Five Sisters Sweet

The Five Sisters Sweet is one of several old myths recorded by Bookwarden Kiron. The story differs from region to region, but the following version was collected from a small village near Onais. The Five Sisters Sweet is considered to be a kind of creation myth, describing how each river was formed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this story is less frequently told in the areas of Castellan further from the Five Sisters rivers.

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The Five Sisters Sweet

Five Sisters sweet were birthed in ocean foam. They swam together long enough to grow names. These were their names; Eki, Vinai, Phatai, Lauveri and Lum.
Eki had a voice like water dancing over pebbles. Her eyes were a blue as deep as secrets.
Vinai had no legs, but the tail of a fish. Her fury was loud and crashing, and her sisters found her unyielding.
Phatai was joyous, and clung to her sisters like a child to their mother.
Lauveri was jealous, with small eyes like emeralds.
Lum was malformed, her back hunched. Her words were too soft to be heard.
The sisters swam and sang of the things they saw in the sea. They sang of fishes and stones and tang. But eventually they saw everything they could see, and started repeating themselves.

The Ocean grows tired

The ocean grew bored. "You are giving me a headache singing these same songs again and again," said the ocean, "You should sing new ones instead."
"These are the songs we like the best," Vinai cried.
"The songs get better every time," added Phatai.
Lum spoke, but her words were lost in the ocean's reply.
"Then you must leave," the ocean said. "When you learn of new things, you will learn new songs."
So the five sisters left the ocean behind.
"The ocean must envy our songs," Lauveri said. "Better that we never go back."
"The ocean knows we can be more," Eki said, and told her sisters to follow.

The Five Sisters leave, and create more than just songs.

To cheer her sisters, Eki sang about flowers, and goldsong sprouted by her feet. The other sisters joined in, and the goldsong bloomed everywhere. "I think I like this place," said Eki, "I will stay here. Go on without me."
Now it had been some time since the sisters had been near the ocean, and Vinai missed the fishes they used to swim with. So she sang a song about a fish that tried to eat the sun, leaping out of the water and drying out on the land. She laughed, then looked at the mountains rising in the distance. "I will climb those peaks," she said.
"Can I stay with you?" Phatai said. "I do not wish to be alone, and I feel safer when you are near."
Vinai laughed at that. "That is a silly fear. But you should stay with me, and we will never be far from each other." So the two sisters stayed near the mountains.
Lauveri buried her hands in the dirt and found that all matter of lustrous and beautiful metals were hidden beneath. "I will stay here," she said. "But not you, Lum. I deserve all these pretty things."
So Lum wandered all on her own, the last of the five. She wandered longer than any of her sisters had, finding lush forests and bringing forth all manner of small beasts and flowers and insects with her quiet songs. She bathed in springs and gazed at stars. At last, she climbed a mountain, much smaller than those of her sisters Vinai and Lauveri, and found that she could see all of her creations from that point. This is where she decided to stay.
So all five sisters found their places in the world, where they could find new songs to bring back to the ocean. And if you listen close to the waters, you might still hear them sing to this very day.

A Bookwarden's Notes

The five sisters are named after the five major rivers that end in Sweet Song Bay. A perceptive reader may notice how the description of each sister aligns with the shape of each of the rivers.
When the story is recited, the storyteller typically holds up a hand, with each finger corresponding to one of the five sisters.

• Eki — Thumb
• Vinai — Index
• Phatai — Middle
• Lauveri — Ring
• Lum — Pinky

The myth also explains how the flora and fauna that live in riverine conditions came to be. The goldsong flower, the Vinai salmon, and the countless herbs of the Vincan Woods are all attributed to the songs of the Five Sisters.

Goldsong

Marshmarigold. Caltha palustris by Mary Vaux Walcott

A common wildflower that thrives in wet soil. Goldsong is believed to have been sung into existence by the Eki river.