Sumric Legends and Tales a collection of short stories

By

Marcas Brian MacStiofáin Ó Mhaitiú Ó Domhnaill

SUMRIC TALES ! 1

Contents

Page 3........Creation Story

Page 7........Bésim Tac

Page 8........Fâcari

Page 10......a Llaneúrma

Page 12......Anaráúf a h-Armúgha

Page 14... ..Shia Esþíċ

Page 16......Corocoga on the Hill

Page 17......Wild Temperment

Page 19......Énérwninw the Broadfoot

Page 21......Tere Möcebją Mö Mâląmäm

Page 23......S'Ajúwúsí

SUMRIC TALES ! 2

Sumric Creation Myth

The many cultures of Toriel have their own myths and stories of how their ancestors

came to their homeland and the Sumric peoples are no exception. While this story may

represent an exaggerated account of their arrival due to the story being told over and over

again for millennia, the core elements have sprinklings of truth. The Sumric people as a

whole believe that there are four worlds which I will list in each of the Sumric languages:

The surface world where they currently live, each Sumric language simply calls it 'the

world'

Old Sumrë: macu

Lemre: mecö

Lelic: e mocú

Moicha: cù mëgù

Foriab: c'maü

Shúfre: s'aú

Somi: jaġo

Terch: a vegú

Pwr: y vàc'h

The spirit world

Old Sumrë: sëamû (holy place)

Lemre: seamä

Lelic: séamu

Moicha: zíamu

Foriab: ssiamu

Shúfre: seafú

Somi: shamo

Terch: síwú

SUMRIC TALES ! 3

Pwr: sífw

The Underground world

Old Sumrë: cwonarun (under grazing)

Lemre: conerön

Lelic: cönorún

Moicha: cvinérùn

Foriab: cvonarü ̜

Shúfre: shonerún

Somi: ċaneron

Terch: cfonírú

Pwr: pfonir

The Ice world

Old Sumrë: hôcaramû (cold place)

Lemre: hoceremä

Lelic: hócorommu

Moicha: ùchérëmu

Foriab: üğeremu

Shúfre: arwú

Somi: ôcarmo

Terch: árauwú

Pwr: érafw

The Sumric people say that these worlds are wrapped around each other much like the

layers of the earth, with its molten core at the centre and the crust at the top. At the very

centre is macu the human world where the Sumric people live. Above that is cwonarun which

is mud, earth and rock with giant hollows and tunnels running throughout. Above that is

hôcaramû which is full of ice and petrifyingly cold winds, above that is sëamû which no one

knows what it looks like, just that it is where the spirits come from. With that explained the

story can begin.

SUMRIC TALES ! 4

Before humans lived in macu which they now call their home, they once lived in

cwonarun. They all lived in a giant hollow in which there was a large prosperous town with

green rolling hills for miles around and everything was bright and lit despite it being

underground with no source of light and a great cavernous roof in place of a sky. Here

people lived a balanced life without an ill word said. That was until a creature called Bugal

(Old Sumrë for 'digger') burrowed through the walls of the hollow and wreaked havoc, Bugal

was so massive that it could sit upon a mountain as if it was a chair, so giant that it drink a

river dry with a single lap of its tongue. Bugal was like a terror hound with its black slender

body, four legs, its long fleshy antennas which it whipped around erratically and its hard sharp

beak. Bugal ran into the town and started to crush the buildings and flatten the fleeing people

with its giant claws. The people were helpless until a great ice spirit came down from

hôcaramû to fight Bugal. The spirit was named Ôdab and was even bigger than Bugal, Ôdab

made an awesome sight with its long grey-silver scaled body, wings in place of forearms and

ability to spew blizzards from it's mouth. Ôdab smashed through the floors of hôcaramû and

entered cwonarun and descended upon the town. From the air he attacked Bugal and harried

him from the town. As Ôdab flew higher to descend once more upon the burrowing monster,

Bugal climbed with great speed up the walls of the hollow and leapt onto Ôdab. There in

flight above the town the two creatures slashed, scratched, hacked and clawed each other until

Ôdab took a tight grasp of Bugal and flew higher and higher where he flew into hôcaramû

and sealed the hole be made between the worlds with a sheet of ice. The people of the hollow

were now safe but in the world above the battle between the two creatures raged on brutaly.

Bugal was smaller and attempted to hide among the giant ice stalactites and pounced upon

Ôdab whenever he had the opportunity, Ôdab being greater in size roared ferociously and

pounded and smashed the ice to find Bugal. All of this smashing caused a crack to form

between the floor of hôcaramû and the roof of cwonarun. Ôdab only just seen through the

corner of his eye Bugal scurrying through the crack and back into the hollow. So once again

the ice spirit descended by wing into the rocky world, except when he landed something

terrifying met him. He gazed his yellow eyes upwards and saw three inconceivably giant

creatures that had burrowed through the sides of the hollow to join Bugal in his destruction.

These three creatures each had black fur, long slender necks, stubby legs and watchful eyes.

