Arin Legends & Folklore
“Every culture buries its fears where children will find them first."
Areeott is a land where stories do not fade. The past lingers in the mountains. It lingers in the forests where the trees lean too close. It lingers in the roads where no one walks alone. The Arin do not write their history in books. They carve it into memory. They pass it down in warnings and whispered names. They follow customs not because they are understood but because they have always been.
The oldest tales speak of things that do not belong to any kingdom. The Hush watching from the quiet places. The Pale Lise walking a road she should not have. The Hollow Roads that appear when no one is looking. Some stories are told to frighten children. Others remind those who should know better. Not all of them are true. None of them are lies.
It is said that the land itself remembers. A house where tragedy once struck will never settle. Doors open in the night. Footsteps sound in empty halls. A name spoken in the wrong place at the wrong time may draw something closer. Some stories are warnings. Others are echoes. All exist for a reason. No one tells a story without cause. If it is remembered it was never meant to be forgotten.
These legends shape the Arin people in ways outsiders struggle to understand. They follow customs without question. They do not step through open doors without knocking first. They never leave a seat empty during the Emberfeast. They avoid the Hollow Roads when they appear. Some call it superstition but the Arin do not argue. They do not need to.
The way stories are told matters. Some are spoken only in hushed voices meant for certain ears. Others are sung and turned into ballads. They soften through retellings until they no longer resemble the truths that shaped them. The wandering storytellers of Louve collect them like treasures. They trade versions from town to town never knowing which details have changed and which have been left out on purpose.
Some legends tell of the gods and the oaths that bound them. They speak of the ones who kept their promises and the ones who did not. Others tell of people who walked into the mountains and came back wrong. The line between folklore and history is thin. The Arin have little need to separate them. The lesson is what matters, not whether it ever truly happened.
Even the scholars of The Temple Observatory with their skepticism and their demand for written proof cannot deny that the folklore of Areeott holds weight. Too many travelers have taken the wrong road and not returned. Too many nights have been spent listening to footsteps that should not be there.
The legends of Areeott do not ask to be understood. They exist because something long ago gave people a reason to remember them. If you wish to know them you must listen carefully. Do not speak too loudly. Some stories do not like being told too often.
"When you're in Areeott and the towns and cities are behind you, know this. Unless you know exactly where you're going, stay on the path. The land remembers those who stray, and not all who wander find their way back."
“I used to think these stories were about monsters. Then I realized they were about us, and I started sleeping with a lantern lit.”
“Superstition is not ignorance. It is memory that learned to whisper.”
Comments