Crayn and the White Oak

Crayn and the White Oak is a galtic myth about the importance of respecting the gods' places of power in the Brunan forests.

Summary

Long ago, in the lands of the Blindfire Clan, lived Crayn the Defiant. He was a mighty warrior with a bushy red beard who could lift five grown men in his shoulders.
One day, the king of his clan rode into his village offering the hand of his daughter Mabina to the strongest man in the land. Crayn killed an elk and shared it with the whole tribe in celebration, for he knew that no one could best him in combat. However, while Crayn had his banquet in the longhouse, an outsider came to the village, asking for food and shelter. She immediately fell in love with Mabina, and challenged Crayn to a duel for her hand in marriage. Confident in his strength, Crayn accepted.
The following morning, the whole tribe had gathered to watch the fight. Crayn brought his best facepaint, his finest spear, and his strongest shield, while the outsider only had a club. However, she was much faster than him, and as soon as the duel began she broke his spear in half, jumped on his shield and hit him across the face with her club, knocking him out. Crayn could not believe that such an unknown, small woman could have beaten him, and so he screamed:
"I curse the smith who brought me faulty weapons! I will create my own, and beat your sorcery with arms fit for the gods!"
Disrespecting the outcome of the duel, Cayn ran to his tribe's Oldenground, a majestic oak tree that sprouted before men walked the earth. The elders in his village begged him to fashion weapons out of mundane trees, but Cayn would not be defeated again. As he approached the tree, he met with a small boy dressed in twigs and leaves, wearing a mask of a deer's skull.
"Have you come to worship the oak of your makers?" said the boy.
"I have come to tear it down and create new tools from it!" Crayn bellowed back.
"Will you not climb to its top and smell its flowers?" The boy asked, unphased.
"I will crush its flowers and make them into the strongest warpaint!" Crayn growled back.
"Will you not nest on its branches and nap in the breezy morning?" The boy asked.
"I will snap off the biggest of branches and fashion it into the strongest of spears!" Crayn barked.
"Will you not lean on its trunk, and feel the ancient warmth of Cailea bring you safety and comfort?" The boy asked.
"I will rip the bark from its trunk, and the shield that I will make will give me all the protection I need!" Crayn screamed in a beast-like rage, and with an axe in each hand he cut the tree down.
As his rage subsided, he looked at where the boy had been, but in his place stood the towering figure of Ersus, the god of vegetation who watched over the oak tree.
"You could not respect the laws of men" Ersus said, "And so you come to break the Law of the Wild. Worry not Crayn, for you will no longer need weapons! Your body will be so strong that no man will be able to tackle you to the ground! Your spears will be many, and no man will be able to break them all! Your warpaint will have the brightest of colors, and it will give pause to all men who see it!"
And so, Ersus turned Cayn into a massive oak tree, with a thick, strong trunk, firm branches beyond counting, and the most colorful flowers in the valley.
The King of the Blindfire Clan married his daughter to the outsider, and to this day Crayn's visage can be seen in that tree, where he will stay until the gods have forgiven him.

Variations & Mutation

Descriptions of the outsider, as well as their gender, vary wildly from region to region. In some versions the outsider will be a hero from other, more local tales. The god responsible for punishing Cayn also varies, with Ersus being the most popular choice (followed closely by Andeis, another god of trees).

Related Ethnicities

• Galt

Related Locations

• Bruna