Ludovar Lore Initiative: The Elk Prince

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Spoiler

 

 

Ludovar Lore Initiative: Part I

“The Elk Prince”

A folktale discovered and published by Lady Maryia Ludovar, 315 E.S.

 

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The tale of the valiant and tragic Elk Prince is one both uncommonly told among the denizens of cities, but spread about often in more rural circles. It starts with a young man, a Prince of Carrion, who ventured out into the dense forests one afternoon to hunt sport and game. An arrogant fellow, this Prince sought to bring home a grand prize, hoping to impress his father and fellow countrymen.

 

He trekked for hours, limbs growing heavy as his bounty seemed to allude him. He came into a thicket, broad and peaceful, split down the center by a small stream. The Prince went to kneel aside this minute flow of water, bring cupped hands to collect the liquid and splash it upon his face. A glint of white caught his gaze, his blue eyes drifting up to behold a mighty white elf, horns glinting in the retreating sunlight like fine ivory. It seemed to watch him, a knowing to it’s great round eyes.

 

The Prince smirked, for he had found his greatest prize. The elk stood still as the Carrion Prince rose from his knees, slinging his bow from his back and knocking a fresh arrow. They stared, elf to man, and for a moment, the Prince hesitated. How could he kill something so beautiful, so harmless? He shook his head fervently, letting loose the arrow. Hitting true, the elf fell, letting free a quiet cry and grunt as ichor began to stain the grass upon which it had landed.

 

The Prince saw the walls of his family’s keep within view, a bag slung over his shoulder. Within it sat various selections of elk meat, along with the creature’s pristine horns. He desired to take rest and look over his bounty before venturing back into his home, thus he set down his sack and pulled it open. As he reached inside, he let out a grunt. He had cut himself on one of the antlers, leaving a sizable gash in his forearm. Cursing under the light of the rising moon, the Prince saw no point in dallying any longer, closing the bag in frustration.

 

It was then, the farmers and hunters of yore say, that the Prince felt a lurch in his heart, or his very soul. A great pain overtook him, bringing him to his knees. He cried out, but all that came was an unfamiliar wail. His body, his bones and his muscle, began to morph and convulse and change. He was changing, becoming something else.

 

The whistling of arrows soon caught the Prince’s attention, as he stirred from his delirious state. Guards were pouring from the portcullis, blades directed at where he stood. The Prince was in a panic, turning a running, running deep into the woods from whence he had came. He made his way swiftly, past tree and rocks, to find his way finally back in the safety of the thicket he had found. Panting and breathless, he made his way over to the stream, to collect himself.

 

As his gaze met the water, his heart began to race. He saw the great white elk staring back up at him, it’s own eyes widened in disbelief. He watched it’s panicked breath, and the evident distress it held in its large form...and then he realized. He was the elk, and he had been looking upon himself.

 

He heard a voice, carried on a light breeze. It spoke knowingly to the young Prince, but in great criticism and scorn. It said that the Prince had committed a mighty sin: the taking of an innocent life, and the killing of a creature of the wilds in cold blood. The great elk had saw great might in the Prince, and had only desired to observe his power. Alas, the Prince’s arrogance had slain the elk before it’s time. And now, for his punishment, the Prince of Carrion would take the elk’s place, to see his own world from the view of that in which he had killed, for eternity.

 

Some say, in the height of spring, one can spot the great white elk in the deepest forests, a warden and watcher of Hanseti and Ruska. A warning to all those who would seek to distort the bountiful beauty of life and nature for the benefit of greed and power.

 

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