They were so incredibly massive that even Ôdab looked puny next to them, their necks

reached so high that if they were to stand in the human world their heads would collide with

the moon.Their names were Mâlemë, Estaltûc and Olñarû respectively (when put together these

names read mâlemë estaltûc olñarû which is Old Sumrë for 'we carry death') Then they started to

pluck people up from the village in what was a horrific massacre. Ôdab frantically tried to

freeze their feet with painfully cold breaths but they hardly felt anything, all this did was freeze

SUMRIC TALES ! 5

over the green fields of the hollow and cause a giant ice sheet to form on the base near the

town and deadly cold winds to blow in the hollow. With one swipe Estaltûc sent Ôdab

plummeting to the ground onto the ice sheet below. As Ôdab got back to his feet his saw a

Hjarômamo (a bison the size of small elephant) flee across the ice sheet with Bugal chasing

after it. The large size of the Hjarômamo caused the ice sheet to shatter slightly, seeing this

Ôdab called for everyone to run onto the ice sheet and jump. Everyone that was still alive did

so and with the great weight of all the people and the large ice spirit the sheet gave way and

shattered, all that stood upon it fell into a large opening, then they fell past clouds, through a

sky and then landed softly in macu. In this world the burrowing creatures of cwonarun could

not enter and the people were now safe. Though the cold winds that Ôdab blew in the battle

above blew down into macu and caused the mountainous land to be covered in snow. Safe in

the knowledge that the people were now safe the ice spirit thought to leave, but his journey

home meant having to travel through cwonarun where the epicly awesome monsters awaited,

so rather he chose to live among the high mountains of this world. The people travelled

around the land and saw a great abundance of deer, so much that they named the land

Malomanan (land of deer) which is still the name of the continent today.

Notes

This story is a myth of the Sumric culture and doesn't tell the 'true' story of human origins of my world, rather this is one of many creation myths passed down through the generations. Only the most sacred and wise individuals know the true story.

SUMRIC TALES ! 6

Bésim Tac

Bésim is a Lericnatét man in his late teens. Whose name is from the Old Lelic bésim tac

meaning 'guided task'' (from bési 'sureful of direction' + -m which is gender agreement on the

adjective +tac 'task') which was an ironic word for a task that seems simple but it really easy to

mess up. This relates to Bésim as once he was rowing down a large river in a canoe, an

everyday task for the Lericnaté, when all of a sudden a storm struck and rain fell heavily

which caused the river to burst its banks. This caused the river to temporarily join with

another, which Bésim found himself in by accident, that river was too fierce for Bésim to row

against and it took him far, far away. The storm was so rough that it bounced him around in

his canoe and hit his head so hard he got knocked out. He ended up washing ashore in

Pwrina territory on the banks of a small river, he awoke to find his canoe smashed up and

useless, and also a slender dog sniffing at him, followed by his limping master who helped

Bésim up. He attempted to communicate with the man but neither knew each others

language so their conversation was a short one. The limping shepherd gave Bésim some food

and water and sent him on his way. Without his boat Bésim had to walk back home, though

he didn't know any place that wasn't the Lelic marshlands so he attempted to backtrack the

small river he washed up in. It was a long and tough journey which took many days and

nights. But eventually he found his way home where he could finally laugh at his ordeal in

hindsight

SUMRIC TALES ! 7

Facâri

Facâri is a woman from the nomadic Somoñi. Her name is from a corruption of fjiao

acâri meaning 'she longs for a cold time' in the Somi language. as she was born in a hot

summer in a grassland to the south in Müforia. The warmth of summer soaked into her heart

as she was always a kind and giving soul. One instance of her kindness was when her family

was passing through some forests in the west they came upon a half starved lost boy, from his

speech, although they couldn't understand it they reckoned that he was a Lericnaté. Facâri fed

the boy and gave him some clothes as his own were far too light for the local weather. Her

family was traveling south and east around the central mountain range which lay not far from

the Lelic homeland. They took the boy with him for part of their journey though they had to

part ways when they passed south of the mountains. Facâri slipped him some more food and

wished him luck on his journey home although he couldn't speak her language. Some time

later when she matured into a woman her family set a camp nearby a Moicha town. She

wandered through the cobbled streets and visited a fine clothes shop with cloths and silks of

wonderful colours, in particular a beautiful green scarf which reminded her of the grassland

she was born in. As much as she longed to have one she didn't have any money (as the

