Sylmorn

A mystery wrapped in a riddle, Sylmorn is the storied bow of Sylmorn Kituun, one of the earliest settlers in the area and the man for whom the city of Kituun is named.

Summary

The legendary bow is said to be the long lost weapon of Sylmorn Kituun, a legend in his own right, one of the founders on the city of Kituun and its most famous sons.
It is said that Sylmorn was once a regular long bow, beautiful and well-crafted for sure, but with no magic of its own. Early in the days of Kituun the logging camp was ill-defended and an entire squad of hunters had to regularly roam the nearby forests to rid it of fearsome beasts who would menace those who were harvesting the woods. Sylmorn, the man, was the leader of this squad and prided himself on their effectiveness and the safety of his campmates.
Several years in to the operation of the camp, a huge beast, larger and more terrifying than any they had faced before, began to menace the lumbermen. Several groups of men were lost to the beast and entire sections of forest had to be abandoned. The hunters made finding and killing the beast their entire focus for months, and one by one the creature killed them as they hunted. At last, only Sylmorn Kituun was left, and he was ashamed. He had failed the camp, and he had failed his squad. It is said that he went into the forests, alone and with only his bow, and disappeared for over a week, thought lost himself.
After 15 days he returned to the camp, scratches and gashes were seen here and there on his exposed skin, but he was healthy and alive. He claimed to have felled the beast with his bow, owing to its newly bestowed arcane powers. At first he was dismissed as delirious due to malnourishment and grief over his failures. But he showed the others his bow, and it was different. It was still beautful and well crafted, but it was also different. It had an aura that was difficult to explain. The others in the camp began to believe and they followed him into the woods where he brought them to the carcass of the huge beast. Described as similar to a bear, but many times larger, the beast had been felled by an arrow to the heart. The party crafted a simple sled from the nearby lumber yards which had been abandoned and rolled it onto the sled and dragged it back to the camp. There, they butchered the carcass and its meat ensured no one would go hungry for a long time to come. The smaller beasts in the area also began to leave the camp and its work sites alone, perhaps out of fear or respect for the killing of the beast.
Less than a year after his triumph, Sylmorn and his now eponymous bow disappeared into the wilderness near Kituun and was not seen again. The most popular theory is that he was granted the magical powers for the bow by some great being or deity and that being had come back to collect. The Tuunies say that the bow is still out there, perhaps imbued with Sylmorn's very soul, and waits to be found by one as brave as the man who left to fight the fiercest beast alone.

Historical Basis

How much of the legend is true has been debated for as long as Kituun's earliest residents have been dead. An improbably giant set of jawbones is mounted in The Granite Oak Inn and is said to be what is left of the beast. If nothing else, it is true that a massive bear-like beast once roamed these woods.
It seems to be verifiable fact that a man named Sylmorn Kituun did live here in the early days and was the man for whom the camp and now city were named. A bow, claimed to be a twin of his bow as it originally looked, hangs in the inn along with the jawbones.

Spread

The legend of Sylmorn is primarily a local one that has not spread throughout Ankaluun. It is common-knowledge in Kituun and accepted as fact by all but the most skeptical residents. It is celebrated through a festival and other traditions within the city.