The Legend of the Lighthouse

P. I. Inkwell

Metadata

Reference Number: BICI/SSP/CRJ0402/005

Title: The Legend of the Lighthouse

Author: P. I. Inkwell

Date: Written approximately year 5570 A.o.W.

Extent: One excerpt, two pages long

The Legend of the Lighthouse

Transcribed by P. I. Inkwell

The western edge of the land was once a place marked by death. Aberrations poured out of every cave and every chasm. They dug themselves up from the ground. Any human who ventured to the coastline was quickly torn asunder.

His Eternal Warmth constantly reconfigured the land to chase the aberrations away. The coastlines grew rocky and unstable, and the woods dark and frightening. People stayed away from the west, where Nothingness encroached on His Eternal Warmth’s mighty domain. 

Despite the danger, there was a single village that endured on the western coastline. One of a few thousand people, brought together in community. For many years, they braved the dangers. They rebuilt their homes along cliffs that shifted and changed, and laid wooden slats over the places where aberrations would dig their way out of the earth. 

As the years wore on, the dangers grew worse. Still, the people who lived there refused to leave. Not when their villages toppled into the sea or when aberrations tore them limb from limb. Despite His Eternal Warmth’s warnings, they would not move east. The east did not have the gentle breezes and cool waters they cherished. The east did not have the fish that was their main source of sustenance. 

Many people perished, and some did give in and escape toward the safety found in the east, closer to His Eternal Warmth’s Hearth. After many years, what was once a bustling village of nearly one thousand souls dwindled down to no more than one hundred. 

In the remains of the once-prosperous village was a young woman named Olea. She felt tied to the sea, despite knowing that it was Nothingness’s domain, and convinced many of her kinsfolk to stay with her in their decrepit village. However she knew they could not stay forever, and so she looked to the horizon with a prayer in her heart. She asked His Eternal Warmth for a new home. Somewhere still by the western sea, but one safe from aberrations, protected by His forge. 

As her devotion warmed her prayer, she saw a light past the sea. It cut through the thick fog that shielded His Eternal Warmth’s domain from the Nothingness at the edge of the world. It was the answer to her prayer. She knew in her heart that the land where that light shone was to be their new home. 

And so the villagers reinforced the little boats they used to fish in and set off. Immediately the waters grew choppy and the air hot and oppressive. His Eternal Warmth’s voice boomed in their ears and echoed in their hearts. “Turn back. That light only leads to lies and death,” He warned.

“O Keeper of the Forge, we have no home left. There are no more fish near the shore and no more cattle on land. Where else are we supposed to go, if not towards the light?” Olea asked. 

“I will not protect you in the sea, where Nothingness can consume you whole. Come east, where My warmth is gentle and My people are loving and generous,” His Eternal Warmth told Olea.

“To go east is to lose our homes and our dignity. We must live in the west by the sea, or we cannot live at all. There is no way for us to travel the land’s ragged cliff sides, beset by aberrations. We will chance the embrace of Nothingness by sea,” Olea insisted.

His Eternal Warmth was impressed by Olea’s resolve. And so, to protect her and her people from the clutches of Nothingness, He opened up a path through the treacherous woods. Olea and her people returned to shore and abandoned their boats. They walked beneath His cliff sides, the aberrations kept at bay by His mighty land and His holy fire.

At the end of the path was a beach, and upon the beach sat a lighthouse. The same light that had been reflected across the sea shone in the lighthouse. Olea and her people rejoiced. Finally, they found the land they had dreamed of.

“I will allow you to live and prosper here, where the aberrations are quiet and the winds cool. I will push back Nothingness’s claim on the edge of the world, giving you more of the sea to fish in. Know that any water before the fog is protected by Me,” His Eternal Warmth said. “But Olea, you and your family, your lover and your children and your children’s children, must keep the lighthouse. You must defy the light of lies and deception. Transform it into a flame that illuminates your peoples’ way home.”

“O Keeper of the Forge, I will dedicate my life, the lives of all my children, and the lives of my children’s children to the lighthouse. I have but one request. Allow me to live amongst my people. Let me dedicate the loneliness of my nights to the lighthouse and the joy of my days to my people.”

His Eternal Warmth granted Olea’s request. He reconfigured the land once more, raising the lighthouse up onto a sacred cliffside. During the days Olea rejoiced with her people, sharing meals and recounting tales of love and trials. And during the night, she would ascend the cliffside alone, shining a light to guide her people home.

And so, the village of Seabreeze Shoal was created, and the lighthouse has remained blessed on the cliffside since.