Somoñi have no need for it) and so sighed in disappointment. Also in the shop was a young

man who noticed Facâri's sadness and offered to buy it for her. Facâri was so grateful that she

gave him a big hug and thanked him dearly (The Somoñi often trade with the Moicha and

can speak the Moicha language quite well). They two got talking and wandered the town

together, Facâri wondered curiously at the town for though the Moicha towns were hardly

new to her the pale but bright colour of the cobbled roads and buildings always seemed odd

to her nomadic self. She and the boy continued to speak to each other for the next few days

and surely enough they began to fall for each other. But the butterflies in their bellies masked

a sure truth. Facâri was a nomad and would soon have to leave with her family while the boy

lived in a fast and grounded house, their time together was numbered. The inevitably of this

fact didn't make that final day any easier. The boy offered to let Facâri stay with him, where

she could live as a Moicha and buy fine imported clothes, but the nomad girl couldn't leave

her family or her identity as a Somoñi. She was forced to break both their hearts as she

uprooted camp and left for another place. That night brought a cold wind and pounding rain

which was no big deal for the Somoñi, as Facâri by name herself 'longs for a cold time'

though now she longed for the Moicha boy as she stroked her green scarf and he longed for

her. He missed her so much that he decided to leave his home and follow her, he ran into the SUMRIC TALES ! 8

stormy night in an attempt to find her path, but this Moicha fool was no hardened nomad, he

soon got lost and shouted Facâri's name but the cold drained his energy quickly, he sat down

by a tree and felt himself nodding off as he felt a last spark of warmthness in his chest. He

didn't know if he fell asleep or not but he does remember Facâri's voice as she shook him to

awareness. She first chided the fool then hugged him tightly. Facâri gave her heavy fur coat to

the boy and took him to her camp nearby where he was warmed by a fire and fed with hot

and fresh meat. He and Facâri whispered to each other by the fireside where the boy said that

he didn't want to live in a town without her but wanted to live on the road with her. Facâri

was touched by his sincerity...and his foolishness. But fortunately for them her father

Somapaġas agreed to let the boy travel with them. In time Facâri taught him how to speak

Somi, showed him how to hunt, cook, and set up camp and one day married him. And even

though her husband was Moicha turned Somoñi and her children were half Moicha, those

towns still looked damn weird.

Notes

Somapaġas is the father of Facâri. Somapaġas is a hardy man, when he was younger he was traveling alone over a mountain which was covered by winter's snow. When he neared the summit of the steep mountain ambushed by an asharôċaj or a large mountain snow bear. One strike of a paw sent Somapaġas rolling down the steep mountainside but with a strike of the ice axe he managed to stabilise himself and defend himself against the bear. With his ice axe he managed to give the bear some cuts but not enough to stop it. So he leapt over the ridge of the mountain and sped down the side which got him away from the bear, but caused an avalanche to fall right around him and bury him. But not being one to let this stop him Somapaġas wormed his way out of the snow and made his way onwards

SUMRIC TALES ! 9

a Llaneúrma

Aorocféd is a Terchne man and as such has fighting in the blood. His father owned a

small sheiling in the hills where they grazed some livestock. It wasn't much to graze but they

had enough eat or to trade for other food, and when they couldn't make ends meet they

would form a small raiding party and find some unfortunate village. Raiding wasn't quite to

Aorocféd's own liking however, while he loved a scrap with his friends or bouncing his fist off

a deserving enemy's face, raiding preyed upon the innocent at times. So Aorocféd mostly took

part in revenge raids, which were formed when other settlements raided Aorocféd's village

and to regain lost supplies and to show power a revenge raid or meuge (translating as 'angering'

in the Terch language) which would hunt down the offending raiders and kill them. But a

time came when his village was struggling due to wolves preying on the livestock and some

storms blocked the pathways down to the fishing villages which temporarily stopped trade

until the blockage was cleared. Until then people still had to eat so a raiding party was

formed, with Aorocféd in it. Usually he would make an excuse to not join an offending

raiding party (called dobú or 'first') but his family was hungry so he felt he had no choice but

to join. His dobú was nearing the target village and was ready to lead a charge, when all of a

sudden a large group of soldiers charged at them from the nearby forests in a sneak attack.

Aorocféd was first met with confusion as to how they knew about the attack, but then he was

met with a feeling of opportunity for glory, to feed his Terchne bloodlust. He drew his sword

and charged towards the enemy with his sword raised high. As he ran he started to feel tired

before he even reached the enemy, but not one to give up he found some energy in him and

pounded his feet against the ground, or rather into it. The ground gave way under Aorocféd

and the warrior found himself in an underground tunnel. He tried to get out but the hole he

made was far too high for him to reach as the tunnel was quite high. While the battle raged

on above him he wandered through the tunnel to find a way out, but before he found that he

found something else...a large 2 and a half metre long reptile sleeping soundly, it had a long

body with 4 short legs protruding from its side and a long tail behind. The creature which

Aorocféd had the misfortune of stumbling upon was a laneúrma, a large reptilian whose name

means 'hill dweller' which borrows underground during most of the year and surfaces in late

spring to bing feast and mate. But these creatures won't eat for months when sleeping

underground, so if you wake a sleeping laneúrma you will find yourself with a hungry

laneúrma...which is exactly what Aorocféd did. One misplaced step sent an echo throughout

the tunnels and awoke the beast. Its eye's fluttered dosily as it was gaining orientation, though

they quickly focused on the intruder. The Laneúrma struggled out of its bed of loose sod

which gave Aorocféd a head start to bolt through the tunnels. Though it didn't give him much SUMRIC TALES ! 10

as when the beast warmed up it was quickly on his heels. He ran and ran and ran and ran but

the tunnels led nowhere so he decided to turn around and fight, he was a Terchne after all.

