Virandir's Wandering Eyes

Content Warnings: Difficult Romantic Relationships/Breakups, Violence, Murder

Written by orphidor

This rather-dark myth, part of the Divine Conveyance, is supposed to demonstrate the physical and emotional catastrophies caused by cheating on and abandoning one's parter. In this case, the consequences were especially dire. This tale is meant to serve as a gruesome warning for anyone considering going down this path.

Summary

During their youth, in the city of Zelenni, two Suktu men named Virandir and Atalai were introduced by their parents and fell deeply in love. Virandir was an incredibly charming social butterfly, always flitting between conversations and making people laugh with various quips. Atalai, on the other hand, was more on the melancholy side. Despite their differences, they seemed perfect for each other. In fact, they were so fond of each other that they hardly left each other’s side. The two shared everything, from morsels of food to their darkest secrets. They were vulnerable with each other and stood firmly beside each other during difficult times. It seemed to outside observers that their relationship was bound to last forever.
After they'd been together for several years, however, Virandir began to grow distant. Atalai worried that Virandir had found someone new. His suspicions were correct: Virandir's wandering gaze had landed on somebody else, a handsome and intelligent Suktu man named Oleni, with whom he met up with in secret on a regular basis and began to fall in love with. His previous love for Atalia vanished in a moment. All Virandir could see was his newfound adoration for Oleni.
When the secret slipped out that Virandir was seeing someone else, Atalai was completely and thoroughly heartbroken. How could such a thing be kept from him for so long? Was he not handsome enough? Was he not kind enough? Did the other man’s charisma matter more than his genuine devotion to Virandir? Instead of blaming his cheating partner, he came to the conclusion that what was going on was his fault. His depression intensified once his former partner finally left him in favor of the new man, leaving behind nothing but a note explaining his decision in the briefest way possible. Atalai lived in deep sorrow from that point onward, his life consumed by thoughts of the lover who’d left him without a proper goodbye, the things he wished he could have done differently, and the abruptness of their years-long relationship's end. The emptiness and despondency he felt from that moment onward meant that he would ultimately remain single for the rest of his life.
After a few years of Oleni and Virandir living happily together (during which Virandir spared hardly a thought for Atalia,) Virandir’s eyes began to wander once more. He met a man he considered to be even more handsome than his previous lover, a moderately-high-ranking gentleman called Jukoni. Despite the differences in their social standings, Virandir proceeded to woo Jukoni and eventually left Oleni for the newest “love of his life” in such the same matter than he’d left Atalai, leaving only a brusque letter to explain his actions. Upon finding out than he’d been abandoned, a rage unlike anything he’d ever felt before arose in Oleni. The jilted lover crept into their home and slit both Virandir and Jukoni's throats as they slept. In a bizarre and macabre twist, Oleni proceeded to cut Virandir's heart from his body and preserve it in a small box.
Since it was such a poorly-thought-out crime of passion and Oleni was still in possession of the heart when they captured him, the city guard immediately pinned the killings on him. He was promptly arrested and put on trial, where he was declared guilty. From then on, he was forced to wear a crime collar denouncing him as a murderer, something that comes with intense stigma among those who live in the tall cities. Though this story originally began with one of the most beautiful things a person could experience, love, it ended with suffering and death. The men Oleni killed wouldn't get to live the rest of their lives and experience the happiness all people deserve, and Oleni himself would forever wander as an outcast, never being able to find love again because of what he had done.

Historical Basis

Though the exact events of this myth are fictional, in the past, there have been documented cases of disgruntled lovers who've taken violent action toward their ex-partners.

Spread

The story is locked into the minds of every intelligent person, including the children. Thankfully, the children rarely put much thought into the myth, allowing their parents to explain its meaning when they get older.

Variations & Mutation

Because it is told in the exact same way in everyone's mind, no alternate versions exist, but different interpretations do among different races and ethnicities. As an example, certain groups believe that Oleni was in the right and shouldn't have had to wear the crime collar, while others believe he deserved a worse punishment for murdering two people, despite the circumstances.

Cultural Reception

The story has caused intense bias against those who are known to betray their spouses or partners. Those who cheat, especially repeatedly, are treated with disdain by other members of society because of this myth.

In Literature

Copies of this story (along with the other tales from the Divine Conveyance) have been documented word-for-word multiple times in various tomes. Certain books divide the stories into sections, starting with child-appropriate myths such as "the Snail's Savior" and keeping myths such as this one in a separate portion of the book intended for slighty older individuals. In other cases, authors and playwrights have taken inspiration from the myth and created longer works using the plot as a baseline to work off of.

In Art

Several tamer paintings and engravings of the myth exist, but one graphic, stylized mosaic stands out for its disturbing nature. It was created by Mazoph Okarmo, an infamous Suktu artist known for creating violent-yet-beautiful works of art.

Date of First Recording

5 AB

Date of Setting

Unknown

Related Species

• Deity
• Suktu

Related Locations

• Middle Realm