The Great White Winter

Set during the early formation of the numerous states that would become Kingdom of Adraus, the story tells of how during her many journeys across Azora, St. Lucia arrived at an undisclosed location in Adraus. Some claim it was Rathen, The City of Wolves, while some claim cities of the south or even the far west, the actual location matters little.   In the story, a chieftain of many names existed and, during this winter, ordered everyone in the village or country, depending on the teller, to seal away their food and hoard it until the spring. Even he, who had the most, hoarded his food.   One evening, Lucia came upon this village and its people were gaunt and its fires were cold. Lucia collapsed in the snow and a small child rescued her. They wrapped her in blankets but her skin burned to the touch, her body shivered and the mother knew she was not long for this world. The son, worried about her, asked if there was anything they could do.   Against better judgement, the mother took four ingredients - a single parsnip, half an onion, a bruised potato, and a few eggs and placed them in an old pot. As she cooked, her neighbors smelled the air and soon did the same - bringing vegetables and offerings for the soup. As they added more and more, they soon moved the pot into larger and larger vessels until it was far too much to bear.   The chieftain arrived in anger, but soon saw the whole village sheltered around this one woman who drank her Weissknochla freely and saw the warmth that the people had and hung his head in shame before sharing his own wealth of bread, vegetables and more.

While Weissknochla is a popular dish, there is no known sources that state that Lucia ever came to the Adrausii Plains, let alone ate within one village. However, many scholars of the Lucian Faith argue that this must be the case, as the tale holds too many details that are shared for it not to have been true. The only ever changing details are names and locations, but the bulk of the tale has remained the same.   This tale has, however, helped popularize the dish of Weissknochla and the tradition of family values and community that many Adrausii still have today.