The Cave That Was Eaten By The Stars

Issues in translation have plagued those who seek to understand the Terror known as The Cave That Was Eaten By The Stars. While, in comparison to greater Eritremic history, the Cave itself is relatively young, this terror was believed to have been predicted by the earliest Eritremic prophets. According to research that took place not long after The Great Rupture, the cave apparently bears a great deal of similarity to one that was described in the Ninth Book Of Tylaephone. Tragically, this information has been lost to history, and access to the Cave is now no longer an option for scholars.

While a summary of the early investigation of the cave was allegedly created by Cooley, this text too is no longer accessible to curious minds. The best source of information available regarding this terror now resides in a section of The Ballad Of Ixion Fortuna, a folksong that has survived the centuries, and fortunately for us, cannot be locked away in a palace safe, or burned at the hands of a tyrant. The relevant section follows.

From The Ballad of Ixion Fortuna, Line 115-

Once more, Death spake to valorous Ixion

"Sir, lay your sword to rest-

your hair grows grey, your arms grow weak

speak 'farewell' to your quest"

"Nay" said brave Ixion

The hero of the North

and he rose once more, from the frozen ground

and keenly barrell'd forth

"Fool" sung Death, spurned once again

"Still, I will take my fee-

kill a doe, to take your place-

and cast your white dagger to the sea"

Ixion, the kind and strong

shot a doe across her breast

and cast his dagger in a river mouth

for all men must bow to Death.

Ruby red, the river turn'd

and later, night-struck black

and our hero stared as a cave-mouth opened

and like an eye, the mouth stared back

They say, of the valiant Ixion

that for once, his courage gave

and he stepped back, made stone by fear

at the entry of the cave

Inside they say, the starred sky loomed

a thousand nights in one

and for Ixion Fortuna

his end, at once, begun

Farewell, Ixion Fortuna!

he stepped into the mine

and not one to let her debtors free

Death followed, close behind.