The Chief's Mad Son

This well-known legend about an ancient chief's son strongly associates color and color vision with the auroras.

Summary

The chief's son was mesmerized by the auroras and frequently broke sacred law to watch them. He said that the auroras that appeared during Nightreign (the arctic winter) were his favorite. Everyone knows that the auroras move and shift, but the chief's son asserted that the auroras "change without moving." No one understood what he was to talking about, and he was eventually declared insane by the priests. According to sacred law, the insane are banished from society, forced to survive on their own in the wilds. Thus, the chief's son was banished and never seen again.

Historical Basis

The ancient chief's name appears in the earliest written histories. The earliest documentation on "auroral madness" date around the same time. The son's name appears once in a list of the chief's children, but nowhere else. Very little is officially known about this "mad son" outside of the legend.

Variations & Mutation

The version that has been preserved by the Order of the Eye is longer than the one that's commonly told. It contains the following epilogue:
After the chief's son was banished, 10 villagers quietly slipped out of town to find him. These 10 knew exactly what the chief's son was talking about -- the aurora's changing colors -- but they didn't say anything for fear of punishment by the priests. The 10 help the banished chief's son survive in exile and assist in building a house for him in a place called Vaka at the tip of the peninsula. The group vowed that no one else who can see like them would suffer a similar fate. Thus, they founded the Order of the Eye.

Cultural Reception

Most versions of this legend end with the banishment of the chief's son. It's often framed as a cautionary tale about breaking sacred law and the dangers of the auroras.
The Order passes down their longer version and retells it regularly. It is their origin story and explains why they must stay hidden and keep their different sight a secret.