Urud the Owl
Most people would assume that an Illendrith such as Iriane would have a companion that would fit well with her wisdom. But many are surprised when they hear she only had the tiniest owl in Western Agia.Urud was a little owl of a mere 16 cm in height. He was the companion to Iriane, an Illendrith and Hailan of wisdom and compassion.
While Iriane was one of the wisest women of her time, the same could not be said about Urud.
An Unlikely Meeting
The legend of Urud and Iriane begins when Urud could barely fly. Urud was always a curious little creature and when one day his parents did not return to the birch tree cavity which they lived in, Urud took it upon his shoulders to go look for his parents. But the little owl did not make it far. He fell from the nest onto the ground and hurt his foot.It was then that Iriane came by and heard the little owl’s desperate cry. She carefully picked up Urud and returned to the temple where her brothers and sisters were, where she nursed Urud until he could walk once more, and kept him until he had grown up and could take care of himself.
As the weeks and months went by, the two had grown fond of each other's company, and the day for which Iriane had to release him back to nature had suddenly approached. She had discussed with her sisters and brothers at the temple whether she should keep Urud, but they were not as happy with the little troublemaker and almost forced Iriane to release him. Every time she would take him out and release him into the air to make him fly away, he would fly back to her.
She realised they were inseparable and kept him hidden for a while until there were pellets in random places inside the temple, and his presence was too obvious.
Urud the Great Mouse Hunter
To think of finding owl pellets on the floor by accidentally stepping on them makes my skin crawl.
Urud proved to be a superb hunter of mice, and suddenly the old temple, Yntas, no longer had any mice problem, unless Iriane and Urud were away. One thing the sisters in the temple were less fond about, was the morning gifts of dead mice on their bed and a very proud Urud looking at them.
Urud the Stupid
Despite his usefulness against mice, Urud had a severe problem of overestimating his size. He would often get into fights with the neighbouring cat, which he thought to be the perfect dinner size. This caused him to look more shaggy and ugly over the years. But where most saw him as stupid and clumsy, Iriane only saw braveness and loyalty. The two were inseparable for almost seven years until the sudden death of Iriane, who got caught up in the war between the Illendriths and the Church of Irath.Urud stood by her side until she drew her last breath, and did not leave until he too died from hunger, giving up life because his one true friend had died.
The Constellation of Iriane and Urud
In the star constellation of Iriane, Urud has also gotten a few stars to represent his loyalty to Iriane. The constellation of Urud contains merely eight stars and is considered being one of the smallest constellations in the night sky. The constellation of Urud is placed on the upper-right of the constellation of Iriane.
This is just a placeholder drawing for Urud
Children
Damn. Way to hurt me at the last second, haha.
You are welcome or something :D