He used his shield to bat off the Laneúrma's snaps at him with its unforgiving jaws. Aorocféd

bashed its head with his shield and leaped over it and quickly got on its back where it

struggled to bite or claw him. With his sword he slit its throat and put it into a much deeper,

more permanent sleep. He then dragged the body to under the hole he fell through and

shouted loudly to his fellow warriors on the surface. Luckily he was heard and someone threw

down a rope which Aorocféd tied around the Laneúrma to be hoisted up. When he surfaced

he was met with good news that his people had won the battle and managed to raid enough

supplies to last them, to which Aorocféd could add the meat of the large bulky beast. When

he returned home he was met with praise for slaying such a formidable and worthy opponent.

Its meat fed his family and its skin served as a battle cloth for Aorocféd, he made arm guards,

shin guards and a helmet decorated with the beasts face skin which made an impressive sight

when worn.

SUMRIC TALES ! 11

Anaráúf a h-Armúgha

Anaráúf is a Terchne woman who lives in the small coastal village called Lefemú which

lay by the banks of an estuary where the freshwater met the salt sea. Not far from Anaráúf's

cottage was a small stream called loríäna with water that had a slight sweet taste to it, this was

due to a species of tree called Än which grows alone by the stream, the tree has a very sweet

resin which gives the entire tree a sweet taste from bark to fruit.This resin has a quality which

is harmful to spirits, the fruit is eaten to temporarily fend of spirits or the resin is mixed in soil

around a cottage to prevent spirits from entering. the water of this stream eroded some of the

soil by roots which caused some of the tree's sweetness to be absorbed into the water itself.

Anaráúf's father was a fisherman so she often found herself sitting outside the cottage

mending his nets. One day while she fixing a tangled mess she saw man walk not far from her

cottage, curiously he was soaking wet. He looked upon Anaráúf's beauty and called out "Rúe!

(sweetheart), may I see a smile on your face?"

"For what?" She replied,

"For the joyous tune it may play for my heart to dance to"

She couldn't help but grin at the man's words. She gave a smile then he wandered of.

The next day she was again mending her father's nets, and again she saw the soaking

wet man walk by, he called out to her "Rúe! may I see a smile on your face?"

"For what?" She replied,

"For beauty herself said that no smile is more graceful than her own, but a smile from

you will prove her wrong"

Once again she grinned at the man's words, happy with the result he wandered off

again.

The next day she was again mendin her father's nets, and once more the soaked man

passed by, he called out to her "Rúe!, may I see a smile on your face?"

"For what?" She replied

"Walk over to me and I may tell you"

As she has been so far charmed by the man she put down the net and walked away from

the sweet Än soil that surrounded her cottage. As she neared the man she noticed something

odd, besides him being soaked to the bone, he appeared to have a tail hidden behind his legs.

At first Anaráúf though she mis-saw something, but a second looked proved that there was

indeed a tail on the man. Only when she was a few steps away from him did she realise that

he was no man but rather an Armúgha or 'water wolf', a spirit which dwells in lakes or SUMRIC TALES ! 12

estuaries with the shape of a slender wolf, they often lure people to get close to them by

pretending to be a friendly stray dog or by taking on other forms, once someone gets close

they wrap their tail around the prey and run into the nearest body of water and drown the

victim, after which they eat them all except the lungs, but no matter what it looks like it will

always be dripping wet. Upon her realisation Anaráúf ran as fast as she could but the slender

Armúgha was fast on her heels. She could never outrun the spirit for much longer so she ran

for the loríäna stream and jamp in it. As the Armúgha was attempting to stop itself Anaráúf

splashed a lot of the sweet water in the Armúgha's direction. The water caused the spirit to

let out a great howl and retreat into the salty sea water. From then on the fruit of the Än tree

was often on the menu in Anaráúf's cottage.

Notes

The name Anaráúf is thought to come from a corruption of än + arú + áfú roughly meaning 'än removes the wolf'.

SUMRIC TALES ! 13

Shia Esþíċ

Asfar is one of the few Nomadic Somoñi men who are one of the Shia Esþíċ. The

Shia esþíċ are legendary riders who can ride upon the backs of the shialfraċ, an sacred

white deer that stands 8ft tall, it is said that they are the reincarnated spirits of the ancestors,

it is considered extremely taboo to hunt one and the last person to hunt one paid a heavy

price. Only the rare few who have one foot in this world and one foot in the other can ride a

shialfraċ, and Asfar was one of them. From a young age he exhibited unearthly behaviour.

When he was a child his father caught him sitting under a tree making croaking sounds that

no man could make, Asfar told his father that he was talking to the crows in the branches

above and that they were chatting about a dead Hjarômamo (a bison the size of small elephant)

and how it lay under the second tree by the third stream. When Asfar and his father looked

there sure enough they found it and ate well that night. It was this and other such events that

his family knew that with each step he took in this world he took a step in the other.

