The Golden Goddess and The Silver Serpent

Within the lands of Athánion, located on the northern end of Unan, lie two lakes. Lake Argentum, the smaller of the two lakes, shines with a silvery shimmer on its surface, which seems to get brighter when the moon occupies the night sky. Lake Aurum glows with a golden glimmer spanning the body of water, keeping a delicately warm temperature year round. The unusual coloring of these lakes could be attributed to mineral deposits from the surrounding area, but local folklore tells a different tale.

There once lived a goddess of the Sun whose light emanated from within and warmed the lands she wandered, taking particular interest in a large lake nestled in the heart of her domain. A golden aura followed her, leaving trails of sunlight as she glided across the lake and dove into its deepest trenches. The Sun warned her to never linger into the blackness of the dead sky, or she may never find her way back to the light. Heeding the words of the Sun, the goddess took great care to return to the Sun’s embrace by dusk, lest she be swallowed by the night. As colder nights approached, the Sun would retreat behind the horizon earlier and earlier, until one fatal dusk, when the goddess emerged from her lake she found the Sun had gone and she was left in the forbidden shadows of the night. A lonely beacon of light in the dark waters of the lake, the goddess sought out the help of a fish to find her way home. The fish told her of the Moon and the serpent that lived coiled around it. The goddess called out to the dark and shone a beam of light into the night sky to wake the serpent. Hearing her cry, the serpent awoke and hissed a mischievous greeting to the goddess, asking what it was she was seeking. When the goddess told of her desire to return to the Sun, the serpent took pity on the lost one and slivered to the ground, uncoiling from the Moon and revealing a brilliant silver orb suspended in the black sky. Seeing her own light reflecting off the Moon, the goddess could now see just how beautiful the night sky could be, but still did not know her way back to the Sun. The sly serpent suggested she wander the dark heavens, leaving bits of her light scattered along the way to mark her path. Before long, the goddess had searched the night sky and left countless speckles of twinkling light that surrounded the Moon. Having grown tired, the goddess returned to the serpent who seduced her into resting in his lake that lie directly below the Moon. As the goddess slept, the serpent silently slinked through the water to her and swallowed her whole. With his belly full, and satisfied with the sparkling specks now in the night sky, the serpent rested in his lake. Awakening at twilight, the serpent realized the punishment that would befall him if he did not slither to the moon before the Sun rose. But the foolish snake did not comprehend the consequence of the sin he had committed until he tried to coil around the moon, but could not keep his place before he was weighed down and once again found himself submerged in his lake. The rising Sun, realizing what became of the goddess, was overcome with rage and set the serpent’s lake on fire. Now engulfed in a red-gold blaze, the serpent writhed and thrashed in the water before succumbing to the flames, his body melting and melding with the lake, producing a slick, silver surface. The grief that radiated from the Sun’s rage spilled into the goddess’s lake, staining it with a golden gleam. It is said the spirit of the serpent still tries to reclaim his place with the Moon, but the weight of the goddess always brings him back down.