The first of the Damañora

Once there was a woman who with a single kiss could heal the worst of wounds. She would roam the woods every day from dusk to dawn.
On one of her walks she walked three miles and found a doe, wounded by an arrow. With a gentle touch she removed it, and kissed the wound of the doe. She watched it take long strides as it jumped across a river
She continued her walk for three more miles and came upon a tired, beaten dog. She knelt down and asked "Who has done this to you, little dog?"
"A boar," panted the dog "My master had sent me to help in the hunt"
"And where is he now?" she asked, gently smoothing the hair of the dog's head.
"He is three miles from here," said he.
"Let me heal your wounds and you can show me the way." She kissed a cut on the dog's head and watched as the body became whole.
"He is across the water," Said the dog, walking into the wood. She walked three miles more with the dog until they came upon the river bank. There, on the otherside, was a man bitten and torn. The woman took three steps back, and ran forward four more, jumping for the otherside. She swam through the rest of the water and crawled upon the bank. She softly cradeled the man's head in her hands. "With one kiss I will make you whole," And so she kissed his lips, and as he awoke he saw her beauty and asked her to marry him. In her youth, she agreed. And so he brought her to his home, his new bride.
The woman looked outside, wishing to return to her woods. But she stayed and helped the man. He was a fearsom hunter, strong in every sense of the word. He worked day and night to keep her inside where every evening he would come home and his wounds be healed. His kind requests became barking demands, his gentle caress a deafening clap, and she could not bear it. And so one night as her husband lay in bed, she went to where his dog sleep, the one whos master she had saved.
"I hear the way he speaks to you," the dog whined, laying his head in her lap "untie me and I will run to show you a way through the woods to place that is safe and warm" and so she took his rope and untied it from his head. She braced herself, sprinting after the dog. They ran and ran until she could run no more. From behind her she could hear her husband calling out her name and watched an arrow miss her and fly into the dog.
Silently she crept through the wood and came across a young stag. With quiet steps he walked to her. "My mother told me of you, and I know you are running. Climb on my back and I'll take you to the river" They woman's hands wrapped around his neck, as he began his gallop. She heard the voice of her husband fade further and further away until they reached the river bank.
"I have not the strenght to carry you" they young stag said "but if you make it accross, home will be just ahead." she climbed off him and waded into the water where she swam for seven miles. She reached the shore and climbed upon it's bank. Still kneeling down she stared into the pool. Her beautiful hair gone gray, her face scraped and her hands cut. Still, she had never felt so alive. She cuped her hands and filled them to the brim with water.
"Thank you," she whispered to the water, giving gratitude for the great divide between her and her husband. As her lips touched the water to drink it, she felt her hair yanked back, spilling the cool water back into the river. He had found her.
Then she faded from his view, down the river and onto the lake and the end, he turned and made his way for home. The water took pity on her and carried what remained to her home through the marsh and loam.
Her body rest upon that bank where she had tried and tried to escape. Her soul looked upon her old self, and knelt to the ground knowing there was nothing for her now. In her heart she cried 'To you I give my healing, my love, and hope, and feeling. Use them to help the wretch like me' and so with one kiss she blessed the water.
And that is how the first Damañora came to become the scourge of men and protector of women, not only that, but the source of Lake Lachina's healing properties

Summary

The reason why Lake Lascina heals things, and where the Damañora came from

Historical Basis

It is based on the real life running away and death of a woman who was found in the river. Her identity is unknown, but many men and women began to go missing after her death.
Her house can be found on the island of Lake Lascina. She is said to have helped the first queen of Domas assend to the thrown

Spread

Everybody in Domas knows about it, it's a cautionary tale to avoid the lake, to help others, and to leave and/or not cause abusive relationships

Variations & Mutation

There are some tellings where the water brings her back to life, and she goes on to be the first Queen of Domas

In Art

There is debate on the stance of the wife in the story. Should she be hailed for her vengence, or shamed for becoming that which she feared, a killer?
It's similar to the shift in views of medusa in our world

-Based on the song Leave Luanne from the 33mm photo and music exhibition. I thought it would be very fitting for the origin of the Damanora-

Date of First Recording

It was written down four generations after the fact

Date of Setting

The Ligatum Age

Related Locations

• Domas
• Lake Lascina

Related People

• Lady of the Lake