Of the Snake's Tears

"Mortal minds rarely take immortality well. Even the most robust of you will falter at some point. I was new to my power when the Diamond Snake, Alea, fell into madness and shadow. And you already know what almost happened to Arvus. If not for the Great Sleep, perhaps I would have too..."

-Axhal, the Antlered Smith

The Great Wolves are kind. Very rarely, when a mortal does something especially admirable, a Wolf will grant them a shard of power.
Once there was a widow who became a god.

---

Alea was born before the desert nation of Ara crumbled to dust, in the time so long ago that the Wastes were still full of life. Her husband died defending her from the massive snakes which made their home in the sands, and she lived alone among her people. She was an earth mage whose speciality lay in crystal. Often her neighbours would wake up at night to see her growing gems across her husband's grave, whispering to the wind. She took long walks into the desert, often disappearing for days at a time, and returned with a different kind of crystal to grow each time.
Then, on one of these walks, she discovered an old cave where her wyr did not work. She could tell that the cave was recently revealed, but when she tried to call gems from the earth, there was nothing to pull. It was as if there was no wyr in the air at all. Alea had nothing to lose. She advanced into the cave.
And there, the Steadfast Earthrise Wolf was waiting.

---

The Diamond Snake lived for centuries. She watched Ara reach its peak - and then crash down in one terrible swoop. She aided the survivors to greener pastures, but in doing so encountered something she was unable to subdue. Okai falling from her scales like water, she travelled the southern continent, but despite her resolve she could not overcome that beast's effects. We know her as the founder of Khiloa Woln - but it seems that this work was her last. Over the years, Alea became tired. She saw mortal friends be born and die. Her mind was not made to last forever; though her body was immortal, her mind was not so robust.
Alea was, in effect, doomed to shatter.
And when she did, how she shattered.
Realising that wyr would provide no escape, she turned to old and forgotten magic - returning to the heart of the desert disaster, where she had  What is death but a mortal's oldest friend?

Variations & Mutation

As this story is based on factual events, it was mostly preserved through the years. However, the ikayal of Liyru revere the Diamond Snake so much that their retellings exclude her later fall. To them, she is a symbol of peace and letting go, and this could be disrupted by mentioning how she betrayed her gift and fell into darkness.

Date of Setting

~1800 B.E