When Asfar reached the age of choice at 16 years old he parted with his family with

warm goodbyes and set out alone into Sobanoma, a tundra which is the most desolate and

coldest region of Malomanan. There he met spirits who told him the origins of life the world,

who the spirits actually were as opposed to the gods and spirits of man's religions across the

world, but he was sworn to keep such information secret, they also taught him the divine

language of the spirits which only a spirit or shia esþíċ can bear to hear for any normal man

would be killed or driven insane by its words. Though only from a spirit's mouth would it have

this effect, from Asfar the language would only puzzle a man as if it were some foreign

tongue.

It was in this snowy isolation that he met the shialfraċ that he would ride. As he washed

his face in a pure and freezing pond the shialfraċ approached Asfar from behind, when he

saw the reflection of the sacred deer's and majestic antlers in the water he could hardly

believe it. It beckoned him to climb upon its back, when he did it bolted up a large mountain

during a snowstorm. When they reached the top the sky cleared and a beam of light shone

across the east, towards Moicha territory. The shialfraċ then spoke in the divine tongue

Layo Moichataha lorque queye yo yona quelodīsë woyë wë, SUMRIC TALES ! 14

fanalonanúl salaraso salaso yotër narë.

Which translates as:

"There the Moicha think they are kings of this land,

Return to them their humble life"

His task as a shia esþíċ was to make sure that humans didn't disrupt the natural order of

things within reason. The Sumric people themselves live in a way that compliments the land.

Though the Moicha were getting bigger and more urbanised like the other peoples of the

world so it up to Asfar to try and halt their growth. He did this by indirectly aiding the

Foranía who were rebelling against the Moicha, in particular an individual called Duígí, in

their raids against the Moicha. He did this by using his foresight to warn of Moicha attacks

and on very rare occasion summoning herds of the massive Hjarômamo to charge through

Moicha garrisons. Though the Moicha kept on attacking the Foranía so one day Asfar

marched into the Moicha city Ỳrjému on the back of his shialfraċ. He made an incredible

sight, a man clothed in hide sitting upon the most sacred symbol in Sumric culture. He rode

right up to the leader of the Moicha people in broad daylight on the streets for all to see.

Asfar told him to stop the expansion and urbanisation and to put down the claim that the

Foranía belong to the Moicha. The whole city held its breath the entire time he was there, for

he reminded them that beyond the safe civilised city walls an ancient power still exists. After

he left a powerful rainstorm battered the city for 3 days. This event shook the confidence of

the Moicha army though the leader was still adamant and waved off the event. This caused

people to doubt the man's ability to lead them.

Asfar wasn't always pressing against the Moicha. His interactions with them were few

but powerful. He spent most of his time roaming Malomanan on the back of his shialfraċ

which he named Ocal meaning 'revealer'. He would come to aid and offer guidance when

needed shared his wisdom and knowledge.

Notes

Asfar's name isn't a normal Somoñi name. It is thought to come from the divine language asfar meaning 'unworldly one' (from the Divine as 'world' + fa 'negation' + -r noun forming suffix')

SUMRIC TALES ! 15

Corocoga on the hill

Menora is a Lemne woman and wife to Corocoga, who is the leader of a Lemne

rebellion against the imperial occupation of Lem Pars. Menora often followed her husband

on his excursions around the island. Though when she had a newborn she stayed with her

mother in a very small settlement, the very same one she herself grew up in. Around this time

her husband Corocoga was away on an excursion to root out some imperial soldiers and he

took with him his men in arms. So the village was left with just women and children. What

the rebel leader didn't realise that The location of his wife's settlement was discovered by

some Imperial soldiers who sent a band of soldiers to take by surprise his wife and hold her

ransom. Luckily Menora's cottage was on a hill rise so she spotted the soldiers marching to

her settlement long before they got there. Hurriedly she thought of what to do, she couldn't

run away with a newborn at her breast as she would surely he hunted down, and she couldn't

leave the rest of the woman either. Cunningly she took her husband's spare set of armour and

wore it. The native Lemne armour typically has a mouthpiece which covers the chin and

mouth and curves under the eyes, it wasn't for protection but rather to stop the wearer from

speaking, as it is the spirits of war who speak the words that decide the victor, not the warrior.

But for Menora it meant it would cover her face and improve her disguise, for when the

soldiers arrived she stood outside her cottage on the hill rise clad in full Lemne rebel armour

that bore Corocoga's mark. To the witless soldiers it looked as if Corocoga himself was

standing before them, the Corocoga whose actions spurned many stories of a savage native

hungry for Antagan blood. The soldiers who were prepared to steal away one woman hostage

never prepared to battle with a native warlord, so they tucked tail and ran away. And that was

how Menora disguised herself as Corocoga and avoided her capture and protected the small

village.

