Admittedly, I don't spend a lot of time around Stretto. It's too metropolitan and... tidy. I mean, the city is a mess but everything has it's place there and I find it tedious. I want to go places I'm not supposed to! I want to find things and explore! However, I must digress. Between visits the glamorous city a popular legend has circulated regarding a specific, and very real, abbey of Rinenians.
According the most widely encountered version of the tale, the Primis were watching humanity for a long time and had remained at the outskirts of civilization since humans first began to use tools. As the modern capitals rose in status and began talking rather than raiding, the Primis gathered to discuss their own status-quo. This happened very rarely and only their uncrowned leader,
Maenar, has ever called for a full meeting of the entire pantheon.
Oddly,
Maenar did not wait for the full congregation. Notably,
Aldrek and
Rinen were both absent during the important discussion on how to proceed. Almost all agreed that Aldrek would not want the cities to stay in power and without his vote, the other primis agreed that they would continue to abide by their ancient contract and continue to stay out of mortal affairs. Only
Zetna voted to break tradition and her reasoning was clear - she finds mortals
fascinating and wants to 'play'.
This agreement forced the two absent gods to abide by their ruling, despite neither one preferring it. Unknown to the other primis, Maenar had made a friendly wager with Aldrek prior to requesting the gathering. Maenar asked Aldrek to distract Rinen and keep them away from the meeting. Through mystical means, Maenar had divined that Rinen would sway the other Primis toward instigating chaos among the mortals and that this would somehow be very bad for the Primis. Unsure whether to trust Maenar at his word, Aldrek agreed anyway. Aldrek wanted the humans to collaborate and spread for his own reasons so this served his purpose perfectly.
Here, the story diverges. There are two popular endings to this tale and I hate them both, possibly because the story seems to be designed around both versions being equally probable.
One version of the 'legend' says that Aldrek commanded his few loyal followers to bake him the most delicious dessert they could manage and leave it out for him overnight. A loyal baker living in Stretto made a tray of sweet buns so perfect that even the evil heart of Aldrek was warmed by their enticing aroma. He took the buns and cast a magic charm to draw Rinen to him. Sitting outside the very bakery that the buns had been crafted, Aldrek sat and waiting among the ignorant mortals for Rinen to appear and when they did, Aldrek and Rinen ate the buns while they talked casually about the city and how it had grown. Rinen was shocked by Aldrek's friendliness and completely forgot about the meeting with the other Primis until it was too late. In this version Aldrek, too, was entirely captivated by the conversation and what was intended as a manipulation turned into the beginnings of a new relationship.
The second version goes much like the first, Aldrek gets the incredible buns but decides that the dessert is too good to serve as a trap and instead attends the meeting with the incredible treats. All the gods love them and he can feel that somehow, the power in these buns wasn't only affecting him. Before anyone could ask, he lied and told the entire pantheon that Rinen had been responsible and should be praised for the heights his followers could reach. Receiving praise from their fellow gods, Rinen accepted the lie and took credit for the achievement - which also ensured he wouldn't break with tradition and vote against Maenar to keep out of human affairs.
— Nariman Zandos, Dannamore Scholar
Comments