Scion of the Rising Sun

Prologue: The Tale of A Falling Golden Star

In the Old Stories of our people, it was said that the stars themselves commanded the path of fate. that the movement of the celestial bodies guided the lives of those beneath their eternal dance and even the flow of magic within the world. And so it was, that a pale gold star fell from the heavens above, guided by the wills of The Goddess, and carrying with it an accursed fate. a curse upon men, and their bloody god, a curse upon the royal Witches who were descended of Him, a curse upon all their peoples, for desecrating our lands and bringing death upon our shores. As the golden star fell, it shone with such radiance the night sky was alighted with the brilliant rays of dawn, if only but for a second, before returning to its starry state. The golden star would fall upon a sacred place, to the south of Selorun, the holy isle of The Goddess, falling upon the place she herself first came to when bringing life to these lands. The Ocean of Trees it is called by our people, and its abyssal depths have long been sacred to the Fair Folk. and at the heart of this elden grove, sat a great jade tree, struck by this Golden Star. To men, this was an ill omen, and the witches soon decreed that if one of their people could get their hands upon the star, they would be rich beyond measure. but before they could even cross the Skybreaking Mountains between the domain of men and the domain of the goddess, the Eldest Daughter of the goddess laid a curse upon them, so that they would never cross the great mountains, and they would never cross the Milk Sea. The Fae rejoiced in the light of the golden star, a new era had begun, and a new child of The Goddess would bring them justice. Before any others could, one of the Elder Sisters, the Three Queens of the second isle Avelyon, and eldest daughters of the goddess would make the journey across the milk Sea and find herself at the foot of the Grand Crater, that which contained The Ocean of Trees. The Pearl Maiden herself, stood before the sacred gates, the tall pillars that led to the ancient stone stairway into the Crater, and prepared herself to abandon everything else, and take on the duty of caring for this sacred child.

as she crossed the threshold of the gates, she could feel the coolness of the breeze within brush upon her skin. this sacred place felt very different to the surrounding land, and within she encountered all manner of trial to test her. first would be the darkness, the blackness of night within this place where the high canopy above obscured the moons and stars. the crushing blackness that was followed by an ominous silence, only the soft glow of little flowers and flittering butterflies to accompany her. then as the sun began to rise, spirits emerged from betwixt the tall trunks, and evoked The Goddess in song and dance, their ethereal bodies drifting within the wood, rejoicing the new era to be born. among the spirits, one with the mask of a crone approached her, and tested her with a riddle. the crone spirit asked of her
"I welcome the day with a show of light, but I stealthily came here in the night. I bathe the earth at dawn, But by noon, alas! I am gone! what am I?"
she took a second to answer, pondering the nature of even such a riddle, and when she finally fixed herself to answer with a nervous "morning dew?"
the crone erupted with laughter and light, turning into a spray of water and leaving behind a sprouting flower tree where she once stood. it was only then, that the maiden heard in the distance a beautiful song, trembling the earth she knew not how she couldnt have noticed it before. and as she took towards the song, she saw the light of day grew brighter up ahead, as she crossed the threshold into a great clearing. she stood at the heart of the wood, before the enormous tree which towered over all the other already massive trees in this sacred place. and as she gazed up towards the gash in the tree, she saw the golden crystal embedded into it, and wrapped around the boughs of the great tree, was a serpentine and holy figure. rows of white feathered wings and emerald green scales, and a maned neck framing the face of the holy prophet of The Goddess, The Dragon Elyrios. his three golden eyes stared down the maiden as she bowed before him. and he welcomed her to this sacred place. he sung to a babe cradled in his massive clawed hands, one crowned in golden light and gently slumbering. and as he lowered his hand towards the maiden, she stuttered nervously, and he said unto her
"Thou mayest ask of me but three questions for the babe, not one less, not one more"  and so she sat and thought. she sat with the question for a while, staring into the eyes of the gentle babe swaddled in her arms, his gentle golden eyes meeting her own nacreous eyes with a soft smile. as he closed them once again, she looked up towards the three eyed dragon.

"Will he live? will he stand with joy and meaning, will he have the will to continue even when the path is darkest?"

" He shall, he will live his life as a paragon of strength and willpower, inspiring all he meets."

"Will he find love? will he find someone he adores to the depths of his soul, beyond all measure, beyond all reason?"

with a smile, the prophet duly responded "Of course, he will find a love as great as the heavens themselves, a love he would move the very sun, moon and stars for."

and finally, as tears began to stream down her face, she asked "will he experience loss like our people have? will he lose this love, will he lose those who love him, will he lose his will?"

the great dragon took a second to answer, as if unsure what the proper answer would be "As All our kind have, he will feel loss, he will feel pain, and he will suffer, but I can promise you that once his myth has finished, he will be all the better for it. Do not worry for the accursed fate he was born into, as one day, he will challenge fate, he will challenge destiny, he will challenge the very stars."

Accepting the answers given to her, she departed. her journey out of the sacred wood seemed a much quicker one, the canopy above and the roots below almost moving to form a passage so that she may leave this place. and as she stood up on the threshold, she looked out towards the dawning sun in the west, the sky painted a brilliant gold, and looked down towards the slumbering babe in her arms. as she walked down to the steps, she whispered gently to the little one, assuring him that he would be well loved, he would be raised in kindness and humility, and he would not continue the pain and suffering of the current age, he would end the cycle, he would free them. a new dawn was coming, and as she found the entrance to ancient fae ruins buried in a grassy hill, she once looked towards the dawn and held him up, the back of his head crowned by the dawning rays, the whisps of golden hair blown by the wind and she declared, in a joyful yet trembling voice

"for the brilliant rays of dawn, for being the shining hope of our people, I, Mythra, gift to you the name Gwyn. may you shine greater evermore."

and as she spoke these final words, she sunk into the cool darkness of the abandoned ruins she would soon call home, her only company the whispers of fair folk long gone and the myths and tales they carved into the very walls, and of course, the boy she would come to proudly call her son.