[skit] Arisha's fairy tales [open]
[Arisha had been sitting alone. Thinking. It's been quite a long time since she was told a bedtime story. Or read any stories herself for that matter.
She closed her eyes and became lost in her thoughts, traveling back to earlier years of her life. She remembered a story she was told every night before bed. Without realizing, she began reciting the story aloud to herself.]
"Once upon a time, there were three brothers in charge of protecting the source of all life in the word. The Mother Tree, Pankosmia. The brothers traveled around the known world to tell all who would listen about this great tree, and every year, they return to Pankosmia to witness another miracle.
One day, the youngest brother grew jealous of Pankosmia's power and wish to use its mana for his own ends. He made a contract with the god of winter and called upon a terrible blizzard over the entire continent that lasted for three long years to subdue the great tree and steal the mana. However, every last person in the world prayed for Pankosmia, forcing the snow and ice to recede inward. On the third year, Pankosmia went into a deep sleep, stopping the mana flow and thus preventing the younger brother from winning. But now a large area of the continent was buried in snow.
For his crimes, the younger brother was sealed in a tomb beneath the snow he had brought using the power of the winter god. But this did not melt the remaining snow or awaken Pankosmia. The remaining brothers prayed for the tree for days afterward when finally, they heard a voice. It was the spirit of the mother tree.
'With the halt of the Endless Winter, my power is gone... Soon, Pankosmia will wither and the world shall die...'
Then, the brothers made a difficult choice. They offered their own mana to the tree.
'Even with your sacrifice,' the spirit began to say, '...it will only be enough for the tree to survive. This part of the land will forever be one of eternal winter.'
The brothers gave their final prayer as their bodies became mana and became one with the mother tree, allowing it to flourish once again.
In honor of the sacrifice the brothers made, a kingdom was founded within this new land of eternal snow. The Kingdon of Rivera.
The End."
[Arisha sighed in content. Quietly lavishing in the feeling of nostalsia. Her eyes still closed and oblivious to her current surroundings.]