The Mother and the Drought

This myth has two distinct versions: one that does not specify a deity in the heroine's prayers (considered the proto-myth), and one that specifies Goas (seen post-843AC, the founding date of the Order of the Burning Crown in which Goas is revered). Either version is a contender for being the subject of the Mother and Child constellation in the north, along with Friigraed from Wrath of the Mother, with the proto-myth having a stronger claim of the two versions. Some Crownists attempt to ignore the proto-myth entirely and claim it as purely part of Crownist mythology.

The Proto-Myth

"For a year the water had grown scarcer and scarcer; the great river shrank and dried, the wells emptied, the waterhearths gathered dust, the rains would not come. The people chewed deeproots*, drank each other. They wallowed in shadows, repenting however they knew, beseeching the heavens but hearing no answer. Many despaired, and lost their faith or worse, cursed the heavens.
The child of the woman Dainda fell sick, his belly full of root and gristle**. Yet Dainda did not despair, and continued her prayers even though she could not slake her child's thirst, even as he lay dying. "O, heavens, I beg you -- a single cloud would suffice! Minutes of rain! I will not lose faith -- I know you will provide!" she prayed, for ten days and ten nights, while those around her mocked her and cultivated their despair.

At last, moved by her unwavering faith, the sky grew clouded and heavy, and a terrible but wondrous rumbling of thunder went through the air. It is said the rain fell in a flood so quick, there was no time to set out vessels: the people opened their mouths and drank. Dainda herself, overjoyed, lifted her son to the eaves of their roof, where the water streamed in a torrent, and from this he drank, and was well."

*'deeproots' is interpreted to be taproots of certain plants.
**'gristle' is interpreted to be bone marrow.

Historical Basis

Some speculate the myth to be pseudo-historical, and as taking place in or near the Rivens, as there are geological signs of a drought evidenced there in the gorge walls and it has been assumed separately that the Rivens may have once been a river network similar to the Tubisqu River's net in northern Unenshuut.