Zabralka's Island

The Legend of Zabralka's Island

Zabralka was a young Grailae of Salman, born on the western shore. She lived with her mother and father, and gazed out at the Garlin Deep every morning, watching the fog rise off the water.
One day, she dared to take her brother's small boat out onto the waves. It can't be that dangerous, she thought. Arlo fishes every day with Father, and they come back safely each day.
So she ventured out, rowing until her arms hurt and the fog had obscured her view of home.
Goodness, she thought to herself, this is much father than I thought I'd get. I'm hungry!

She looked around for something to eat, but all that was around her was the cold water, waiting for her to fall in. Swim with us, it seemed to call.
She shook her head and rowed on, looking for any sign of land, until nightfall had come and gone.
Soon she came upon a small island in the darkness, just a little pile of pebbles and trees some ways from the Western Shore. Zabralka sighed with relief. Finally, a place to stretch her legs!
She climbed out of the boat onto the shore, and the world went still. Feet had not touched these rocks for many a year, and the nighttime plants and animals knew something was different. They quieted themselves, hiding, for they were unsure what Zabralka brought with her.
Zabralka, to her credit, noticed nothing, and continued further onto the island, checking bushes and trees for fruit.
She tasted the red berries from the purple plant. "Bitter!" she exclaimed, spitting the poison berries from her lips. She felt a rumble in her stomach, and carried on.
She tried the blue fruit from the yellow-leaved tree. The sickly sweet fruit dripped down her chin, and she spat again. A small worm landed in her hand with the fruit, rotten. "Ugh!" she cried, and continued on.
Lastly, she reached for the golden fruit on the white-leaved tree. A voice stopped her.
"Zabralka," it said sweetly. "If you eat the fruit from the tree, you will not be able to leave this island. It will keep you, forever."
Zabralka turned to the voice, and saw before her a Golden Dyr, standing tall and regal on the pebbled beach. Vines dripped from his antlers, and his soft golden pelt sparkled brightly in the moonlight.

by sunnybirdboi via MidJourney

"The island will keep me?" Zabralka asked. "But I must return home to my mother and father and brother!"
"Then follow me," the Dyr offered, turning from the beautiful tree.
The Dyr nodded. “You must return, Zabralka. You cannot stay. If you wish to reach your home again, follow me.”
The Dyr turned and walked further into the trees, not back the way she had come. Zabralka followed, and the trees grew denser and denser, hiding the ground from sight. She walked blindly through the forest, following the gentle glow of the Golden Dyr.
As the woods got darker and darker, Zabralka realized she was still hungry. She saw another one of the white trees, and, ignoring the Dyr’s words of caution, tucked a piece of the ripe fruit into her pocket. She felt the rough peel under her fingertips, and her stomach growled louder.
The Dyr turned, and lowered his head. Tied to his horns was a small pouch, and when Zabralka opened it, she saw small blue berries, just like the ones that grew on the bushes near her home. She ate hungrily, wolfing down the berries as she and the Dyr continued on.
The fruit in her pocket faded from her memory, juice slowly seeping into her clothing.
As they continued, Zabralka began to feel sleepy, her head nodding to her chest as they walked. The Dyr turned again, pushing his head under her to sling her onto his back. He carried Zabralka for a long way, walking through the trees as she slept on his back.
When she woke, they were back on the shore, her little boat floating gently on the waves. She climbed down, nodding her head to the Dyr in thanks. The Dyr nodded and stepped back, leaving her to walk to the water.
As she climbed into the boat, the water lapping against her toes, she pulled her sticky fingers from her pocket, licking them clean.
“No!” the Dyr cried out, as Zabralka was thrown from the boat. She landed on the shore, completely dry where the water had once soaked the hem of her skirt.
“What happened?” she said, shocked.
The Dyr looked horrified. "You ate the fruit of the Trees of Ilotl. The Law says you must stay on this island, until you are no longer of this world."
Zabralka panicked. "I can't stay! I have my family who need me to clean and cook and sew!"
"They must learn to live without you," the Dyr told her. "You belong to the Goddess now."
Zabralka began to cry. "I want to go home," she sobbed. "I don't want to live here."
The Dyr was already walking back into the forest. "This is your island now. You must protect it as I have done. Make sure none follow your fate." He disappeared into the woods, and Zabralka could no longer see him.
Zabralka cried and sobbed and cursed, banging her fists against the grounded boat and tearing at her hair. She had to get home. But every droplet of water burned, and she could not bear to cross the sea.
Zabralka swore an Oath against the Dyr, promising to shoot him with an arrow made from the Trees of Ilotl if she ever saw him again. The sky darkened as she made the Oath, and her scrapes healed and her stomach calmed. She was of the Island now.
Zabralka ruled the Island for many years. Her family never found her, as their boat had been taken, and was still rested on the pebbled beach.
She never found the Dyr, though she searched and searched for all the years she lived on the Island. When she passed, she swore another Oath: she would remain on the Island, never passing Beyond, until the Dyr joined her in the afterlife.
Zabralka's Island is haunted to this day, and many a lost sailor on the Garlin Deep falls victim to her trickery and lies. They become trapped on the Island, and she hunts them down with Ilotlian Arrows.
Beware the glimpse of the Golden Dyr standing on the shore, or you may find yourself unable to return home.

by sunnybirdboi via MidJourney

Location

Zabralka's Island is a large island off the southwestern coast of Meskaovania, between the massive continent and the smaller islands of Shaca and Shiaca. While it's not that far from land, even visible from shore on a clear day, the island remains largely unexplored because of the terrible legend - and history - tied to the land.