Spoiler
A long time ago, the world was much smaller than it is today. People gathered in little clumps and stayed put, never going more than twenty miles from their homes. It takes a lot of courage to leave the familiar for the unknown, and back then it just wasn't worth the effort. Why, it was dangerous out in the Wilds! You never knew what could happen out there, and if you were in trouble there'd be nobody out looking for you. Best to stay close to home, in most peoples' opinions.
Now, there were some – a very few – who had the drive to roam and the courage to act upon these impulses. Intrepid explorers, bold adventurers, lost and pathless fools; many were the names given to these sorts of people and while they usually brought some sort of material wealth with them when they wandered into town, they were never quite unreservedly welcome. After all, there had to be something strange about a person to make them wander so far from home!
Through the years, more and more of these foolhardy few began their wanderings while the older ones forged settlements of their own on places of intense magic. Knowledge accumulated, maps were drawn, and the extraordinary became the familiar. The world opened up slowly, unfurling like a flower to the sun.
This is the story of one of these early oddballs, one responsible for the drawing of many maps before he went mysteriously missing, never to be seen again. His name was Chance Leitner.
It was early spring when Chance set out on what he didn't know was his final trip. He'd been holed up in a shabby adventurer's camp for nearly a month before, gathering supplies and trading for stories of the Great White North before his departure. When the time came for him to leave, the last person to see him in the camp was an early-rising day watchman who claimed to have seen Leitner paddling out to sea in a small dugout canoe.
This was the last that was heard of Leitner for a long time – nearly a year. The next place to have mention of him was a large settlement that later became known as Theia. Accounts disagree as to whether or not Leitner was a mage, since while he had an Albino Direhound that would follow him everywhere he never performed magic of any kind (or at least, no records of such have ever been found).
Still, the question of whether or not he was a mage was rather moot, for the townsfolk of Theia denied him entry on basis of his traveling companion alone. According to descendents of those townsfolk, he spent several days camped just outside the city's jurisdiction and bought more supplies, trading impossible seashells, iridescent scales, long, intensely coloured feathers, and all manner of other oddities that the merchants would accept.
Here, versions differ – some people said he stayed only a few days, while others have him staying more than a fortnight and being chased off by the city guard. Whichever version is true, when Chance left the area of Theia he headed north past the Grass Forest. Diligent rumourmongering has him making land twice more on the shores of the Ishwor sea.
His last stop was an unnamed fishing village just south of the end of the mountains in Arkene. There, he left behind two beautifully drawn maps of lands south and west which are hung to this day in places of pride in the gathering hall of the tiny town. People there tell tales of the frothing madman who came ashore, with the white ghost-dog as his companion. Tales vary wildly, but they all agree that the stranger was missing some of his teeth, and could not stop coughing. He traded the two maps for supplies, and for stories of what lay further north.
When last seen, Leitner was headed north to the very tip of Arkene, some place the people called “the Cape of Kintai,” famous in local history for the relatively frequent meteor storms and strange lights in the sky nearly every night.
And that's where the legend stops. Leitner never returned from his trip into the deadly north, and only the skies above knew what happened to him.
Nearly three years after leaving the first settlement, the first search parties began setting out to hunt for the lost Leitner. He had left with a treasure trove in maps and books, and the leaders among the wanderers were very interested in having it back. None were successful, and over the years it became almost a pilgrimage. Beginning explorers would set off to find Leitner, and older pilgrims would revisit the possibilities every now and again.
To this day, Chance Leitner remains a mystery lost at the very end of the world. As magic came into more common useage, spells were cast, creatures employed, spirits divined – but not one person has yet found any further traces of Leitner. There's even a song – perhaps you've heard it? “...To find the lost Leitner / reaching for the Ishwor sea...”
Now, there were some – a very few – who had the drive to roam and the courage to act upon these impulses. Intrepid explorers, bold adventurers, lost and pathless fools; many were the names given to these sorts of people and while they usually brought some sort of material wealth with them when they wandered into town, they were never quite unreservedly welcome. After all, there had to be something strange about a person to make them wander so far from home!
Through the years, more and more of these foolhardy few began their wanderings while the older ones forged settlements of their own on places of intense magic. Knowledge accumulated, maps were drawn, and the extraordinary became the familiar. The world opened up slowly, unfurling like a flower to the sun.
This is the story of one of these early oddballs, one responsible for the drawing of many maps before he went mysteriously missing, never to be seen again. His name was Chance Leitner.
It was early spring when Chance set out on what he didn't know was his final trip. He'd been holed up in a shabby adventurer's camp for nearly a month before, gathering supplies and trading for stories of the Great White North before his departure. When the time came for him to leave, the last person to see him in the camp was an early-rising day watchman who claimed to have seen Leitner paddling out to sea in a small dugout canoe.
This was the last that was heard of Leitner for a long time – nearly a year. The next place to have mention of him was a large settlement that later became known as Theia. Accounts disagree as to whether or not Leitner was a mage, since while he had an Albino Direhound that would follow him everywhere he never performed magic of any kind (or at least, no records of such have ever been found).
Still, the question of whether or not he was a mage was rather moot, for the townsfolk of Theia denied him entry on basis of his traveling companion alone. According to descendents of those townsfolk, he spent several days camped just outside the city's jurisdiction and bought more supplies, trading impossible seashells, iridescent scales, long, intensely coloured feathers, and all manner of other oddities that the merchants would accept.
Here, versions differ – some people said he stayed only a few days, while others have him staying more than a fortnight and being chased off by the city guard. Whichever version is true, when Chance left the area of Theia he headed north past the Grass Forest. Diligent rumourmongering has him making land twice more on the shores of the Ishwor sea.
His last stop was an unnamed fishing village just south of the end of the mountains in Arkene. There, he left behind two beautifully drawn maps of lands south and west which are hung to this day in places of pride in the gathering hall of the tiny town. People there tell tales of the frothing madman who came ashore, with the white ghost-dog as his companion. Tales vary wildly, but they all agree that the stranger was missing some of his teeth, and could not stop coughing. He traded the two maps for supplies, and for stories of what lay further north.
When last seen, Leitner was headed north to the very tip of Arkene, some place the people called “the Cape of Kintai,” famous in local history for the relatively frequent meteor storms and strange lights in the sky nearly every night.
And that's where the legend stops. Leitner never returned from his trip into the deadly north, and only the skies above knew what happened to him.
Nearly three years after leaving the first settlement, the first search parties began setting out to hunt for the lost Leitner. He had left with a treasure trove in maps and books, and the leaders among the wanderers were very interested in having it back. None were successful, and over the years it became almost a pilgrimage. Beginning explorers would set off to find Leitner, and older pilgrims would revisit the possibilities every now and again.
To this day, Chance Leitner remains a mystery lost at the very end of the world. As magic came into more common useage, spells were cast, creatures employed, spirits divined – but not one person has yet found any further traces of Leitner. There's even a song – perhaps you've heard it? “...To find the lost Leitner / reaching for the Ishwor sea...”
