"A Story of Somnos,” a Fairytale
(Hey, so this isn’t terato stuff but I wanted to post some of my writing. Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated! -Aksel)
"A worn, thin storybook sits on a shelf. It's handwritten by a gnome by the name of 'Theadric Drunser-Abalind Pallens-Sarn'. The gnome has a short segment where he talks about how he researched the fairytale and determined what parts of it were later fabricated and what parts actually belonged in the original story. He has reliable sources. Several of his notes are stuck between the pages. It appears as though he wasn't finished writing it, and the original copy appears to be defaced in several places. An ink spill- likely accidental- covers up an illustration of a map inside."
Long ago, or perhaps not long ago at all, there was a fey lord by the name of Wandros. [A note jammed between pages reads: "I say that it wasn't so long ago because it's difficult to tell with the Feywild. Any given place could have a time distortion of mere seconds or entire years. To be entirely certain, I'm not even quite sure the lord's name was Wandros. You see, fey go by many names. At least in most tellings of the story, the fey is Wandros."]
[This appears to be written after the rest of the text "So, let me restart. An indeterminable amount of time ago, a fey lord that may have been called Wandros ruled over the Miststep Pines."] The Pines were a glorious sight on the border of the Material and Fey. So glorious their name ought to be capitalized. Every morning, the grass and stones brimmed with frost. It was like walking through a world of silver. In the afternoon, this frost would melt into a gentle mist that ran like a river across the landscape. Great mossy stones were piled along the trails in the Pines. Runes were carved into them, blessing travelers with protection and haste. By all accounts, Wandros was considered a benevolent lord. Dryads spoke of his name in their songs to the birds, and mortals thanked him for providing them with safety and a bounty of herbs that could be used in medicine.
It was no surprise that some mortal groups worshiped Wandros. He enjoyed the attention. Particularly devout followers were blessed as clerics of life, so that they could spread his blessing to blighted lands. [A note between the pages reads: "It helped Wandros to fight back against unseelie fey. In fact, many of his clerics did such a good job working against the unseelie that many mortals view seelie and unseelie as 'good' and 'evil', respectively. The truth is that the seelie court is more based in tricks and illusion of beauty, while the unseelie is based in power. The politics of it aren't of much mind, right now. The point is that Wandros was popular, in the area."]
One fine summer morning, a traveler came across a town on the border of the Miststep Pines. They said to an innkeeper, "Ma'am, this is quite a fine town. May I know its name?"
"Oh, you mustn't know the name," she said. As all villagers knew, names held great power so close to fey realms.
"Then how may I return here?" The traveler asked, "Your town appears on no maps. It was an accident I arrived here at all."
"An accident? It was no accident. Travelers come upon our town when they need it, like all of the other villages in the Miststep Pines," the innkeep said, "If you want to return here, again, you must merely want to find us."
"I'm sure that will work," the traveler didn't sound at all sure. They spent the night in the inn, and woke up on solid ground. They cursed under their breath and prayed. If they were devout, they should find the town again. So they prayed, and so there was a town over the next hill between two summer pines. [A footnote is written in pencil: "I use neutral pronouns for the traveler because there doesn't appear to be any consistency between tellings. The surviving pages of the original text don't have any pronouns to reference."]
"This is amazing magic," they said to a priest in the town, "What makes your town come and go?"
"Wandros," the priest replied, "A lord of travelers and medicine. He is the fey that brings us our life."
"That's wonderful," the traveler said. So they went about their business in the fine little town, and rested the night in the inn. Again they woke up on the ground. It was a nice enough day, and they continued their hike through the woods. Now, they weren't sure that they wanted to continue their journey to the coast, as they had planned. They wanted to become part of the town. Part of it that it could not leave on the forest floor. So again they searched for the town, and again it left without them. Every day, they prayed to the strange fey that made it possible.
On a warm morning much like the one when they first discovered the town, they found a tower. It was more moss and ivy than stone, and appeared to be rising out of the mist. A stained glass window cast colorful light in front of them. With little else to do, they approached the tower and knocked gently on its oaken door.
