The Seeing Stone

Among the stories shared in the north, none are more prevelant than those of the Seeing Stone. The exact content of each of these stories often varies from community to community, or even from telling to telling, but each variation often shares many common elements.

The Core Story

Across all of the variation of the Seeing Stone myth there are several shared elements. The Seeing Stone is always enshrined somewhere and it is always described as nearly the size of a man's fist. The hero (or heroine) is always a wanderer with no ties to the area in which they find the Seeing Stone only to discover some sort of calamity soon to befall them through the use of the stone. The protagonist of these stories then tries to use their knowledge to stop whatever horrible occurrence they've foreseen only to have it happen all the same.

Variations

Among the communities of the north there are hundreds, if not more, variations of the Seeing Stone myth. A few of the most common are:

• The location in which the Seeing Stone is enshrined is a long-forgotten temple to an ancient deity said to have created the stone itself.
• The hero/heroine has come to the land seeking the Seeing Stone to improve their life.
• The Seeing Stone often posses some form of guardian—most often this takes the form of a fae or spirit—that either warns the hero/heroine or challenges them before they may make use of the stone.
• Some communities in the far north believe that the Seeing Stone itself offers false visions to lead its users to damnation and when they suffer the results of their vision it consumes their soul.