))There once was a mage named Cartocious, who lived by the lake of Jarkone. The mage was donned in a magnificent blue robe with a purple sash around his waist with a great willow staff topped with a sapphire gem. His eyes were as blue as the lake’s waters, and his deep violet hair was tied behind his head with a knot of sleek, silver ribbon. Cartocious was a honorable mage amongst the magi of the keep of Vernai, a small city beside the still lake of Jarkone. However, the other magi were jealous of Cartocious’s gift of magic and beauty, and sent him off on an impossible quest of finding the Mistress of the Waters, far to the south in the great sea of Nubrin.
Cartocious, with staff in hand and a night blue traveling cloak over his shoulders, went out of the keep and out into the country side, following the Great Road southward. Long the way, Cartocious lost his way during a foggy morning in the snow-topped mountains, halfway to the sea of Nubrin. He stumbled on a stone, and began to tumble down the mountain. When he dared to open his eyes again, he was sprawled at the bottom of the trail, his sapphire topped staff broken into three in front of him.
He mourned for the loss of his wonderful staff, but brushed himself off and continued onward, the sapphire gem in his pocket. Cartocious walked for three weeks until he got to the edge of the sea of Nubrin. There, he rested in a nearby fishing village, under the roof of Shambar-Nel, a strong-headed woman who would never take no as an answer.
Early the next morning, Cartocious borrowed the boat of Shambar-Nel, but she wouldn’t let him take it alone. Oars in hand, the stubborn woman rowed the violet haired mage out from shore and out farther into the gentle sea. As the sun began to rise from the horizon, the small boat was rocked by an unknown wave. Disregarded at first, both began to realize that the wave wasn’t natural. As Cartocious stood up slowly to see what was the source of the wave, a great Kraken seized the boat and capsized it. Both riders of the small boat were dragged under the depths of the murky waters.
As Cartocious opened his eyes, however, he realized that he hadn’t drowned. He was lying on the floor in front of the great sea clam throne of the Mistress of the Waters. Her dark eyes were as murky as the waters of the sea, her dark blue hair waving as if it was water itself. She was donned in a simple aqua green scale dress and wore a pair of seaweed sandals.
The mage stood up to bow before the Mistress, but her sharp voice cut him off. She demanded that a prisoner should be brought up to her. Cartocious wondered who the prisoner was, but his face fell when Shambar-Nel was dragged to the Mistress. She ordered that she was to be killed, and told the watery guards to take Cartocious back to the surface.
Cartocious, meek and humble at heart, got down on his knees and begged the Mistress of the Water to not kill Shambar-Nel, but him instead. When the Mistress began to turn away, he grabbed the hem of her dress, and, between his tears, told her that it was his fault that the both of them were here because of him, and that if justice was to be paid, it was to be him to take it, not Shambar-Nel.
The Mistress felt pity for the mage, but did not show it. She ordered that Shambar-Nel to be taken back to shore, and ordered the room to be emptied for a private talk. When the throne room was empty besides the Mistress and Cartocious, she took him by the hand. In a blink of an eye, both of them were standing in the middle of a stream. She ordered him to kneel, which he did. Bowing his head and closing his eyes, he waited for what he felt was in store for him. However, his body began to tingle, and he began to shrink. He looked up at the Mistress, who was mumbling something under her breath. He looked down, and saw that his legs were turning into fins.
Now terrified, Cartocious began to trash in the water, still shrinking. He began to loose his breath, and he suddenly couldn’t suck the air into his lungs. He was panicking, but the Mistress gently lifted him and took him into the deeper part of the stream, and pushed him under the clear water. Cartocious suddenly realized that his world changed dramatically as the final touches of the spell finished their chore. He was a fish, a bright, purple and blue scaled fish. The sun glinted off his scales, casting a soft glow on the smooth stones below.
Now there are many different tales to this legend, some say that Cartocious serves the Mistress of the Water, some say that Cartocious and Shambar-Nel were turned into this beautiful fish, and are living together with the Mistress of the Water. The truth, however, is lost in time, waiting to be eventually found.
