Naoise and the Tower

Summary

The Tale of Naoise and the Tower is a classic fairy tale in Lunan culture. It tells the story of a peasant man named Naoise, who hears that the king is offering the hand of his daughter in marriage to whoever can bring down a certain tower with only one punch. Upon seeing the tower Naoise realizes that nobody can hope to destroy it with one strike. But, upon catching sight of the princess he becomes determined to win her hand. Since there was no time limit for the trial it remained in effect even after everybody else had long given up.
Each day for an entire year, Naoise would secretly travel to the tower at night and weaken its foundations bit by bit. Then when he sensed that it had been weakened enough he went to the king to declare that he would take on the challenge. Because of how weakened it had been the tower fell apart with Naoise’s punch, winning him the princess as his wife.

Spread

Like most Lunan fairy tales it also told amongst the Lycan. Though unlike most fairy tales where it is unclear whether the Lunans or Lycan told it first, the focus on kings and towers makes it probable that it started amongst the Lunans and then spread to the Lycan. Beyond Lunis there is some knowledge of the story due to how common it is for Lunans to allude to it. It alongside many other Lunan fairy tales became more well known in the Xilaman Empire with the mass migration of Lunans and Lycan fleeing the Succession War.

Variations & Mutation

Like most fairy tales there are various different versions. In the one included within the Royal Chronicle it is revealed at the end that the king knew of Naoise's sabotage, which was how the king intended for someone to accomplish the task. The true trial was really if someone was clever enough to both think of the plan and carry it out. Other versions have the princess fall in love with Naoise around the same time that the contest starts and aid him in the sabotage of the tower.
Like many other fairy tales in Hybridis, the exact race of the characters also changes between stories. While the setting is always Lunis in some vague distant past, there exist versions where Naoise is a Human, Orc, Cephal, or a Lycan. Naturally the version with Naoise as a Lycan can be traced to the Lycan tribes. 
Naoise's differing race between versions led to genuine confusion amongst the record keepers while writing it down in the Royal Chronicle. They eventually settled on leaving Naoise's race unmentioned.

Cultural Reception

This story is often alluded to when speaking about seemingly simple actions that in truth have much more complex underlying factors. A common romantic expression involves someone claiming that their love for another has weakened themselves to the point of falling to a single punch.

In Literature

During the reign of King Eamon, Naoise and the Tower were amongst the fairy tales that he ordered the Royal Recorders to add to the Royal Chronicle, marking the first time it had been written down.