Craneblood Legends

Craneblood Wine

Craneblood Wine is the name given to the sacred wine distilled from the Craneberry Curd in the The Reivers' Marshes. The Craneberry is the basis for the Craneblood legends.

  The crane is one of the 13 sacred animals of the Alven clans. Traditions see the crane as a messenger to the goddess Arran, daughter of the Warrior Queen of the Underworld, Morgan and her husband Connend.

From Castle Caer, Arran, welcomes the souls of the recently departed to the The Underworld and helps their transition to the nether life.

Craneberries are supposed to be the favourite food of the cranes and, as such, are also sacred and imbued with spiritual powers. Craneberry Curd is prepared in secret every year by the villages' Wiseheart witches and serves in the Samayne rituals to the ancestors.

Myth of Arran of the Cranes

The goddess Arran has a sad and cursed history to her name, befitting a goddess of the Underworld and the Dark Plane. Arran was born first, before her brother Donn, the god of Hunting. Once her brother was born, her mother, the cold and calculating, Morgan only had eyes for her son, and stopped paying attention to Arran who was not as beautiful, charming and powerful as her brother.

Arran was relatively quiet and preferred the company of animals and humans to that of her celestial family. She hated how her brother Donn delighted in killing all that moved, and her mother's penchant for gore.

Finally, Arran asked her mother for a place of her own where she could reign undisturbed and be left alone. Morgan did not object to Arran's wishes, just wanting her ungrateful daughter out of the way. With the help of her father, Connend, whom Arran was still close to, she obtained the wonderful Castle Caer - a place of ghostly beauty that lies at the frontier of the planes.

In Castle Caer, Arran of the Kind Heart, welcomes the deserving souls who have left the mortal plane (set plane) and helps them prepare for their lives in the nether. Arran's favourite birds are the cranes - Arran uses the birds to send omens and guidance to the human world.

The birds are sacred in the Marshlands, and the local people call cranes the 'Fair Sign' or the 'Bright Mourners'. This belief led to the craneberry becoming sacred due to its rarity and its association with the Marshland cranes.

'Arran and Beelian' by Driver Wheatson

Variations: Myth of the Craneblood

One common variation in the Marshlands, as told in Arran's story, is the myth of the Craneblood. The wine distilled from the Craneberries is meant to represent Arran's blood - given freely to heal one mortal man back to life.

A long time ago, when the goddess Arran was still a young queen in Castle Caer, she fell in love with a young mortal warrior chieftain, Beelian of the Marsh. However, her love was unrequited. Still, Arran granted Beelian's wish - he wanted to come back to the mortal plane and lead his clan to victory and safety.

Arran sacrificed her beloved crane, Whitewing, and gave Beelian its blood. Beelian came back to his clan, Clan Wingswan. Wingswan clansmen defeated the evil marsh Lizardmen that once terrorised the region. Beelian of the Marsh is a revered folk hero in the Reivers' Marshes.

Literature and Art

Arran's mourning of her lost love, Beelian, is a favourite subject of paintings and engraving. Even though the myth of Arran and Belian originated in the Marshlands, far away from the populous south and other important Alven urban centres, the story has become very well known within the last few centuries. Arran is often revered and prayed to by those who are brokenhearted.

Such a popular story has also made its way into countless poems and epics, all of which lean on the romantic. The story is so popular that a callous lover is often referred to as a 'Beelian'.