The Unnamed One

The Fable's Dark Roots

The Unnamed One is a fable of a Korvian with no name who loses his way. It is a story meant to teach the importance of asking for help and relying on others, but the truth behind it is darker than one can see from the surface.

The Unnamed One

A Korvian roamed the world with no home, and often was stopped on his way.
"Where are you going?" The people would ask, but never did he give an answer.
"What is your name?" Another question would ring, yet again there was nothing said back.
He only continued on his journey, and all who saw him thought, "There goes a man who knows what he's doing."
Not a single person ever pried. Not a single person even tried. They all believed the man knew firmly who he was, where he was going, and what he wanted in life. His confident stride gave that look.
But the Unnamed One did not have a goal in sight, nor a name to bear proudly to those who asked it. The man had nothing but the clothes on his back and the life he carried each step of the way.
He never was asked to help him, he never was given a name. He never was told where a good place to go was, nor what even lied beyond the horizon.
His confidence gave off a look of certainty, but this was far from the truth.
The truth was that he was begging for help, he just didn't know that it could come.
And so he never learned to ask questions. He never learned to search for aid. He died in the desert, alone with no name, never learning the meaning of "Help."
We all need to lend out a helping hand once in a while to see how we are. We all need to check in and see how we are so that someone knows it's okay to do the same back. For if we all reach out to help each other out, then the world would be a better place. If we help even one person every day, then maybe our troubles could go away.

The True Story

Many are not aware that this fable is a true story of a Korvian known as the Unnamed One, which was turned into a lesson for children by Mover, an Korvian author of stories and travel guides.

Mover by Jarhed

Mover had come across, on his journeys around the world, a grave for an unknown Korvian, and was told a story that was passed down from generations prior about him.
This Korvian had never been given a name. When he was born, his parents neglected him and never gave him the time of day. They only gave him what he needed to survive, but not enough to truly live.
When he was three, his parents threw him out onto the streets. He did not understand what this meant, and so he simply continued walking. He just thought that this was what he was meant to do, and never questioned it. He never had learned to question anything, nor to ask anyone for help. He simply accepted the way things were.
The Unnamed One, at three years old, walked the land of Udai for three months. He ate only small meals that he could find, never bothering to ask anyone for anything, and never being asked if he needed anything.
Animals would attack him, but he never wanted to hurt them, so his body was torn apart piece by piece as he walked.
Finally, he died in the desert, bleeding out and starving, with no one even knowing he died. This was all written down in small scratches on a piece of paper that was in his pocket, nearly illegible because he never really learned how to read, he had just picked up letters from signs.
While his fable has become a lesson, the true story of his life is a horrific tragedy of neglect and the innocent suffering of a child. It is unclear if, at the point he was at when he died, the Unnamed One would have even accepted help, because he had at that point simply believed there was no such thing.