Once, there was the kingdom of Toneledun, an ancient realm situated in the lands of Tir rua. It was a peaceful land, far from the kingdoms of the north, where war was (and still is) a constant part of life. However, one day, the good(ish) King Cormac II died, and his son Colm I took the throne. Colm was a wee bit mad though, and he soon developed an addiction for Milk. One day, all the milk supplies were choked up in the eastern mountains, and he didn't get his ice cold milk on time. He wept for three days and three nights, before tasking an adventurer by the name of Narfir to go and find an infinite source of Milk so he would never have to face such a catastrophe again. Narfir, however, was from the northernmost of the northern realms, and despite many saying that the king was mad and the quest hopeless, he went off anyway, to forge himself his own saga of adventure.
He passed first through the ancient fields of Tir Eamonn, the bread basket of the realm before coming to the forests of Garnir in the far east. He climbed the mountains for ten days and ten nights, until he came to a silver valley, and At it's centre was a great tree, A towering oak, unlike anything he had ever seen. At it's roots, he saw a cave. It see,ed dark and deep, but he entered it all the same. However, once in, he saw that the cave was large and bright, and at the centre was a well. Above him were the roots of the tree, and around him were the dirt walls, and all glowed pale silver in the white glow of the liquid in the pool. He went to drink, before he saw a man walk out from a shodow. He was old and frail, but tall, strong, and proud. He had a long beard, that was also short, and he seemed to have eyes that pierced one's soul, but that twinkled with kindness at the same time. He spoke:
You may seek the milk of the earth, blood of the god of life, but before you do, you must pay the price. I see your mind, and I see that you deserve to drink from this, but your price must stay the same. You must cut off your left hand, and bleed into the pool.
Narfir said nothing, but went straight for his hunting-knife, and cut off his hand, dropping it onto the ground, and bleeding fron his stump into the pool. He stooped down, and took a long, slow drink from the deep liquid, and when he was done, he looked up out the mouth of the tunnel and started at the night sky.
He could see every star, every world in the universe. he could see the very building blocks of life. His mind seemed clear, clearer than it ever did. He could see the workings of the world, how everything truly was. His eyes burned white with the fire of ten thousand stars shining at a single point, but slowly, the power settled, and his eyes returned back to their deep blue, but now, they seemed to glow bright, with the fire of the blood of the world. The man reached down, and took up Farnir's severed hand. Holding it with one hand, he seemed to cover it over, and all the skin and flesh desintegrated, leaving a heap of bones. With near superhuman speed, he took a set of tools, and he worked at the hand. Within a minute, he revealed his work: what had one been a skeletal hand was now a goblet, carved with tiny introcate details, with no sign to show how the parts fitted together. He gave it to Narfir, and said:
You have paid, and now here is a gift of mine. No other mortal has drunk from this well in one hundred years, and in that time, evil has grown in distant lands. There is now an unholy pail held by corrupted souls far from here. I know not of how it came to be, or even how old it is, but I now give to you it's opposite: pure white, fashioned from the bones of a hero: The holy goblet. If ever you should seek to be rid of thirst, drink from this, and the coolest, sweetest milk shall pour down your throat. Take it, and make it an heirloom of your house, and keep it for the day when all milk has truly gone forever.
Fafnir took the goblet, and left, giving thanks to the old man. However, instead of make it an heirloom of his house, he did as he was sent out to do, and came back to the king with the cup. The king declared him a knight of the realm, with his own coat of arms and stuff. However, Narfir was never seen again after the day of his knighting. He left, and was not seen in his northern homeland, or anywhere across the kingdom, to this very day. However, Some say that with his eyes that see the world as it truly is, he now seeks the Unholy Pail, trying to discover the mysteries of it's making, that an old man hinted to him of so very long ago.
It should be noted that The kings of Toneledun kept the goblet, and some say it does more than give milk, some say that Farnir left out something in the tale, as the line of kings has remained unbroken to this day, and many of the royal have had almost superhuman luck, and they are often seen drinking from it before making wise decisions. We may never know all the answers to all the questions, but some now here may have some nore light to shed upon the tale...
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Topic: Minimalism and Milk 2 (Read 152280 times)