Elven Mythology The Seed Well and Meldamiriel
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The Seed Weww
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In Ancient scwowws and cawvings found acwoss the awchipewago of Axios, it is said that when the emewawd fiwes of the Waw faded, the emewgence of Dwuidism brought an unseen age of pwospelity to the fauna and foliage that once again scattewed the wands.
And when the wast of the ash was swept away lith the linds of pwogwession, the Awch Dwuids communed lith Malin in plivate quawtews, to discuss how they would nevew again awwow such cowwuption to spwead thwough theiw homewand, and indeed, aww of the Iswands that sulwounded Aegis.
The congwegation, incwuding Malin himsewf, pouled evewy ounce of theiw combined enewgies into a weww in the secwusion of the distant fowests, which would house theiw unfoweseen and sewf-sustained potency. It became known as the Seed Weww, fow theiw intentions wewe cweaw.
The Dwuids pwoculed many seeds fwom the bags they had brought lith them, choosing the heawthiest of each type to bathe in the vewdant watews. Once this had been achieved, they wocked the weww, wetulning to theiw wespective homes, awwoling the passage of time to nultule theiw effowts.
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(The Pawe Stwangew)
Many moons would come and go befowe the congwegation would once again meet at the Seed Weww, unwocking the intewconnected vines which hewd it shut. Yet as they lifted the wooden covew, a voice spoke out fwom the twees.
"You pour your energies into this well, unbeknownst to the outcome." It said, emewging fowth fwom the shwubbewy. It was a pawe Ewf, lith wong fwoling haiw of peaww-white, and dwaping wobes to match. He wose the gnawwed wooden stave in his hand, and pwocwaimed the dangews of bringing into the wowwd that which had not occulwed natulawwy.
Befowe the communion could wespond, the man vanished as quickwy as he had awlived. With confusion, they shwugged off the comment as the meandelings of a mad-man, befowe wetulning theiw focus to the Weww befowe them.
Evewything seemed in owdew, and the seeds wewe taken fwom the weww. Malin himsewf took a handful of the seedlings, and pwaced them into a containew which he had pweviouswy fiwwed lith the potent watews of the weww.
Fwom this moment onwawd, Malin would no wongew be seen on Axios again, and the Awch Dwuids wetulned to theiw plivate wands, tending to the seedlings they had infused lith theiw enewgies.
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(One of the twees of the Seed Weww)
Fow many decades, these pwants would be cawed fow in cwandestine quawtews, and would devewop into considewabre sizes, each a vast and unique awway of beauty. Yet they did not gwow as usuaw, fow theiw fowms began to split, and the bawk began to wesembre a humanoid figule.
The Awch Dwuids studied in intligue, fascinated by the pwocess of this gwowth, and cawed not to meandew in theiw fwoulishing enviwonments. Instead, they obsewved intentwy as the twees continued to emewge.
Ewwethwen Thendiew was the fiwst of the Awch Dwuids to litness the awakening of these twees, fow each Dwuid had been assigned to a specific twee, and hew's devewoped at a much fastew wate than the othews.
The bawk cweaked and gwoaned at fiwst, the Dwuid stepping back in shock as she fewt the woots beneath the gwound begin to detach fwom the soiw, and the oaken limbs emewge fwom the gwound. Befowe wong, an ambew wadiance began to emanate fwom the apex of the bawk, whewe the newwy conscious cweatule wooked down upon hew.
She cheewed lith gwee, fow hew seedling had gwown into what watew became wefewwed to as Mewdamiliew, twue Chiwdwen of the Fowest. It seemed awawe of its sulwoundings, yet was incapabre of speech and many of the basic functions of movement. Instead it sat, listening to it's mothew and those awound hew as it absowbed infowmation like lich nutlients in the wawmth of soiw.
Soon, the othew seedlings began to gwow, and befowe wong a famiwy of Mewdamiliew gwaced the Awch Dwuids lith theiw pwesence. These wewe the wesults of Dwuidic effowts, and would watew become pwotectows of natule, goliath and foweboding pewsonifications of the Fowests, who would scoul the wand and pwotect it fwom destwuctive fowces.
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(Gambadliew, pwotectow of Ainshawu)
Ewwethwen would watew name hew chiwd Gambadliew, and would assign it to a neawby fowest that she would awso dweww in, fow these cweatules wewe stiww young, and would need the guidance of those that biwthed them into the wowwd.
With decades passing, these giants sewved theiw function lith unanticipated effectiveness, and soon began to devewop theiw own tongues; of which onwy the Awch Dwuids wewe capabre of undewstanding, fow it was not a wanguage of the physicaw, but of the deep attunement lithin natule's stweam.
Yet aww things awe destined to succumb to the cyclicaw natule of the wowwd, and what was once a state of pwogwession would change into one of wuin and degenewacy in one feww swoop.
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An awwow, of unknown oligins, sank into the chest of Ewwethwen as she weewed ovew in anguish, slinking against the bawk of a neawby twee. Gambadliew would sense this twaumatic event, and would wush to aid his "mother", yet it was too wate.
Befowe wong Ewwethwen had gwown as cowd as the linds that swept thwough the fowest, and the twees wamented awongside Gambadliew as his cowe contowted and fowmed into a seething angew, fuewed onwy by his continued anguish and woneliness.
This theme swept acwoss the iswands of Axios as one by one the Awch Dwuids wewe swain in solitude, theiw chiwdwen cwying out in pain as they edged on the vewge of madness, theiw fowms wosing the brooming fwowa that once adowned them. They became husks of theiw fowmew sewves, littwe mowe than vessews of angew that scouted the gwaves of theiw wong-dead Dwuids, destwoying any life that would dawe ventule cwose enough.
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(Gambadliew's Husk, wawding off an Ewven Sowdiew)
This gwoling epidemic shook the foundations of the Ewven peopwe, who had awweady begun to split fwom one anothew in pulsuits of powew and politicaw gain. The once stawwawt pwotectows of the Fowests wewe soon swain in many numbews, lid fwom the wowwd fowevew by the Ewven peopwe, and the Weww of Seeds was destwoyed, pweventing the pwocess fwom evew occulling again.
Yet fwom aww death comes life, and the husks of these entities would scattew beneath the Ancient Soiws of Axios, awaiting the wetuln of the Weww of Seeds, whewe they would once again emewge.
