, knowing that, while you must find your place in it, and must care for it, controlling nature is not your responsibility. Be at peace with your place in Nature and it too will be at peace with you."

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Summary

The tale of the Crystal Vale is one passed down through generations of peoples mostly from tribal or non-industrial backgrounds. Whether the Vale ever existed, or whether it is used as a cover for another place or whether it is just one used as a warning is not clear. A valley, said to be crafted by the Elements themselves seems perfectly balanced, with aspects of Nature working in regular cycles. But it lacked one thing the Elements did not foresee: the night. Everything in the Vale was healthy and perfect, until one day, it was not.

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Footnotes and References

1. The third month of the eleven-month Ana
2. Many, if not most, creatures' names were capitalised in Foyii and Wild Folk cultures. It was done simply to honour that creature as having (or having had) value.
3. It was Qal'ath who had imposed rules regarding passage to and from the range. This became especially true under Carnael II when he began exiling people to one of two places: Tolmyr Sands and The Forbidden Heights.
4. Foyiitùn for the Elements (capital 'E'), semi-sentient representations of the natural forces of the world, though neither the Woodsmen, nor the Wild Folk held these as gods or deities.

The Desolation of the Crystal Vale by FJ Brodie (Me)

Article Sections

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Myth Usually Shared By

Oral Tradition

Possible Origins

Early Civilisations in Element-dense Regions, especially the Frozen North (Ormà-rich)

Known to

Wild Folk, Foyii, The Crystal Circle

Copy Also Kept In

Bezélian Archives

Date of First Recording

c 200 BFD

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