SUMRIC TALES ! 16

Wild Temperment Éddw is an elder Pwrina man and grandfather to the famed storyteller Wgofswo. Due to

his age Éddw keeps watch over the lofàfia herds with his sheepdog named Éruddwf (from-wolf)

who was half sheepdog and half wild wolf, for one night Éruddwf's mother escaped during

the night and was mounted by a wolf, from this does Éruddwf have a short temperament and

a sense of wonder, though when Éddw was in his 20's (Pwr sheepdogs can live for 30-40 years

and often do) he took it upon him to train the half-wolf in the hills which watch over the small

villages below. It was a frustrating task but at the end Éddw had a fiercely loyal and protective

dog who could stand against thief and wolf alike. Éddw worked as a shepherd as the old

Pwrina men do while the young men work in the mines. Before his shepard days. Though he

wasn't always old, in his young days he was a miner himself, though his shepherd father would

sometimes send him on long trips to collect new livestock. Such trips were common for young

Pwrina men, some even went as far as Lem Pars on the other side of the continent for prized

livestock, as can be exampled by the story of Schfinô, but that's another story. On one trip the

young Éddw was sent to Terchne territory. The Terchne are quite like the Pwrina in culture

and language but the Terchne have a bloodthirst in them unlike any other, due to their

drinking of Cílefegha (Terch for 'water of rage) which is a juice made of a certain fermented

fruit and cattle blood (though the tougher ones mix it with the blood of their fallen enemies),

thankfully they took this out on other nearby Terchne so they posed no threat to outsiders. On

passing through a Terchne village called Tofí (Terch for 'northern') Éddw noticed a large

crowd gathering with much commotion. When he joined the crowd he saw that they gathered

round a large fenced pen where one man was tied tightly to a post. Curious to this display

Éddw asked the person next to him with his passing knowledge of the Terch language. He

was told that the man was named Díchúf and was from Ernseya, a rival village where he was

banished for refusing to take part in a raid and was deemed weak. The man had the

misfortune of coming across a group of men from Tofí, one of the men recognised him as

being from Ernseya and captured him, simply because he was from that village. Éddw then

asked what they were doing with him, he was told that a bull was being fed cílefegha to send it

in a maddening rage, after which it will be released into the pen to kill the man. Éddw was

struck by sympathy for Díchúf who was banished, captured and now to be killed in a

gruesome way for trivial reasons. So Éddw spoke up and begged the man be released but he

was met with odd looks. The chief of the village, or so he seemed to be, heard the call for

mercy and told Éddw that the man is free to go...on one condition. That condition being that

Éddw must first stop the bull and release Díchúf himself. As daunting a task as it was, to face

a berserker bull Éddw agreed. He climbed into the pen and stood before the roped bound SUMRIC TALES ! 17

man and subtly slipped him a small knife. When the bull was released a burning wave of

blood swept from Éddw's chest to his head in reply to the fearsome sight. As soon as he

caught his senses Éddw ran for the bull and leapt onto its back but he did so as the bull swung

it's head and the horns made a deep cut in the Pwrina's leg. But he still managed to get upon

the beast where he shifted down onto its neck and wrapped his legs tightly around as to choke

it. He also tightly grabbed the large horns and swayed the bull's head side to side, which

coupled with the bull's own struggling made it very disoriented and took away it's focus from

the bound man who was working his way through ropes while the mayhem hammered on.

The bull kicked, swayed and ran to try and shake of Éddw but regardless he still clung on,

shouting at the Terchne to hurry up and cut himself free but his tied hands were no use.

Finally when the choking deprived the bull of air and slowed it down enough to rest on the

ground gasping for breath did Éddw climb off and run to Díchúf, take the knife and cut the

man free himself. But just when he did the bull got back on it's legs and charged. Both men

sprinted to the fence and leapt over it despite having an injured leg, as he felt no pain as the

bewilderment rushed through him. His actioned impressed the Terchne chief who honoured

his agreement and let the man go. After Éddw got his leg seen to and managed to collect

some cattle he returned home with the Terchne man in tow as the man had nowhere else to

go. In time the Díchúf settled in the Pwrdda village, learned the language and even married

Éddw's sister with who he had a son, half-Pwrina and half-Terch who had the fierce

temperament of his father's people though he was refined into a honourable man, much like

the half-wolf Éruddwf. Éruddwf himself fathered a litter and one of the pups was given to

the Terchne man which he named pic'hí (Pwr for 'little friend')

Éddw took a woman named Firi as a wife, the daughter of Énérwninw the Broadfoot.

SUMRIC TALES ! 18

Énérwninw the Broadfoot.

Énérwninw is a Pwrina man born in the village of Pfunlumw (grazing place) in

1209MA. Also known as Raswma (broadfoot), the story of that nickname goes that sometime

around the year 1227 Énérwninw went fishing in Lake Iri even though it was forbidden to

him. As in Pwrlw, and indeed much of Malomanan, no land is owned by anyone but the

fishing rights in lakes are fiercely regulated. On this day Énérwninw had the misfortune of

getting caught. The owner of the right to fish in Lake Iri was a middle-aged man named

Farmà, Farmà seized him and decided on Énérwninw's punishment. Seeing that the young

man wasn't the most able to pay a fine in kind, Farmà gave Énérwninw a challenge. He

challenged him to run all the way round the shores of the long lake without stopping once, if

Énérwninw should fail then he would be forced to pay the fine afterall. To this Énérwninw

agreed.

