Whispers Come all Night Long
I once heard a tale, of the men of the land and the fae. Together they brokered a peace, which would allow men to roam the forests unabated, and in exchange both would care for all upon the land. But the men of this land were fearful, the forest had whispered to them for so long that they could not abide their deepest fears of the fae.
And so, they sought to deprive their fear of control over them, and cut the forests from the land denying the fae of their refuge, but more importantly: their influence over the land of men. The inspirited land that had been cultivated respectfully by their ancestors now lay torn and ripped, as men now looked selfishly inwards upon themselves.
The fae retreated to their watery havens, awaiting the time of their return, while men flourished unchallenged. Now out of balance with the land, men became prideful over their power and dominance of the former fae domains, and so an opportunity arose.
Men sought power over their kin, they fought and killed each other over their new dominion, and so from the inspirited watery depths of the land, the fae offered those who believed themselves to be worthy of rule a spiritual weapon that could legitimise their claim to reign over the hearts of their brethren.
But the sword, like the forest had before, whispered long and deep to the hearts of men, all the while corrupting their heads. This blackening of the soul, exaggerated their greatest weaknesses; their pride and lust for power, and the stymying fear of its loss. And so, they destroyed and killed for this sword, and were in kind felled, like they had the forests before them, by those seeking to claim said power.
The fae and men were now even more at odds with each other than before, and the soul that had indwelt the land of the red dragon cried out, and wept, in despair at this great imbalance. Such poisoned tears would change the very nature of the sacred places of the land, and thenceforth entities, monstrous and malevolent, took root within the wells, rivers and lakes, severing the connection to the gods.
