Folklore:
in Custom and Tradition:"Even a place as outlandish as Everwealth is still prone to the occasional embellishment." -Unknown
In Everwealth, folklore is more than just fireside fables, it is mortar between the stones of civilization. Myths are not just remembered; they are lived with. A child may grow up believing their shadow walks faster than them because of an old tale about a soul outpacing the body. A village might burn its wheat a day early every harvest, not for weather, but because once, long ago, a spirit in the grain field demanded it. These stories may not be true in the way scholars desire, but they are true enough for the people who carry them. They bleed into daily life: encoded in lullabies, stitched into quilts, painted onto waystones, and etched into the side of blades handed down for generations. Yet, not all folklore comforts. In a land as scarred and magick-touched as Everwealth, stories can shape fear just as easily as faith. Whispers of the Bone Lantern that hunts oathbreakers have led entire units to desert rather than risk marching under a broken command. The wrong song sung at the wrong hour might wake something old beneath the hills. Some legends are cultural glue, passed along to preserve values. Others are arcane traps, accidentally true, accidentally dangerous. As with much in Everwealth, the trick is never knowing which is which until it's far too late.
In Everwealth, folklore is more than just fireside fables, it is mortar between the stones of civilization. Myths are not just remembered; they are lived with. A child may grow up believing their shadow walks faster than them because of an old tale about a soul outpacing the body. A village might burn its wheat a day early every harvest, not for weather, but because once, long ago, a spirit in the grain field demanded it. These stories may not be true in the way scholars desire, but they are true enough for the people who carry them. They bleed into daily life: encoded in lullabies, stitched into quilts, painted onto waystones, and etched into the side of blades handed down for generations. Yet, not all folklore comforts. In a land as scarred and magick-touched as Everwealth, stories can shape fear just as easily as faith. Whispers of the Bone Lantern that hunts oathbreakers have led entire units to desert rather than risk marching under a broken command. The wrong song sung at the wrong hour might wake something old beneath the hills. Some legends are cultural glue, passed along to preserve values. Others are arcane traps, accidentally true, accidentally dangerous. As with much in Everwealth, the trick is never knowing which is which until it's far too late.
