Hawk's Ancient History of There

During recent late night hot mead drinking sessions on moonless nights in Tabu, the Old Ones have revealed the resting places of Aurelia's four ships. Two of them today lie on beaches on Outay and Nada; the other two sank in protected harbors in Cangrejo and in the outermost new island called White_Light island, where they may still lie today, waiting to be discovered.

When Aurelia set out to lead her people to the sea in four small boats, it was a venture none of these prairie dwellers or their ancestors would ever have dreamt of. They came from a land locked homeland. They had never seen a sea, or a boat larger than a canoe. With the invader still hot on their heels, however, and about to invade the port city to which they had fled, they had no choice. They pooled all the meager treasures they had managed to save, purchased four small boats, which they named Saja, Hallas, Freia, and Hawk; immediately after their priests blessed the ships, they took to the sea, heading in the direction that the priests told them would take them to the legendary refuge of Tyr himself, the former god banished forever from the hallowed Isles of Saja for challenging the gods to think in new ways, and for creating the first avatar.

They never made it to the island where Tyr lived in banishment. The terrible travails of their journey, and how the four ships were forever separated, is told in Book One. Aurelia sailed on the Saja, which she named after the floating Sajean Isles, the legendary home of the gods that no one had ever seen, but everyone knew existed. They landed on the island that named New Hallas, today known as Cangrejo. Several years after their arrival, the Saja sank to the bottom of Salvation Cove. Salvation Cove is next to the island that Aurelia named Beacon Island, today known as Taco Island. The Saja probably still lies at the bottom of Salvation Cove today.

The Hallas, named after the lost homeland of Aurelia and her people, today lies where anyone can visit it, on a beach on the north shore of Nada Island. The ship sank just off shore during a fierce storm, resulting in the deaths of most onboard. The few survivors straggled ashore and eventually made their way to Outay Island, but so far, not much is known about them.

The Freia also lies on a beach where anyone today can see it, on the southwestern shore of Outay Island, at Dreams' Cove, but it had a happier ending than did the Hallas. The ship was leaking badly from the same storm that sank the Hallas, but Dreams' Cove offered enough protection that the ship was able to weather the storm, and remain afloat long enough for the people on board to get themselves and their supplies to shore before the ship sank in shallow water. Later storms washed both the Hallas and the Freia onto the beaches where they lie today.

The Freia was named both after Aurelia's favorite horse, and after one of the goddesses of Saja. Horses had always been a vital element both of the economy and of every Hallissean's life for this prairie dwelling, semi-nomadic people. The hardest part of taking to the sea was leaving their beloved horses behind. Aurelia was in tears at being forced to leave her beloved horse Freia behind, and so named one of her ships the Freia in the horse's honor. For the rest of her life, Aurelia never stopped wondering what had happened to this most wonderful and faithful of horses, and wishing she had been able to bring it with her. Today, the remains of the Freia lie on a beach on Outay island.

When I learned that the fourth of Aurelia's ships was named Hawk, my heart leapt at the thought that perhaps hawks were revered as gods among the ancient Hallisseans, but alas, this was not the case. It turns out that Aurelia really wanted to name the ship Eagle, because eagles were worshipped as sacred, but the priests forbade naming something as profane as a boat after something as sacred as an eagle, so Aurelia reluctantly agreed to name the fourth ship Hawk instead. Today the Hawk lies beneath the waters of the harbor that today is named "Hawk's Harbor" in honor of that ship, on the outermost of the three new islands, which today is called "White_Light Island. . So far, it is not known whether there were any survivors of the Hawk.