Arlyn's+Legend

Long ago,

Arlyn and Corraidhin were once one. This was back when it was more difficult to distinguish animal from man, when instinct was valued over intellect, when being weak was a fatality rather than a setback. Conversations could be had with a look, or a simple sound, and very little was said among the people. This was the way they preferred it, as the things that they'd not yet come to call words often caused problems. It was much simpler to communicate in primitive ways.

One day a new being came to the region. He was a bird, with brown feathers and small black beady eyes ... or perhaps he was man. One could never really tell at that time. He had a long, sharp beak, or perhaps a nose? He came and observed the village for a few days, absolutely blank - not uttering a word, nor giving a gesture to indicate what he was there for. His presence made the people uneasy, but as he did nothing to disturb the peace, they left him alone. He kept to himself for the most part, returning to sleep in the same tree on the edge of town every night. People were starting to settle into his basic routine until one day, when something very strange happened. He began to speak.

He was a fountain of words, bubbling and spitting them at everyone and everything. He walked around the village, trying to talk to anyone who would stop to listen. Those around him were afraid - how had this man become so dependent on words? Was it really necessary to say so much, when a simple sound or gesture would suffice? He was polluting the air with these words, taking up space with them. The air became thick with them as they got caught on the villagers tongues, and plugged their ears.

After a day or so of this, the man began giving everything and everyone a distinct name. Whether these names came from him or somewhere beyond, it was not known. What was known is that these simple names made everything change. People begin to notice the differences between themselves and the animals, and some began to notice differences between themselves. Names became responsible for the drifting apart and separating of the once strong community into different tribes.

People, which is now what they knew themselves to be, became more frightened. Everything was changing so fast, and all because of these words. They began to forget how they had communicated before, and their unspoken link with each other was lost. People said more than was needed, and then something even more frightening began to happen. They began to argue. They would bicker and fight, which had never happened before. Before talking came, all the feelings they had known were simple - contentedness, hunger, and fear. There was nothing more complex. But layer upon layer of complexity came with words. People came to be feel frustrated, shy, embarrassed - feelings they had never experienced before.

The people were separated by these feelings, as they caused rifts among a once strong family pack. This was no more. People who were united by their frustration with others became tribes, linked by their anger. This is no way for a family to begin. But what was done could not be undone.

One tribe became particularly hostile with the others, as everyone became more and more articulate. This tribe decided to separate and move to the far end of the region on the peninsula. This is where they remained, and when the land bridge separated, they became the people of Arlyn.