"I've heard your prayers," the creature that opened the door was of ethereal beauty, cloaked in river mist, "And I wanted to make you an offer, dear traveler."
"An offer? Surely a lord of your power could bend me to your will."
"I do not know your name. In fact, you have forgotten your own name," it said, scrutinizing them with silver eyes.
"I have?" The traveler had forgotten when their name had slipped away from them.
"Yes," it said, "I know you were jealous of my priest, the second time you discovered my town. I can give you power like that."
"What's the cost?" The traveler knew better than to make deals with fey, or so they told themself.
"Nothing."
"There has to be a cost," they insisted.
"Not to be a priest. But you wouldn't be content in these woods without a purpose. For you, I would offer a pact."
"I shouldn't make a deal with you," they wanted to believe themself.
"Is it not exactly what you've been seeking, to show others what you've found? That is what you would do, as my warlock," it showed no expression. It was like the mist and pines, itself- a piece of the scenery more than a being.
"I suppose it is," the traveler conceded.
It only took a few years for the traveler to gain power they had only dreamed of, in their months wandering the forest. They fought back against unseelie fey and brought medicine to those in need. They shepherded travelers along winding trails and collected fruits for them to eat. They felt like they had a purpose. All the years before this felt like a dream. Like they had been asleep for their own life. The sensation was unnerving to them, so they continued to serve the Miststep Pines.
Two decades passed since the traveler had made their deal, and yet they seemed no older. The nameless town was exactly the same. The only tell of time was the moss that grew up the tree trunks and the rivers that ran dry. The landscape changed around them, but the traveler was the same. Again, they felt like they were asleep. They needed the same rush they had gotten when they first made their pact. They needed more power. They returned to Wandros, who merely chuckled.
"You have been doing an excellent service. I will reward you in due time," the words were like harsh bells to the traveler's ears. They left into the woods.
The Miststep Pines appeared more grey than silver. The mist was more fitful that cloudlike. The town was more disorganized and muddled. The tower in the woods creaked in the wind. Wandros was sick. Wandros had been sick for quite some time. Many mortals believed fey couldn't be sickened, and they might be right. It wasn't exactly sickness, not quite.
The traveler was not receiving their power from Wandros. The traveler was siphoning it. The process was so slow, over so many decades, the fey paid no notice. Not until now. Wandros couldn't feel every forest path beneath its feet as it once had. It couldn't maintain the frost, the town, and the trails. It was unraveling. It asked its warlock to do something- anything- to help. It was completely unaware that its 'warlock' was the cause.
[Another note is jammed between the pages: "Because this tale is quite old, many can't agree on its ending. Most stories say that Wandros passed quietly into an eternal slumber, and its warlock took over its position maintaining the forest. I know this to be false. The original story has the traveler leaving."]
Wandros knew what the warlock had done before it fell into its slumber. It wasn't enraged. It was impressed. It, a fey lord, had been outwitted and bested by a mortal over nearly forty years. A mortal it had regarded as a friend.
"You're too strong," Wandros had whispered, almost proudly. The traveler didn't say a word, "That's why, I will give you a name. Mortals will sometimes give names for achievements, yes?"
"Yes, though they are mostly titles," the traveler responded.
"I will call you Somnos. Because of all fey who have tried to kill me, and of all monster hunters who sought to put me to an end, you are the one that did it. Not by claw or sword, but with my own energy. You haven't killed me, you've spared me. I will be asleep in this woods for all time, thanks to you. And that is why you should be called 'Somnos'. That is why you should be called 'Sleep'."
With the last of its power, Wandros gave the traveler a true name. They thanked their patron and left the forest to its innate nature. No one heard from them, again. Some say they are hibernal state, watching and waiting. Others say they are still abound, and more dangerous than any fey. That is why Somnos' story is told. To tell their name, so that anyone who hears this tale might stand a chance.
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