The curse of Ysmaer
Far to the west, there was one a thriving, beautiful country, which nowadays is known only as Ysmaer desert, named after its former ruler. The topic of how the whole country was engulfed by the desert is stuff of legend.
Summary
No matter who you ask in Merhendiv about the curse of Ysmaer, there will always be some similar elements in their stories. What can be understood is that the leader of the country, by the name of Ysmaer, seeked to acquire a power similar to that of a god after a stranger pointed it to him. His hubris caused this power to turn against him and the whole nation, turning the land to sand and people to monsters.
Variations & Mutation
Version of the dwarves
There was once a chief, of rogue a clan lost today. His name was Ysmaer, the conqueror. Chief Ysmaer had heard by a traveller of a beast trapped somewhere in the land of the west, as strong as a god and that would grant its power to whomever would slay it.
Gathering all warriors of his clan, Ysmaer set out to this quest. After a long search, he eventually found the ensnared beast. In the ferocious battle that followed, the beast's bounds were broken. The beast was now free to ravage the land and spread the curse.
Version of the humans
Lord Ysmaer was a benevolent leader who would do anything for his people. But when his wife was struck by an illness with no cure, he became so desperate he launched a crusade on the words of a traveller about a godly remedy that would relieve one of any pain.
Lord Ysmaer evntually found it in the form of a flower and brought it to his wife, infused it and gave it to her. But Lord Ysmaer had misunderstood the words of the stranger, and as soon as the infusion touched her lips, she stopped breathing, went completely limp, her eyes glassy and a smile on her face.
The traveller reappeared, revealing himslef to be Death itself, who had fallen in love with Ysmaer's wife and was growing impatient. Ysmaer, in his sadness, cursed himself and the land to an eternal torment, as we can still see today.
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