User:Esh/Arashi and Yanommu

Arashi and Yanommu

by Eshu-Moushe Auspal the Outcast

This is a story collected from Ashlanders. "Arashi and Yanommu" is from the Ulath and Ahemmusa Ashlanders.

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Ashlander tradition holds that waters from the Greymist Falls in Western Stonefalls emanated magic. This place is sacred to the Webspinner, who blessed these waters in the times of old, when Dunmer came to Morrowind. This magic water, apart from giving virtues to those who drank them, could reveal, by looking in it, if love was to come. If the water was clear, love was on the way, but if it got cloudy, little or nothing should be expected.

It happened a year that, approaching the summer festivities, a group of young unmarried girls from the Ulath tribe went to the Falls, to collect water from each of them, in a small pond, and then look at it. Among them was Arashi, daughter of the Ashkhan, who was anxiously awaiting the moment to discover what destiny had in store for her. With laughter, she approached and reflected her beautiful face on the magical element. At first he returned a calm and perfect image, but then, to his surprise, shadows arose and the silhouette began to shake, appearing, suddenly, in the middle of everything, a scorching volcano that erased all living thing.

The Wise Woman from Ulath tribe, in charge of interpreting this kind of divinations, made the sweet Arashi a warning: "What has to happen will happen. Run away from fire, Arashi, or fire will consume you."

Arashi kept silent, trying to hide her fears and not giving importance, but the strange omen ran from mouth to mouth, reaching all who knew her.

Already on the eve of the festivities, Ahemmusa tribe from Vvardenfell arrived. The Ashkhan was accompanied by relatives and his most trusted warriors. Among them was his eldest son, Yanommu, a strong and skillful young man in any competition. From the first moment she saw him, Arashi could not stop observing him, and as soon as their eyes met, love caught them without remedy.

Soon after, as was the custom, his commitment was made public. The future wedding will strenghten both communities. But as soon as the happy news began to spread, Red Mountain, the majestic volcano from Vvardenfell, began to spit lava and fire through its crater, with such force that, even from Stonefalls, the show was scary. Then they remembered the presage given to the innocent Arashi and that began to take shape.

That love was, then, impossible. Great evils threatened those people if the young lovers did not separate. There was no room for choice and both Ashkhans agree to break the engangement. Once the promise was broken, Red Mountain regained its calm, and after the festivities, Ahemmusa tribe returned to Vvardenfell, but one went with an empty soul and a broken chest.

They say that Yanommu, desperate, threw himself into the Inner Sea in the middle of the night, to swim to the beaches of Stonefalls to reunite with his beloved. He had killed two netches, whose inflated bodies, tied at his waist, helped him to float when his strength ran out. Long was the crossing and already at the first light of dawn reached his destination. He furtively went in search of Arashi, and, meeting each other, they embraced passionately. After a few moments, they decided to escape to the secluded heights of the Tormented Spire, where they gave themselves to passion and love.

But the Ulath Ashkhan, father himself of Arashi, aware of the flight of his daughter, came out furious in his search. He gathered a large group of warriors and soon found them in ther very crater of the volcano. They found them fused, loving each other, and when the young people noticed their presence, they looked for what they thought was the only possible way out: the relentless flow of lava behind them. Looking into each other's eyes, promising eternal love, they pressed against each other and jumped together into the fire, uniting their hearts.

The Ashkhan, hopeless after the horrible death of his daughter, cursed Mephala for her hideous traps, and take his life with his own sword promising revenge against the Webspinner in the afterlife.