He set off barefoot and felt sure of himself, but as he ran a third of the way he began to

feel tiredness upon him, but also the watchful eyes of the Farmà's family who were watching

Énérwninw in case he stopped running. It was when he neared a third of the way through a

rockslide sent boulders flying down the hillside which lay by the shores of Iri, and into the

water. The boulders smashed down on the path before Énérwninw.instead of stopping and

failing his challenge Énérwninw ran in a circle until the boulders stopped falling.

He carried on and by the time he had ran two-thirds of the way along the lake he legs

were aching sore. It was here that he happened upon an old woman with a very long haired

lofàfia (hairy domestic breed of deer, kept for meat and wool). The old woman cried out to

Énérwninw that her lofàfia hadn't been sheared in four years and that her fingers were too

spent with age to handle shears. Énérwninw saw the small deer and how its hair covered its

eyes and wrapped around its small legs, but instead of stopping he grabbed the lofàfia in his

arms and took the shears of the old woman. While running he cut the creature's hair which

blew away in the wind. Soon after Énérwninw was carrying a well groomed and happy

lofàfia. He set down the deer and carried on running.

By the time he had run two and a half thirds of the way along the lake he felt his lungs

burn as he struggle to draw breath. It was here that he happened upon a large drinking mug

full of cold freshwater which Énérwninw's dry mouth longed for. The drinking mug was held

in the hands of Sífioe, a beautiful young woman and the daughter of Farmà. She called out

to the tired man to stop running in the path and drink the cold water with her. As tempted as SUMRIC TALES ! 19

he was by the beauty of the girl and his thirst for water he never strayed from his path and

kept on running.

When he finally ran along the whole lake he was greet by Farmà who cried out la daroa,

Raswma! (good on you, broadfoot!). He was congratulated for completing his task, and in

time even married Sífioe, with who had a son named Iné and a daughter named Firi.

SUMRIC TALES ! 20

Tere Möcebją Mö Mâląmäm -Do not temper us-

Anącos Polosev Monoce was a Lemne who was born in 176 MA whe Antagan Empire first

conquered Lem Pars, the Lemne homeland or Mäląlą Lemnen as Anącos knew it in his

native Lemre tongue in 200MA. He witnessed the initial occupation of the island by the

imperial forces. The Empire initially attacked from the southern side of the island while

Anącos lives on the northern shores, so by the time the Antagan forces had reached Anącos'

region they had already gained control over most of the island.

One day Anącos was fishing alone by a lake among the hills whose bases kissed the salty

shore. He had managed to catch 5 fish so far which he laid out on a sheet made of a thick

woven grass. While he set out his rod to catch a sixth a group of Antagan soldiers marched

past and saw the fish and demanded to Anącos that he give the fish to them as the island, and

everything in it, was now theirs. Anącos spent all day by the lake catching his food and he

wasn't about to give it to these invading foreigners. One soldier walked forward to snatch the

fish but before he could do so Anącos and butted the end of his rod so hard against the

soldier's head that it killed him. When the rest of the soldiers charged him he took the dead

man's sword and killed two other soldiers, upon seeing is the other two fled. When he

returned to his village he found that people were already talking of the incident and how they

heard that he was now wanted by the appointed Antagan general. On hearing this news he

set out into the cold wilderness of Mäląlą Lemnen to run away from the Imperial forces who

were now hunting him down. For weeks he avoided capture but one day sphe entered a small

village to look for some new clothes and cooked meat, for he dared not light a fire in case the

smoke be seen. Unfortunately he was caught by a garrison that was stationed in the village.

He put up a fight before being overwhelmed by the numerous soldiers. The commotion

caught the attention of the whole village which caused a riot. People took the weapons of

dead soldiers and slew more themselves. Although a large number of villagers died fighting

against the professional Antagan soldiers, the managed to defeat enough soldiers to cause the

rest to flee. Anącos thanked the villagers dearly for saving him but warned them that the

Imperial forces will return to 'discipline' the village, so they contacted the nearby villages who

weren't too happy about the occupation themselves and grouped together and organised a

defensive attack for when the soldiers would return with Anącos leading the way. The women

and children of the first village were evacuated and set up small camps in a forest where they

would be hidden. The village lay in a valley with high rising hill sides to either side. Anącos SUMRIC TALES ! 21

placed men on either side on each hill slope to attack the imperial forces from above when

they came.

