Myths and Legends
There are many myths and legends throughout the galaxy of mysterious beings. Below are some of the more commonly known ones.
The Man in Black
The Man in Black is a story often told to young Augurs by their wiser elders as a cautionary tale of the price of foreknowledge. They tell of a figure that lurks in the darkness of hidden possibilities, dressed in a long black cloak with long black gloves, seeking those who dream of signs and portents. The Man in Black stalks Augurs, seeking their grisly demise, consumed by an ancient jealousy of their visions and power.
The Shining Knight
Sitting around the fire the night before hopeless battle finds soldiers grasping at any straw for hope. One such straw is the tale of the The Shining Knight. In the story there was a small scout force seeking information about a powerful enemy in a range of mountains. The nature of the enemy varies from one speaker to the next but all versions agree they are vast and terrible in the devastation they wreak. Then, one night, one scout turns to another and points out into the darkness where they have spotted a dim flickering light. As both turn to look another flicker appears, and then another, and then dozens, hundreds, thousands. They are the campfires of the enemy, surrounding the scout encampment in all directions. And so the scouts prepare to die.
In that moment, as doom comes, a figure appears. A soft glow, a shield of faceted crystal, a sword of gold, The Shining Knight has come. Standing in the face of annihilation, The Shining Knight held off the onslaught and the scouts could flee to safety and warn their people of the coming invasion.
The Maw of Truth
A soft susurration is how it begins. For a few moments it is almost pleasant and soothing before the mind registers the alienness of the sound. As the volume rises the noise becomes the muttering of countless voices, angry, scared, horrified. Then, as the world is blanketed in deep night, the muttering becomes words. Terrible words, words of terror, words of truths long hidden, words of secrets whose understanding destroy the sanity of those who hear them. The Maw of Truth has come, devouring the knowledge and sanity of all who hear its whispers.
The Stormwalker
A great and terrible clash of lightning and thunder sunders the still mountain air. What had been clean, crisp, and sunny is now the windswept violence of hail and rain that blinds the unwary. At its heart strides the Stormwalker and all wise folk hide indoors at her passage. She is the indiscriminate maelstrom and entire villages have been rent to pieces at the end of her hammer or glaive. No one knows if she calls the storm or if it calls her, but they are inseparable and eternal, a swirl of glare and sound and fury.
The Gardener
Long ago in a frontier world there was a small settlement of hardy souls working to establish a new colony. One day, however, their Terminus Arc lost alignment to their homeworld and they were stranded. The harvest had failed from a disease that afflicted the plantings and, without aid from home, they would soon starve and die. A meeting was called and hundreds crowded into a chamber to discuss what desperate measures they could take to save themselves, or, at least, their children. As dawn came they reached a decision of terrible necessity and prepared to kill three quarters of the adults so that what stores they had would last. Weeping, they left the hall to begin their grim preparations.
At noon they drew their lots and sharpened their axes. The first to die prayed and said goodbye. Then, as the first blade raised to flash in the sunlight, the call came. “Stop! Stop!” yelled a child, running as fast as she could from the direction of the fields to the West. “Crops!” She panted, as she grew closer. “Crops!” And fell, gulping for air, pointing.
When the town went to see, at the edge of hysteria and hope, they beheld a miracle. Acre after acre of grains, vegetables, and healthy cattle. Food! And walking toward them was The Gardener, smiling in her clothes of green and dirt stained feet. She had saved them and the settlement survived until their Arc was realigned a year later. She was seen only that once, walking and smiling, before a heat shimmer from the hot sun roiled the air and she was gone.