*Legends and Myths: The Rise of the Feast of the Immortals and Lornon's Eve by Shiril Robintton [#ree30cdc]

'''"They who had been servants now played the part of master."'''

 The Feast of the Immortals is observed on the 20-25th of Eorgaen
 Lornon's Eve is observed on the 31st of Eorgaen


Historical events become stories, stories become myths, myths become legends; and all of these pass into folklore. There are both losses of truth and gain in embellishments as folklore is handed down through generations. One legend does not relegate more validity than another; and yet, all of the legends concerning times past have their own place in our history, culture, and personal belief systems.

The Feast of the Immortals and Lornon's Eve are each legends in their own right. Speculation over the origins of these legends, however, abounds where Elanthian scholars are concerned. While there are no specifically validated events to be found in any currently known recorded histories, the folklore surrounding these traditionally observed dates is rich and full of both fanciful and intuitively veritable details.

The tale that follows is but one version of such origins:

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Long ago, in the time of the Drakes, a powerful force known as the Ur-Daemons came through dimensions to dip into the Elanthian world. The Ur-Daemon War raged for centuries, its scale immense beyond mortal understanding. While the Drakes managed, after generations, to push the Ur-Daemons back into their own universe, they also lost their strength and numbers in the struggle. Creatures once intelligently savage, the Drakes had lost their grip of power over Elanthia, and most importantly over their direct servants, the Arkati.

Before the momentous war, overcrowding caused the Drakes to send their Arkati servants to the Liabo and Lornon moons of Elanthia. With the subdued power of the Drakes, the Arkati saw their time had come. They used their powers to heal the Elanthian land, and in turn, indirectly bring the mortal races under their sway. Each Arkati had different methods, mannerisms, and ideas sprung from their own influence over particular realms of activity, emotion, and simple essence. Thus, some of the Arkati garnered large followings of mortals basing their faiths on completely different beliefs.

These differences were not obvious to each in the beginning. It was these differences, however, that were to destroy the unified front of the Arkati.

For many years after the initial war, while the land was still healing, while the mortals still wept for what had been lost, the Arkati sought to come to terms with their newfound mastery. Servants to the Drakes, they each felt the loss of their prior bond. Yet more importantly, many felt a secret freedom, a swelling pride that they could find a place in this world without their masters.

To celebrate the survival of the land, the mortal races, and their own selves, the Arkati feasted. Exactly one year after the last of the Ur-Daemons had left their world, the Arkati envisioned and made real a feast of massive proportions. To this feast they invited any and all who wished to attend. The feast was to last several days, complete with tournaments, play making, and games.

The mortals celebrated to their own heart's desire, merriment abounding for any that wished to find it. Tales of old were spun, songs bursting from the lips of others, instruments humming by the fireside. Yet even in all this joy, this happiness, this lively company, the tensions between the Arkati were already apparent. Small disagreements as to temperament or how to judge a dispute, what advice to give in love or in war -- these small things caused glares and scowls from one Arkati to another. Yet this was ignored in light of the feasting itself, the celebration of the Arkati and their new kingship.

Due to the immense success of the feast, the Arkati decided that the feast would become annual, a reminder and celebration of what they had become. This was, of course, different for some of the Arkati. The Arkati who came from the moon of Liabo had a lighter disposition, though the reason for this is only speculated upon. What they celebrated, however, was the healed land and the happiness of the mortals. Thoroughly opposite, the Arkati from the moon of Lornon celebrated their freedom from chains, and thus their own power and ability to use the weak, mortal races to accomplish their own ends.

The feasting went on for years this way, each time wonderfully satisfactory to the mortal races. Yet the tensions between the Arkati of each moon grew significantly with each passing year. Finally, one year, they came to a head.

Koar sat at the head of the Immortals' table, the "king" of the Arkati, their leader (and some suspect a Drake). On his right hand, Lumnis, the goddess of Wisdom, sat as his Queen. Throughout the terse conversation and feasting, Lumnis could not ignore the constant glares she received from Eorgina. Lumnis did not ask Eorgina why she glared, for she knew Eorgina's jealousy and hatred. She understood. Yet Eorgina, spoke of her displeasure at Lumnis' unfair Queen-ship. She coldly told Lumnis that she did not belong at the head of the table, nor with Koar. She did not deserve these places. Koar simply turned to Eorgina and looked at her, reproving her with his very gaze. Yet Eorgina did not back down. Instead, she insisted, "In fact, you do not belong at the head of this table, Koar. You are nothing but a defeated being, lacking in the strength and power that I can lend to this gathering of Arkati. You do not possess anything that I am not capable of surpassing." Turning to the other Arkati, she insisted they put her in power.

And so the argument began. Not one or two Arkati, and not wary glances and gloats -- instead, this was full argument, with the entire table of Arkati involved, insults and power hurling from one to the other, and all around. Mortals watched the spectacle in fear and awe.

