Once upon a time there was a small riverside village called Ajnulak. Ajnulak was a small village in the middle of the Ascendency region. It was a village mostly comprised of farmers and craftsmen. The Craftsmen would craft items of all shapes and sizes. Then put them on rafts and sell them up the river to other settlements. The farmers fed the craftsmen, and any excess produce they made was sent up the river as well. It goes without saying that little would happen in Ajnulak to break the monotone of the villager’s daily life. Because of this, entertainment is much anticipated and respected. So when one day a storyteller came in to town and rented a room, the village was in a fever of excitement.
That night the storyteller sat around the villager campfire and began to speak in an exciting voice. The entire village listened with eager ears. The storyteller began, “in every story there is a hero, and most of them come from great knights or nobles.” The villagers knew this of course, but the storytellers next words drew them back in. “But on the rare occasion heroes are born in small towns like this one.” The villagers cheered at this. When the noise died down the storyteller continued “In this particular story our hero was born in an ordinary town, the heroes name was Kaerod. Kaerod was always a hard worker, but one thing separated him from all the other kids in his village. He was honest. In a world full of monsters and plagues honesty is rare.” At this point the villagers were completely sucked in to the amazing tale which was being laid before them. “As Kaerod grew older he became increasingly more annoyed and surprised that people lied. In particular he was mad at the storytellers which came to his village, for their stories never were true.” The villager of Ajnulak were a bit surprised at the storytellers words, after all they had thought this storyteller was saying a fictional story as well. Maybe there was more to this story teller then meets the eye they thought.
The storyteller paused for a few moments to let his words sink in, and then continued. “Many years later Kaerod became a storyteller himself, but he resolved to only tell stories that were true. So Kaerod talked to many great knights and nobles and learnt their tales. It was not long until Kaerod’s repertoire of stories was large enough for him to start storytelling. So Kaerod traveled to the four corners of the earth telling his fabulous tales. But soon trouble would arise and Kaerod would find himself the hero instead of the storyteller.” The storyteller stopped for breath.
Soon the storyteller continued “In Kaerod’s time there was a Titan who destroyed cities and villages alike. Everywhere the Titan went people fled in fear. Kaerod was in a small farming village finishing up a story of a great hero which he had witnessed killing a great beast. Seemingly out of nowhere the Titan charged into the village, leaving a wake of destruction in his path. Kaerod jumped up and grabbed the sword from a nearby warrior who was fleeing from the Titan. Kaerod charged directly at the Titan. The Titan was taken by surprise at his sudden adversary. The Titan was confused for a drop too long; Kaerod was already chopping at his legs. The Titan swung widely trying to hit him, but Kaerod darted between his legs and continued hacking. This cycle happened many times before the Titan fell off his feet and Kaerod was able to strike a killing blow to his heart. Kaerod gave up storytelling from that point on, but there was a young boy who was inspired by that moment, and became a storyteller himself.” The storyteller stopped talking, the villagers cheered. The storyteller waited until silence and then he said “That young boy was me.” The villagers cheered even louder this time. Suddenly the earth shook and a Titan burst into the village in a wake of destruction. The storyteller jumped up grabbed a spear from the village elder and charged straight at the Titan. After much dodging, stabbing, and fighting the Titan fell to his knees and the storyteller jumped up and thrust the spear into the heart of the Titan, killing him instantly. The storyteller left the village soon after refusing the riches the village offered him. A young boy named Maikno was watching the storyteller kill the Titan. In his mind he saw himself telling people of this day. And so Maikno decided he would become a storyteller…
A Turtlesquish Tale
