» Fri May 27, 2011 2:32 pm The Gluttonous Fool
There once lived a mer named Galen Deravil, he was of the Great House Hlaalu, and was a noble of high esteem. He had money, he did, and power too - however, his vast fortune remained in constant use. For Galen had a habit of sorts, always craving food and always eating.
His income and power never decreased, and thus this habit could continue to be for as long as he lived. He ate, and he continued to eat, never slowing down, never stopping.
But eventually, everything comes to an end, and the gluttonous lifestyle of Galen Deravil is no exception.
A caravan of sorts had come to town, travellers clad in rags, and boots of leather. Guars had been brought as well, a total of three ? carrying supplies, and other things a traveller needs.
One of the guars was quite old and gaunt, but wise as well. The second one was a strong and capable guar ? excellent for any job one would use a beast of burden for. But the third one was quite the beast, very fat, and skin that seemed stretched to the limit.
When words of this reached the ears of Galen, he swallowed the exotic roast he was eating, and said: "Bring me the nomads, and the guars too ? they will have to pay me a toll to bring such things here."
And thus it was done; the nomads and the guars were brought to the outside of Galens manor, where Galen could be seen enjoying his meal ? consisting of kwama eggs, hackle'o and what seemed to be expensive meat.
Galen swallowed what he was chewing, and said to the leader of this nomad pack: "You will have to pay me a toll to stay, or I'll have you all thrown in jail."
Galen emptied his Greef-filled cup, and continued: "One of your guars would be a fair price, for I know that Ashlanders own little of value."
As a response, the leader of the nomad pack, a withered, old Ashlander woman stepped to the side, revealing the guars they had brought with them this day. Galen eyed the guars, but his attention was quickly drawn to the fat one. Before he could once again open his mouth, the Ashlander woman said: "These are the guars we have, the fat one we need to feed our people in times of need. Pick any of the other two, and you can have it."
Rather angry at being denied his treasured prize, he raised his voice and almost shouted: "The fat one is mine; I claim it as my prize, give it up now or you will pay with your lives."
Many a man would have shivered in fear at such a threat from a powerful mer, but this band of nomads did not. Their leader once again opened her mouth, saying to Galen: "Please, sera, consider the facts ? the fat one is hardly useful for one such as you. The old one is wise, and could help with your business. The second one is strong, and an excellent beast of burden ? a great addition to any plantation. But the third one is fat, and not very useful to a mer of your stature, wealth and power."
But Galen paid little attention to this wise woman's words; he continued to eat, like never before. A minute or so after she finished, he finally looked up and said: "Are you quite done, oh matriarch of nomads? My eyes are set on the fat one; I care little for your words. This beast shall make a fine feast, and I shall enjoy it."
The Ashlander woman's face changed into something of a smile, and said: "If this is your will, then let it be so?But be warned, even a man such as you won't be able to devour a beast of this size."
To this Galen just smirked, and took another bite of his exquisite meat. The guar was given, and brought to his stables; it would be cleaned, prepared, cut and cooked ? for Galen refused to eat something this dirty.
The evening came, and his feast had been prepared ? he anticipated it greatly, and could hardly conceal his joy. He laughed quite heartily, and took his seat, grabbing a knife and a fork as well.
He complimented the chef, and took his first bite ? it tasted quite wonderful, and he showed no restraint. He took yet another bite, and continued to eat, until nothing remained of this guar feast. For the first time in years, Galen felt very stuffed, and at the end of the meal he could not bring himself to eat anymore. But he had proven that Ashlander woman wrong, and ate a whole guar intended for a tribe.
He went to bed that night, satisfied beyond belief, ignorant to what would soon take place.
He had a dream, and the dream started with a vision of a foggy night. All around him were grassy plains, filled with guar and various plants. He tried walking, and noticed quite soon that his legs felt odd, and that his tail seemed wrong. And that was the problem; he had a tail, and clawed feet. It appeared that he was a guar, a scaly beast ? he took another step, and he felt very odd. But he soon grew used to walking like this, and as the dream continued he forgot who he was. He lived the life of a guar in this dream, but his innermost nature ? the gluttonous fool, would not allow him to escape quite that easily. This guar grew fat, beyond belief, and that was when he woke up.
But as he looked around, he could not recognize his surroundings, they were not that of his manor home, nor those of the plains in his dreams.
He appeared to be in some sort of camp, and he felt strange. He noticed once again, that he was in the body of a guar, and quite a fat one too.
The Ashlander woman he had encountered earlier walked up to him and said: "Oh gluttonous fool, you actually did it ? devoured a guar intended for a tribe. It was a cursed guar, a curse originating from long ago. A dangerous beast was eating our herds, and to stop it ? we put a curse upon one of the guars. If one single being devoured its meat, that being would become what it just ate. However, if the meat is divided between many, then the curse is no longer effective. Either way, it makes little difference, the curse can not be broken, and we need to eat in times when prey doesn't come easy."
And with that, the story of Galen Deravil, the gluttonous fool comes to an end. He spent the time he had left as a beast of burden, before being eaten by this Ashlander tribe.
Editors note:
This story probably originated as a spoken tale in an Ashlander tribe, and was later written down by an unknown author. It is a story that seems to heavily criticize the lifestyle of settled "Great House "Dunmer, in comparison to the simpler lifestyle of the Ashlanders.
