Tale of the First King
"... Many scholars dispute the exact circumstances that lead the party of three to encounter the Northern Warrior. The most popular opinion is that they were attacked by Voiders and she had been out hunting and aided them upon coming upon the fight. Yet another is that the Survivor wandered into a tribe's camp, got captured and the Warrior's presence was the price of his freedom. While the latter provides much more insight into the relationships and personalities of the party members, the former is much more likely considering most of the party was not known to have any particular skill in combat at the time..."
~~ Intricacies of the Tale of the First by Petrok Angove of the College of Leahar
Summary
Centuries after the Creator used the last of their power to seal the tower from the forces of the Void, the once-united nation of Arrijion is no more. Disputes and wars fought over access to magic lead to the rise of six kingdoms, each hoarding the mages it produced and refusing any trade of ideas, resulting in the stagnation of progress. One day, in the Plains Kingdom, a mage delivered a prophecy. It said that half the kingdoms were destined to fall, but someone of the Creator's direct line would assemble a group of people from all the kingdoms and retake the tower, bringing unity to the nation. The ruler kept this a secret and began looking for the destined successor among his own people.
The Plains King was too late, however, and the Voiders broke free and decimated the kingdom, leaving few survivors, including a contingent of high ranking soldiers who had been present in another town. The other kingdoms, seeing the destruction, rushed to form alliances to raise an army to force the voiders back into the Void. This lead to a meeting of dignitaries from the Coastal and Eastern kingdoms. The coastal party was attacked on their way through the Plains kingdom, leaving one survivors: a Guardsman from the Coast who was saved by the last Captain from the Plains. They banded together to report back to the Coastal kingdom of the failure of the meeting. On their journey, they ran into another Survivor of the Plains Kingdom, who told them of the prophecy. They returned to the Coastal kingdom and reported their failure, as well as the prophecy, and the ruler sent them onto the Northern kingdom to try and make an alliance.
They traveled to the Northern Kingdom first and attempted to track down the ruling tribe. Along the way, they met a Northern warrior who joined with the party upon hearing of their quest and helped them deliver the news.
The party then departed for the Eastern Kingdom and reached it in good time. The council revealed that they had already been engaged in peace talks with the Mountain Kingdom for some time, even before they had agreed to meet with the Coastal kingdom, and that they would be willing to aid the other kingdoms and add someone of their own to the party. They provided their best swordsman and together, they set out for the Mountain Kingdom.
Upon reaching the citadel, one of the Mages escorted them to the Warlord. He heard of their plight, but refused to provide any aid. They left, dejected, but the Mage approached them and asked to join them in their quest. They left the Mountains and made to return to the Coast.
When they passed through a village, they received news that the Coast had fallen to the voiders. A messenger from the new Plains queen then met them with word from her. It said that she had uncovered the location of the Tower and that they needed to travel there to stop the Voiders.
They set out and fought their way through the forces of the void, reaching the dormant Tower. They were unsuccessful in reawakening it, and the Captain was severely injured. This caused the Guardsman to awaken the power of the Creator, becoming the Vessel, and the Tower to awaken, repelling the Voiders and imbuing the party with Arany - the unique blessing of the tower.
The Vessel repelled the Voiders and revealed his power to the kingdoms, who all pledged their loyalty to him. Thus he was crowned the First King of Arrijion. He kept the party on as his advisors and protectors and thus the First Age began.
Historical Basis
The myth is actually a fairly accurate telling of the second founding of Arrijion, though details have gotten twisted and altered through time.
The Tower is located in the high church and pilgrims of all types can come and pray for a blessing. The First King was documented as having ruled for centuries, though it is debated if magic was used to conceal the changing of kings.
Voiders have been spotted above ground and killed throughout history, and they are a very real threat for those who dare to explore the wilderness. Now, of course, it is indisputable that they exist, with Wyrueir, Ruler of the Void, having taken over the Capital and ruling Arrijion.
Spread
The myth is common knowledge to the people of Arrijion, though only scholars of other nations know of it, as it is not a part of their religious teachings.
Variations & Mutation
Each region (the old kingdom boundaries) disagrees on which of the party was gravely injured and which one actually became the First King. They each attribute the First to the party member from their own region. The identity of the injured member, however, sometimes even differs from story-teller to story-teller.
Scholars also often exaggerated the impact of the party; they had a lot of outside help, and they did not go after the Tower alone. The armies of the north and east aided them, and the Mountain Kingdom sent a contingent of soldiers to aid them as well.
Other parts of the myth were also distorted and lost to time, with certain details being removed entirely by certain leaders. Wyrueir does not allow its circulation at all.
Cultural Reception
The myth changes who the Vessel was depending on the region, as each wish to be able to lay claim to producing the First. This is not something that prevents retellings, just produces small arguments.
The regions also change details of the relations between the kingdoms based on their own records (though now any from that time have been destroyed).
A festival is held each year in honor of the Tower's awakening, and it is the largest celebration. It is a time of peace and refreshing ties of unity for the nation and is held during the first week of the new year.
In Literature
There are several variations of the myth reproduced in literature. Some are accounts that do extensive research in an attempt to discover who exactly the party was, some are religious texts proclaiming the Vessel as the Creator reincarnated, and other are simply artful retellings that attempt to fill in details at the author's digression.
Now, the only texts of this myth left are located in the libraries of Idorough.
In Art
Tapestries and stained glass of the party and Vessel adorn many churches and homes of the high class. Epic poems and songs of the myth are often shared at the Festival of Arany. There were statues of the Vessel in every church in the nation at one point.
Most artwork has been destroyed by Wyrueir and the poems and songs are all but lost to time outside Idrough.
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