Tales From Lustein

Greed Knows No Bound

Hello there. What story may I entertain you with today?

Hurmm, then how about I tell you the tale of Wilbridge and it's habitants.

Oh? It's quite impossible that Wilbridge is liveable with the way it is? Ah yes, I can see where you're coming from. There is a poisonous miasma covering the land. But did you know that Wilbridge was considered one of the most beautiful places here in Lustein? Quite a shocker. I know.

The Wilbridge we know is a wasteland with almost zero inhabitants. Thick dark miasma that can strike death upon those who take a whiff of it. Dead trees casting eery shadows in every corner. No wonder there were rumours about Wilbridge being haunted circulating around. From Wescen Hill, you can see a huge dead sage tree standing in the middle of the lake. The great nymph, Sage once resided in that tree.

Wilbridge was indeed a unique town as the citizens of Wilbridge cohabited with mystical beings. It was a common sight for Wilbridge people to see fairies roaming around the town. Wilbridge itself had the blessing of Sage, the nymph responsible of taking care of Wilbridge and the woods around it. You must be wondering; but how did Wilbridge gain the blessing of a nymph? Well, it is quite a long story.

Wilbridge used to be called Estrington Meadow as it was an empty meadow surrounded by Fir trees. Further into the woods, stands a lone sage tree in the middle of a clear blue lake. In that tree lived a nymph that ensured that the plants and animals in her domain were cared after. The nymph spent her days tending to the same woods and making sure that order was in place. It was quite a boring routine but it was one that she enjoyed very much.

Until one day, a group of humans appeared in her meadow. That day, she hid in her tree and observed them from afar. She saw that there were humans of different sizes in that group. Some were tiny, some were big and some were wrinkly. According to other nymphs, humans appeared in different shapes and sizes. From what she understood, humans were like trees. The tiny humans were the equivalent to tree saplings, while the wrinkly ones were like the great old oak trees found in Camsir Woods. The group of humans were setting up tents in the middle of the meadow.

To her horror, they started ripping out a patch of grass in the middle of the meadow and set some logs on fire. Enraged, she came out of her hiding spot, face set in a scowl. She commanded the wind to extinguish the fire as soon as it set ablaze. Before she could lash out and chide them for their actions, a human kneeled in front of her and apologised.

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the earth beneath him, his forehead touching the dirt ground. His voice raw with emotion as he begged out; "Oh great nymph! Please let us stay here for a night! We were kicked out from our village as they didn't have enough resources for everyone. So, please! Just let us reside here for one night and we'll leave by tomorrow."

Her facial expression softened at the tall human's pleading. She felt herself sympathising with them. It was truly sad that they got chased out from their village as there wasn't enough resources to go around.

The nymph was a kindred spirit. She did not understand why her fellow nymphs warned her about humans. They said the dragon kind was gone because of them. In her eyes, these humans were quite pitiful. It couldn't be possible that these weak beings were the cause of the eradication of dragons. It looked like they could die from staying out in the wild.

But at the same time, she kind of understood what they meant as there were some humans that are bad. The bad ones were the cruel humans who sent their own kind away. She decided to extend a helping hand to the humans as she couldn't stand seeing them suffer. She let them build cottages on her meadow. She looked over them to ensure their safety. She made it possible for them to plant crops that couldn't possibly be done without her help. The crops planted could only grow in certain conditions, but being a keeper of the forest, she was able to make it possible. The fairies even pitched in to help with the prosperity of the village.

She let them name their own village and they decided to name it after the human that was brave enough to plead her. To the humans, she was their saviour. Sage, the name they called her as she lived in a sage tree. Everything was going quite smoothly. The village was peaceful.

Until one faithful day, the humans started asking for more. They started asking for caves they could mine gold and gemstones in. She could only refuse as it was out of her control. She wasn't an earth nymph, she was a forest nymph. There was only so much she could do. Unsatisfied, the humans said that Sage turned her back towards them.

Then, they started becoming braver with their actions and started getting aggressive. Some of them ganged up on other humans they thought were weaker and took their resources. When Sage did her daily visit, she voiced out how she was against this type of behaviour. Only for them to scoff at her, blaming their actions on her. They stated that if she had given them a mine, maybe they wouldn't be taking other people's resources. Even though she was disappointed in their actions, Sage still put some faith in them. She still believed they could change.

Alas, how wrong she was. One fateful night, Sage was awoken by a big explosion. Alarmed, she quickly went towards the village. She arrived to the scene of the cottages burning down, a few of the humans were fighting each other. She yelled out over the crackling of fire for the humans to evacuate.

But, they continued screaming at one another, fighting over the resources. At that moment she knew, they were too far gone to be saved. She could feel her heart breaking. She had done everything to help them, only for them to cause destruction to her domain. In a whirlwind of emotions, she cursed the land. For whoever steps into her domain, they will slowly perish.

She finally understood what her fellow nymphs meant. Humans were the most pitiful in their weakest. But when they gain what they want, they'll start wanting for more. After all, greed knows no bounds. Till this day, there is even a folk song dedicated to this tale. Bards will travel around the world to spread this tragic tale.

Wilbridge,
A village blessed by the great nymph Sage,
As she extended her hand to help,
They greedily lapped it all up,
Glorified and sang praises to her,
Calling her their saviour,
But then they started asking for more,
Something out of her control,
Antagonised her when she couldn't,
Corruption tainting their being,
Only themselves to blame,
Greed lead them to their downfall,
The nymph cried out,
As the village burned down,
As a curse fell on her domain.