The Sojourner
Gather round children, and hear the tale - the story of our great journey - of the way we found our freedom! Listen well to the tale of the Sojourner!
Separating Fact from Myth
The fervent non-believers cast out our heroine for daring to believe in more than what she could see. She traveled for 100 days and 100 nights, alone in the snow and cold. When she finally arrived in the Reaches, her people's intolerance became our boon, for we found our new home - a place where we can explore the true wonders of The Second Generation.
On any given day, the Tale of the Sojourner can be heard being recited throughout Frosthold. It tells the story of Eirwind Albric , the visionary who first left her ancestral homeland in the east to come to The Far Reaches. Most Reachers believe they owe Eirwind everything for braving the Stormcrag Peaks and setting up the road to the Reaches they now call home. With each telling, the story grows - by now, the Sojourner has become a near mythic figure. Some even claim her to be an avatar of the gods. The tale has become so hyperbolic that it is nearly impossible to know where the truth ends and fiction begins.
Star Gazer
As she walked her 100 nights, always she kept her eyes to the stars. She had watched them from birth, and she let them guide her now. The stars ferried our ancestors to this continent, and they ferried her now to this new land. Always watch the stars in your travels children - they always know the way.
All versions of the Tale include Eirwind's use of the stars to guide her through the Stormcrag passes and into the Reaches. As the daughter of a caravan master, they say she learned early in life to use the stars for guidance and that they helped to save her even as she nearly froze to death in the Peaks. When the time came - when her people could no longer tolerate the stalwart atheists of their homeland, the Sojourner leaned on her exceptional navigation skills to lead them to a more tolerant land. Some of the more ardent storytellers insist that she made the journey alone, but then where did the rest of the people in The Far Reaches come from?
The Stigma of the Believer
We know to be cautious with the gods! Even the Second Generation is fickle and dangerous, but they are also wondrous and rejuvenating! Only a fool would deny them entirely, and only a kingdom of fools would argue that they are nothing but powerful mortals!
It is no secret that magic is a source of great destruction and evil in the eyes of many Karosians, and Reachers are no different. They hate and fear magic with the same intensity as their ancestors. Unlike those ancestors, they make some slight differentiation between the arcane and the divine. Even many Reachers hesitate to trust the clerics of the various gods, but most do believe in the divinity of The Second Generation, and most pray to those gods.
In their homeland, even believing in the gods was reason for ostracism. Those who believed openly or were outed for their beliefs had their businesses blacklisted, their families harassed, and even their lives threatened. When they fled west across the mountains, they were right to believe that they had no choice if they wished to survive. The stories say that the Sojourner was the most devout of all, and that may or may not be true. What is certain in both myth and history is that it was her knowledge, wilds craft, and unfaltering dedication to the trek that allowed for the survival of the persecuted.
Free Lands
Now, because of the Sojourner, we are free! We believe what we wish, we pursue our own truths, and we strive to be our best selves. Because of the Sojourner, every Reacher is truly free!
It is certainly true that the descendants of Eirwind's expedition are far more free than they would have been without her. She is the reason that Frosthold stands and that Reacher culture prizes independence, exploration, and a form of manifest destiny. Her people spread ever further through The Far Reaches, laying claim to the verdant lands they have found there. Even the government of the burgeoning lands accepts the independence of its people to the greatest extent possible, and that can be traced back to the tenants of the Sojourner.
Of course, the freedom that Reachers prize so heartily can be a selective thing. With the exception of The Archmage of Frosthold, they persecute would-be wizards as ardently as their own ancestors were tormented. Other races are also not immune. Elves in particular have borne the intolerance of the humans as they pushed ever further into the elves' ancestral lands. These truths are never mentioned in the Tale of the Sojourner, of course. Her legacy remains untouched by the sometimes questionable decisions of her and her followers' ancestors.
To disparage the Sojourner is to hate every Reacher in equal measure. We are her people. She gave us the right to live freely, and we won't let anyone take it from us ever again!
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