Tale of the Mourning Dragon
Summary
The core of the myth is a young child, often a girl, finds and grows up with a wyrmling dragon of grey scales until it grows up and says that it must leave. As it leaves the region which would become the Crucible it gives two gifts, a tear which forms the Lake Ernoc, hence the other name Tear Lake, and his crown of scales which the girl planted around the lake, and over centuries they grew into the Ashen Peaks.
Spread
The stories are rarely spread beyond the Crucible itself, and each version of the tale rarely goes further than a couple villages before key elements of the story begin to diverge. The tale is taught to most children as a way to spread value or just to entertain.
Variations & Mutation
As with most fairy tales, there is vast variety to the story based on the society and outlook of the speaker. For some societies it focuses on moving forward with meaning in accepting that things must change, for others that they must always be willing to abandon something. Other groups focus on compassion and open-mindedness being a value, some even explaining the tale as illustrating that given patience gift will grow. As time goes on more and more societies are beginning to abandon the tale as a a teaching method and instead using it as fuel for imagination and a tool for distraction.
In Art
In artwork scales are often used to connect the art to the Crucible and the Ashmounts. Sculptures and busts of people from the Crucible often have the pillars on which they stand surrounded by small simple scales, both as a way of linking them and also to suggest a greatness as they overpower the range. In painting stills of battles and portraits of leaders from the Crucible sometimes use mountain sized scales as a background. In the portraits it is a common motif to have the subject beside water, creating the idea that they rule from the lake inward, sometimes going so far as to have both sides of the picture with peaks and rivers as to suggest they controlled a full section of the Crucible.
Date of Setting
Shortly after the Sundering
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