Death & the Maiden Fair
'Twas only three days after one of the last dark trolls left his cave beneath Hyjal. All others had long since bathed in the waters of the great Well.
Naked and beautiful were they that frolicked along the shorelines. They celebrated freely their Elune-given boons; youth, which gave them revelry and boundless energy; strength, which gave shelter unto their people; intellect, from which songs and their dances sprang.
A maiden watched from afar—to watch their happiness, too, made her happy. She shared their boons, but she was older. She knew the Well better than all others. She was thought to be the wisest.
She stood to join her kin within the Well once more but it was her wisdom that caused her gaze to wander the shore. To the west, she saw a man lying face-down in the grass. She had never seen this man before and in turn, decided to approach him.
She noted his chilled and rigid state as she drew near. She sat at his side and sorrow filled her heart. What had become of this dark troll? Had Elune punished him?
Death felt as though a distant memory to her and her people.
She cried out for her brothers and sisters. She cried out for Elune and her Gods. She cried out for the troll and his lifeless form.
'Why for do you cry, fair maiden?' Her brothers and sisters asked.
'For He who could not run faster than the grip of time. For He who would not leave his cave sooner. For He who should be as we are, but is not.'
Her brothers and sisters shared her sorrow. They all wept for him.
The youngest of them then stepped forward, his chest puffed and his gaze strong.
'Let us ask Tortolla for guidance, for he is the wisest God in all of Hyjal!' He yelled.
'He is also the slowest,' the fair maiden warned. 'Let us ask Aessina instead. She will know what to do.'
'What of Elune?' Added a faceless voice in the crowd.
Her brothers and sisters whispered among themselves. They decided to call upon all three gods; they would surely answer.
The next morning came and Elune graced their shores in the form of a shining, white owl.
'O Great Goddess Elune,' the fair maiden began, 'what so happened to this man? Why could he not swim in your waters?'
Elune gazed down at her people, a twinkle in her eye.
'My child, I gifted you with the irreverence of time—that you may sing my songs and swim my waters for all eternity. All other creatures hear instead the voice of time. If these waters run dry, you too will hear His voice and walk the circle of mortality.' The white owl then plucked from the troll his ears and departed.
The fair maiden wept again for the lost troll as she waited among her people. Morning passed.
Aessina came next, floating along the afternoon breeze like a dandelion seed.
'O Maternal Aessina,' the fair maiden began, 'where does this man now go? His legs cannot carry him elsewhere.'
Aessina, The First Wisp, smiled down at the elves.
'This man will join me in my grove atop Hyjal and rest beneath the soil for all days thereafter. Where now he cannot walk, his legs will feed our fledgling ancients and he will walk with us again someday.'
'What of us?' Asked a faceless voice in the crowd.
'You?' Aessina considers them for a moment before she descends to the shore.
'For you I will breathe life anew, to be remade in my image. If you so find yourself lost or cold as this creature, I will give you new purpose. A new beginning.' Aessina then took from the troll his mouth before departing on another gust of wind.
The fair maiden did not weep for the stranger this time, her heart warm with the knowledge their Gods had thus far shared; that they cared so deeply for her people. Her brothers and sisters rejoiced. They celebrated their Gods. They celebrated the troll.
Many hours passed and the moon now hung high overhead. Stars spackled the ceiling of the sky as the maiden and her people sat with the troll.
Tortolla steadily crept down the mountainside, arriving just as the eleventh hour struck. He joined them on the shore, his face kind.
The youngest man greeted Tortolla and offered him what food he could find. Satisfied, Tortolla rested there to hear their troubles.
'O Wise Tortolla,' the fair maiden began, 'why must men die? Is Death truly so cunning as to claim dominion over all that lives?'
Tortolla laughed at her words. His laughter became so great, it awoke the other Gods resting atop Mount Hyjal. They listened for his answer.
'I am as Death and He is as me. We are both slow, but too are we punctual. We navigate land and sea—nothing escapes our discerning sight. We are patience incarnate. Man, beast, God, Titan; to look upon Death, you must always surrender. There is but one rule: all things must die.'
Tortolla took from the troll his eyes before departing for the sea to the west.
'But what of the troll?' Asked a faceless voice in the crowd. The fair maiden stood and calmed her brothers and sisters.
'We will honor him. He will breathe once more by Aessina's grace. He will hear once more the song of Elune. He will watch once more the world as it turns with Tortolla.'
With her words, the elven people moved the troll to a western grove and dug for him the most soft-soiled of beds to lie within. They each took a handful of soil and covered him one-by-one.
On that day, the young Kaldorei people remembered Death. They would never again forget Him, neither would they weep or cower. They would celebrate and respect those whom passed. They would always remember that although Death comes for us all, we continue to live on in other ways. This they would never again forget.
