The Disappearance of Isumma

A story many Ivendarean children - no matter if Nyr, Assadin, Aapha, or Jali - will have heard at some point in their life is the tale of Isumma. While it is debatable if Isumma ever was a person that truly existed, or if they are a figment of imagination, or something entirely between fact and fiction, their story is a cautionary tale very much thriving and alive as a cultural good.

Summary

Isumma was a child with big dreams and vivid imagination, who did not approve of boundaries their parents set for them, and neither of the burden of responsibilities put upon them by their community. Very often it would happen that their parents and siblings worked hard in the fields, while Isumma wandered through the village, through the forests, along the river and lakes and marches, inventing stories and playing games for their own entertainment. Isumma saw no harm in this - after all they were the youngest child, of the family, did they not deserve to, at least for a little bit, enjoy their childhood's freedom before the harsh reality of adulthood, work, and even more responsibilities replaced creativity and adventures?
Isumma's parents often scolded them, warning them to not wander off too deep into the woods, to not cross the rivers in certain locations, and to not stare into the calm surface of the lake for too long. They explained many times that Ivendarea was a nation full of beauty and natural wonders - but also full of magic completely unpredictable, of creatures dangerous and deadly. Alone, especially for a child, it was very much a deadly place to live in. Their parents begged Isumma to stay within the village, even if they refused to work for now. Sooner or later they would learn that the burden of work carried by many was much less of a burden than they thought at the moment.
Isumma though wanted to hear none of this, seeing nothing but a trick in their parents' appeals. They kept wandering into the woods, following the rivers, and to the lakes deep, deep within wild, forgotten groves. One day they had promised their family to stay home and help in the fields, but the sun was shining so nicely, a light breeze in the air, and so they decided to go on their own adventure instead. Their parents were so disappointed, but also worried, as they caught a last glimpse of Isumma who disappeared between the trees of the forest.
Dancing and singing the child ventured further and further into the embrace of the woods. They imagined that many of their friends had come, dancing along their side between the trees. Now and then they could have sworn to see colourful skirts twirling in the thicket, catching glimpses of figures dancing, never when directly looking, only ever from the corner of their eye. They weren't alone, like their parents thought, the other children of the village seemed to have followed them into the woods to join the fun and leave the work be at least for a few hours. Their friends called Isumma to play with them, hushed voices conspiring like the wind rustling against leaves. They would show the adults. Isumma followed their call, venturing deeper into the forest.
Ahead appeared a river, loud and wild and free, all the things Isumma wanted to be. They spotted an old tree trunk, long fallen and moss-covered, that spanned across the river. Their parents had told Isumma many times to never cross a tree bridge like this, particularly not this deep in the forest, as no one knew how long they'd been lying here, how stable they were.
Isumma's friends' voices called to her from the other side: "Since when do you do what your parents say?"
They were right. If their friends had apparently already made it across safely, so would Isumma. The child climbed onto the old tree, dancing along its length and to the rhythm of the water splashing against it. So caught up in their fantasies they didn't notice that the tree was rotting beneath their feet, dead and gone and withering. Isumma jumped down on the other shore, and the once might tree crossing the raging water broke in half and was devoured and dragged to the depths. There was no turning back now, but Isumma did not worry. They would surely find another place to cross the river on the way back again. Their friends kept calling from even deeper within the forest, and Isumma hurried on to catch up to them.
Eventually the child emerged at the shores of a black lake at the centre of the forest. They'd never been this deep into the woods before, staring at the beautiful, mirror-like surface of the lake with big eyes and open mouth. Isumma called out for their friends, who had to be here somewhere, but were nowhere to be seen. They noticed that the sun already began to set, that they had gone hours, almost all day without food or water, just dancing and playing and dreaming and forgetting about the burdens brought into their life by their parents and community.
They walked over to the shore of the lake, kneeling down in the cold wet grass - they almost do not dare to touch the still surface of the lake, not wanting to disrupt the beautiful blackness, water so clear and clean. There were no fishes or insects to be seen anywhere on, above, or below its surface, and even at the shore, where the water is shallow, Isumma did not see the ground. They looked down at their own reflection. A free child, free spirit, in the prime of life. They couldn't help but smile, they were happy, ecstatic almost about the wonderful day they had spent in the forest.
Their eyes pinned to their reflection though, suddenly an uneasiness began to take a hold of them. They knew that they were no longer smiling, the hair at the back of their neck standing up as the reflection kept smiling. No longer a smile of joy, but twisted, mad, evil. Before Isumma could fully grasp what happened, their reflected self rose from the water, black and wrong, no longer looking alike them at all. Long fingers with claws grasped the child and pulled it into the lake, its surface still as ever and undisturbed, the forest quiet, and the voices Isumma had mistaken for their friends faintly giggling. Isumma, who had never listened to their parents, was never to emerge from the cold embrace of the lake again.

Historical Basis

There are no records of a child by the name Isumma ever disappearing into a forest in the way it is described in this cautionary children's tale. While not backed up by historical evidence and not tied to a specific location, dangers are described in the story that can be a real threat particularly to easily impressible or careless children.
The story for example references Ivendarea's natural and magical phenomena which can be fascinating but also very dangerous. There are regions along the coastlines as well as in the forests on the slopes of the Skyreach Mountains where the wind can actually sound like whispers and voices when coming from a certain direction. The sounds of creaking trees and rustling leaves is echoed from the slopes of mountain and cliffs, creating this effect.
Furthermore, particularly the Green River but most of Ivendarea's bodies of water, are known to radiate strong magical energy, possessing a lot of magical potential within them. In certain areas this can lead to unexpected magical phenomena, such as time experienced as passing by much faster or slower than usual, gravity not working as strongly as it should, or procedures such as the decay of plants and dead bodies extremely sped up or, the other way around, halted altogether. The rumour that an hour of bathing in the Green River enhances one's life for a year persists.
The final phenomena of a mirror-image creature pulling the child into the water to drown it resembles certain tales of sea creatures mimicking relatives or other familiar individuals to trick people to come into the water. So while these creatures aren't native or usually found in lakes, they do exist in Ivendarea's oceans, feeding off of careless sailors and fishermen.

Variations & Mutation

The Disappearance of Isumma, sometimes also referred to as "The Tale of Isumma" or "The Curse of Isumma", exists in a few variations. Sometimes Isumma is of a specific gender (usually of the same gender as the child hearing the story), although usually they are neutrally referred to as "child" instead of girl or boy. The general order of events is always the same, sometimes scenes such as the crossing of the rotting tree are are skipped, or other ones that are more relevant to the location the storyteller and their family live in are added.
There is also a common second ending often told when the story is referred to as "Curse of Isumma". At the end of this version of the tale Isumma is dragged into the water, and just as they drown they realize that they are in the company of many other children who never listened to their parents, and who met their demise in this lake. At night they all sneak back into their former villages as the same shadowy creatures that pulled Isumma into the water, planting ideas of running away from home and disobeying their parents by whispering into the ears of naughty children as they are asleep.

Cultural Reception

Definitely considered one of the darkest tales of Ivendarean origin this story is most commonly named as a tale even adult are still scared of after hearing it for the first time in their childhood.