Time of Curse
The Time of Curse
by Chutnee BornOdepression
Sylvan Cultural Lore
************EDITOR'S NOTE************
This bit of cultural lore is strictly player "legend" and is in no way forwarded as official.
************END NOTE************
PREAMBLE:
Being of the sylvan race means being of a culture vastly different in many respects from other cultures. It means embracing the concept of community in the most specific sense, being one with nature as much as possible, and accepting the right of nature in all situations.
Because of this aspect, some things which are part of sylvan lore in many communities, if not most, are very... secretive and unchanging. Yet sometimes, to be understood by other races, it becomes necessary to lift that veil of secrecy to outsiders.
Thus should the lore I will relate be viewed in such light. Not as a betrayal of my race, but as a means for other races to come to a better understanding of my own.
THE LORE:
In sylvan community it is often the case to have as the center of all activity seven modwirs referred to as a "Holy Cluster". These trees are in memory of the legendary city of Yuriqen which, according to the old tales, was itself founded on seven great modwirs. This memorial consists of two rings of modwirs centered around one greater like tree. Within the outer ring are four trees -- one facing east, one west, one north and one south -- representing the seasons such that the one facing east is known as the Renewal Modwir (spring), the one west as the Fruition Modwir (autumn), the one north as the Hibernation Modwir (winter) and the one south as the Proliferation Modwir (summer). The inner ring consists of two trees and these are the life modwirs. Of these the one facing southeast is known as the Somatic Modwir (embracing the realm of the physical), and the one facing northwest as the Essence Modwir (embracing the realm outside the physical). At the center of the Holy Cluster -- regally dominating the other six -- stands the giant Celestial Modwir.
The Celestial Modwir serves as the base of worship and the location of most public occasions within a good many sylvan communities. Imbued with the gift of Eternal Life by the spirits of the woodlands, it is said that the death of the Celestial Modwir will mark the death of all sylvankind within a given community.
Because of the ethereal connection between the members of any community and its particular Celestial Modwir in the Holy Cluster, the continued life and growth of this tree is viewed as essential. When the tree dies for any reason, the timeframe during which the community must exist without the influence of the Celestial Modwir, before another can be successfully nurtured in its place, is referred to as a "time of curse". Any new Celestial Modwir sapling must grow for at least a full set of seasons before a "time of curse" is considered lifted.
During this period, it is considered a great misfortune for any children to be born. Therefore, those born during a "time of curse" are looked upon in many ways as a detriment to the successful thriving of the community. To circumvent such tainted blood continuing forever within the lines of the community, the Hierophants during such a "time of curse" will insure by ancient rite that these children can never conceive children of their own. This neutering to insure the healthy future of the community is accepted practice and done with utmost care. One must understand it is not done out of cruelty, but out of necessity. Perpetuating in a communal line life which began during a "time of curse" is considered a heinous crime.
Though the rite utilized is very carefully controlled by the Hierophants, such being the only ones with full grasp of the procedure, the truth is most infants who undergo this ritual do not have long lives. Most are sickly from birth in any case, because of the stress undergone by the mother just from the knowledge that her child will be born during such a time of unfortunate tidings. Few live to adolescence, let alone full adulthood. Those that do usually have a certain marked separateness from the community as a whole.
Certain things are forever out of the reach of those born during a "time of curse". No such can ever be elected as a Hierophant. No such can ever be one of the caretakers of the trees of the Holy Cluster. No such can ever be accepted as a healer within community.
It is an anecdotal fact, to which I can offer no more evidence than my own experience and the experience of others who grew up in various sylvan communities, that the majority of those sylphs born during a "time of curse" show a certain proficiency in the darker magicks of sorcery. Their connection to nature and the elements is often skewed, but their connection to the spiritual realm -- most specifically the underside of that realm -- is often heightened.
Though no full-blooded sylph will ever be barred from any sylvan community, those born during a "time of curse" often will find it difficult to be accepted in any community other than that of their birth. They are looked upon as "bad luck", and taking upon itself the misfortunes of another community within the scope of its own is not something most communities embrace with any heartiness.
Many such sylvans become perpetual loners and will leave community as soon as of an age to survive successfully on their own. Some will become hermits and recluses within the forest; others seek out the towns and villages of other races to create a place for themselves.
Whatever path these sylphs choose, I have found they are often haunted by visions. It is also true many of them possess gifts of extraordinary divination, as if nature itself had attempted to compensate them for other losses.