When the Antagan forces did arrive they found a seemingly deserted village, from the

wide open mouth of the valley where were entering from it seemed as if the whole village fled

before them. But they wouldn't give up so easily. They pressed further on and began to search

the village. When they did Anącos gave a silent signal for his men in the hills to release giant

stone boulders covered in tar which was set on fire to roll down the hills and among the

soldiers below. Followed by a rain of spears and arrows the Lemne made a big dent in the

imperial numbers. After the attack from above stopped Anącos led a group of men around

the base of the hills where they hid and ran into the village in a charge. The remaining

imperial soldiers were now trapped in the valley with Anącos charging from the only way out,

and with the other Lemne now charging down the hills. A quick close combat skirmish

ensued and Anącos came out victorious. Though the village was ruined by the burning

boulders and fighting. The bodies of the imperial soldiers were placed on pikes at the

entrance of the valley of the ruined village and imperial flags were flown but with the phrase

tere möcebją mö mâląmäm written on them in blood. The phrase was also written on boulders,

across the buildings in the ruined village, over any surface

which could be written on. The phrase translates as 'do not

temper us', these words would become the motto of the

Lemne nationalists from time on. Anącos continued fighting

against the Antagan occupation of Mäląlą Lemnen and

managed to spark an entire rebellion. But in answer the

Antagan sent more soldiers to the island and eventually

ended the rebellion in the Battle of Ąrnlem, known as onta jera (day of sorrow) in Lemre. The

Antagan Empire sent a ridiculously huge force to the island as the rebellions were giving the

empire a bad mark in its military record. The massive army wiped out the rebel army, so

much blood was shed on the soil that the plants that grew there afterwards had red leaves, as

such the field where the battle took place is known as ąloräl conlon (red field). Anącos' corpse

was found amongst the dead of the fallen rebel army in ąloräl conlon. His head was cut from

his body and displayed in the centre of the Lemne town Ąrnlem as a warning to others who

dare rebel. But the nationalist sentiment was every bit as alive, as can be seen when Corocoga

lead rebellions against the empire 800 years later.

SUMRIC TALES ! 22

S'Ajúwúsí

Banoyúf is a Shúwúne man from the sunny southern islands of Trégal. Like many other

Shúwúne Banoyúf is skilled with the sail and trades for a living, but Banoyúf's wares are

unique into their own. This sailor trades a rare and extremely fine wine which he calls

s'ajúwúsí (meaning 'the relaxer' in Shúfre) which calms the mind of any worry and cures the

body of pain when drunk but it doesn't fog the mind or numb the skin and brings a great

merriness unlike any other wine, beer or whisky and it has a craving flavour. Only Banoyúf

knows the recipe to s'ajúwúsí and so only he controls the demand for the well wanted

drink...this earned the sailor a lot of fortune which he was quick to protect. What Banoyúf

keeps to himself is that the drink is incredible easy to make, what makes it great is a secret

ingredient which Banoyúf found by accident one day.

When he was younger he set out fishing by himself in the morning as a sickness struck

his village meaning that his friends were too sick to join him. The decision to go fishing alone

wasn't the smartest one giving that the boat needed more than two pairs of hands to work.

But Banoyúf only found this out when he was out of sight of land and struggling to do

everything at once. He lost control over the boat and ended up drifting far far from the islands

he knew. The sun rose to the midpoint of the sky and Banoyúf was still lost, the sun fell to kiss

the horizon and he was none the wiser of his whereabouts. Until his boat washed on the

shore of a small island he had never heard of before. Struck with curiosity he searched the

island for food and found no lack of luscious fruit. While he quenched his hunger he noticed

that the birds were singing in the the trees above about their own matters, but he noticed how

different they were to any bird he'd seen before, he also noticed little hairy animals bouncing

from tree to tree with long arms, the shape of the animal could almost be human if it wasn't

for the tail it was hanging from. Such a curious creature had never been heard of. Banoyúf

watched the hairy tree climbers gather this bulging yellow fruit from a large tree and eat it.

They dove their jaws into the fleshy fruit and threw the seeds down to the ground and soon

after feasting the little hairy tailed people were laughing hysterically. Banoyúf figured that the

fruit must have been the cause and thought to try it himself but the fruits hung way too high.

So he collected the castaway seeds and stored them in a pouch. After seeing the unique

curiosities of this islands he wondered if he was on the sacred island Sangú, the sacred place

which no man can find unless invited by a spirit or by accidentally finding it. This possibility

SUMRIC TALES ! 23

made Banoyúf feel uneasy that he may be somewhere he shouldn't be so he quickly but

calmly got back to his boat and luckily managed to find home again.

However he still had the seeds in his pocket and he still wanted that fruit. So he found a

small relatively unknown islet and planted the seeds there. He was amazed to find the plants

had matured within a week and already bore fruit which he collected and ate, he felt

incredible when it reached his stomach, he felt unweighted yet became incredibly clear, happy

yet penseful. When he brought it home to his sick villagers he also found that it quickly cured

their sickness. The sailor then had an idea to make a drink out of this and sell it as wine and

what a great idea it was. Now people from Shúwúne sailors to Moicha farmers to Imperial

Antagan soldiers drink s'ajúwúsí yet none of them know Banoyúf's little secret.

SUMRIC TALES ! 24