When she had watched long enough, Eorgina, poised in her fury, rose. With flashing eyes, she declared her departure; "I will leave you now to your own ways. Is my power, my vision, my being not more powerful? You speak of greatness, but you are nothing! I will rule as I see fit, and I will be Queen over all, even the [said mockingly] mighty Koar, and you all will feel and know what pitiful fates await you." And so she stalked away in graceful strides. The other Arkati watched, some in shock, others in satisfaction. And some, such as Luukos, Ivas, and Andelas, did more than simply look on; they followed Eorgina's example, throwing off the leadership of Koar as they departed from the feast.

The Arkati who deserted Kai's leadership came one by one to Eorgina, eager to form an alliance against Koar. While each had different goals, they did not foresee a profitable future with Koar's faction, and thus felt their own ways would be better served in their own loose gathering. The last of them came, finally, until there were in total nine: Eorgina, Ivas, Fash'lo'nae, Andelas, V'tull, Sheru, Mularos, Luukos, and Marlu.

That very day, the last day of Eorgaen, while the three moons of Tlilok, Liabo, and Lornon lit the evening sky, these traitorous Arkati held a ceremony in which they bound their fates together. While this event on its own may not have found its way into the mortal mind, the joining itself seems to have caused a disturbance that the memory simply cannot ignore. The joining of this group created a great tempest of destruction throughout the lands, one such as to create stories of fear in mortals that would be passed on for generations.

Wind blew fiercely, driving men from their mounts; the sky cracked and broke with lightning; water from lakes and oceans swept the coastline in a drowning pool; hail and snow pelted the earth, ripping it to shreds; the earth trembled and groaned, belying some contraption about to break. Mortals felt a sickness in the pit of their stomach, which either caused great dread and fear, or a move to irrational violent and bloody action. Whence these occurrences came, no one quite knows, but a whisper on the winds declared the formation of the Lornon pantheon; or perhaps it wept at the destruction of the united Arkati. Perhaps this was all purely circumstance. But to mortals this night became known as the Eve of Lornon, when their power was new and most strong.

Only Zelia and Gosaena, each of whom had left the table, did not join in this alliance. In their break from the Liabo Pantheon and their refusal to join the Lornon Pantheon, they became both outcasts and allies within the two great pantheons. For this reason, many consider them a neutral force, "good" and "bad" as times see fit.

The Liabo Pantheon was thus made up of thirteen: Koar, Lumnis, Eonak, Oleani, Kai, Ronan, Phoen, Imaera, Lorminstra, Charl, Jastev, Cholen, and Tonis. Many were still in shock over what had happened. Yet even in their diminished numbers, the Liabo Pantheon did not wish to show any weakness or fear of their new rivals. They carried on in normal fashion. And in holding with tradition, they initiated preparation for the Feast of the Immortals. All was put in its place as it had been in years past; and the Liabo Pantheon, in their own valiant attempts to reunite the Arkati as one, enjoined their fellow Arkati of the Lornon Pantheon to join the feast.

The Lornon Pantheon did indeed join the feast -- they simply did not do it in the way the Liabo Pantheon had intended. A real "feast" -- perverted, violent, and chaotic -- reigned where the Lornon made their way. They swooped over the feasting tables and ravished the guests. Bloodshed and sacrifice, gluttony and suffering, glee in the wake of pain and domination provided a feast of very different merits to the Lornon. They were enthralled with the results, as were their followers. They delighted in each scream, each cry, each temptation, and each piece of chaotic adventure. And most delightful of all: the utter horror of the Liabo Pantheon. The Feast was disbanded.

And yet, every year, the Feast of the Immortals continued. The Liabo Pantheon continued to set up their own feasts in defiance of the Lornon "traitors", as well as in hopes of their return. Their followers did it in reverence to the generous aims of their patrons, teachers, and deities. And the Lornon Arkati, aided by their own servants, continued their own chaotic feasting during the Feast of the Immortals.

After years of this, it is said that Koar called the Arkati as a whole together for a meeting. The discussions during this meeting are unknown, if they even did exist. One of the results, as stories tell, was the discontinuance of active Immortal participation and support in both the merriment and atrocities committed during the Feast of the Immortals. No longer did the Immortals themselves come to their mortal followers during these times. In fact, they had all but stopped coming near open conflict; they simply stayed in their own realms, only arguing with each other in extreme circumstances.

Lack of direct guidance, however, does not leave the mortal mind in the doldrums. Followers did as they would, continuing to support their deities in ways they thought proper. One such tale tells of the Serpent People of Luukos, and their own feasting on mortals during this period of the year. Others tell of atrocious and violent acts committed during this time. And yet other tales tell of festivities and happy times associated with the 'holiday', gift-giving and feasting. Thus, the Feast of the Immortals has passed on in this way through the ages.

Likewise, the Eve of Lornon made its own mark. Significantly, it marked a specific point when each year ended and the next began. The Eve of Lornon is, however, also regarded by some as a time when the gates between worlds are open; when the powers and spirits of the world are wandering between worlds; and when anything and everything is possible.


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