Hatred of the Colorless Girl

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Hatred of the Colorless Girl, or Trugor Noraya in the Vevari language, is a Fevarik Regalti fairy tale for how the Void Lagoon came to be a dark, hate filled place. It tells a tale of how a girl, a Colorless Regalti hated by society, gained favor of the gods and used it to take revenge.

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Once there was a girl born of the void. Her name was Noraya. She was born without color. Her hair was black and dull. Her skin wouldn't change with her emotions. Her parents tried to raise her, but the other Regalti hated them for it. Worried about themselves and their other children, they abandoned Noraya when she was a small girl. She was shut out of the town and was forced to live on her own on the edges of the lagoon. She was alone.

Even most of the gods shunned colorless Regalti, for beings of the void are said to be cursed, bringing nothing but darkness with them. But there was Sevi, the moon, a being also born of the void. She took pity on them. She saw Noraya abandoned, and sent a feather hound to help. This dog, named Sprekira, could talk and taught Noraya about living on her own.

One day, Noraya was fishing, she caught a Goralm, a stinging rock. This was when another messenger of the gods appeared. It was Laretse, a void cat, a messenger of Aultar, the toxic god. Laretse said he was hungry and hasn't eaten in a long time, and asked Noraya to feed him. Noraya thought for a moment, then relented, giving the stinging rock to the cat.

Laretse thanked Noraya and promised that on the day she needed help most, Aultar would answer her prayers and make her desires a reality. Noraya said she would never pray to a dark being like Aultar and ask him for anything, no matter how much she needed him.

Several years passed, and Noraya grew into a beautiful young woman, but was still colorless with black hair. On many lonely nights she pondered asking Aultar to take her colorless skin away and make her the same as everyone else, but she never did.

One day, The local lord, Netan, went to Noraya and asked her to join him for the evening. Noraya was skeptical at first, but then agreed. That night, for the first time in a long time, Noraya felt like she finally belonged with other Regalti instead of being alone.

This view was shattered when the next morning, Noraya woke up to the sounds of chains. Netan had captured Noraya. She was to be taken away from the town, and be sold. Colorless Regalti were rare, and Noraya was worth a lot of money. Noraya was locked in a wooden cart, to be taken away from the town the next day.

Betrayed and hated, it was in this moment that Noraya prayed to Aultar. Her desire wasn't to make herself look like everyone else, but to make everyone else look like her! She begged him to make everyone around her colorless, so they could feel her pain. Make them all suffer and know what it is like to be alone!

Aultar answered her prayers. He sent his avatar, Aultamor, the Lord of Stinging Rocks, to punish the town. It started with an eartquake, then the Lagoon on the edge of town started bubbling. The water boiled and turned black. Then Aultamor appeared to pass judgement on the town.

Suddenly thousands of stinging rocks sprange out of the water, grabbing onto every living thing in sight. Many Regalti were pulled into the deep water and were never seen again. Those that could fight off being dragged into the water were stung by the tentacles. In these areas their skin became forever colorless, becoming shunned by the gods like Noraya was.

Some townpeople did manage to flee the lagoon without being stung and turned colorless. Aultar released a new type of stinging rock, ones that could float, to chase them to the ends of Collena for all time. These stinging rocks became the first skyshells.

Noraya was still locked in the wagon as the chaos unfolded around her. It is said that she cackled in delight at what happened to the town, even as Aultamor grabbed onto the wagon holding her and dragged it into the waters of the lagoon.

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About Colorless Regalti...

A Colorless Regalti is unable to change their skin color with their emotions. Their skin stays a pale yellow to gray no matter their state. Color Perception is important to Regalti, and in the past, being colorless was looked down on by society. Colorless Regalti were forced to live at the edge of civilization and perform jobs that no one else wanted. Being Colorless was once said to be a punishment from the gods, and even having a Colorless Regalti in your ancestry was considered a bad thing.

Origins of the Trugor Noraya

The origins of this tale are based on a historical event that happened roughly 1000 years ago. In the year 646 before exodus, an incident was recorded along the shores of the Void Lagoon, where large jellyfish tentacles by the thousands sprang out of the water and started to grasp onto any and every living thing it could reach, dragging them into the water. Most surviving regalti were stung and turned colorless by the venom. Multiple towns were destroyed and hundreds of people died.

In the years since, this story was told to Regalti children, as a way to teach them to treat the colorless better, not because they were people (Regalti society was unfortunately rather prejudiced against the colorless in the past), but because you never knew who had the favor of the gods.

Over time, as Regalti society modernized and everyone tolerated each other more, the story morphed into a tale about treating each other like people. Expanded versions of the story change the context of how Aultamor was summoned. Various characters are added and changed, and the story changes to teach Regalti to open up and accept others, not force them away just because they are different. Shown above is the most basic version.

Aultamor

Lord of Stinging Rocks

Aultamor is an actual creature that lives near the Void Lagoon. It is a colossal skyshell that looks like nothing more than a giant hill, with trees growing on its back. You do not have to dig far into the hill until you end up in an underground cavern of horrors which are actually in the insides of the jellyfish. How such a creature got so large is unknown and it is the only one known to exist.

Aultamor's tentacles reach deep underground, acting like a primitive root system, reaching into the waters of the Void Lagoon. During the summer, the tentacles stay near the deepest parts of the lagoon, sucking nutrients from plant matter. During the winter, the tentacles are much closer to the surface, and have been known to drown many creatures, including people.

It is rare, but during exceptional drought years, Aultamor's tentacles will even reach out of the water, finding any living thing it can to get nutrients. One such incident is what inspired this story.