The Village at the Edge of the World

There is a place beyond the mountains, rich in the ancient magic of the Old Peoples, that is as close to the edge of the world as any mortal has ever dared to tread. Here the land breaks into a thousand pieces before the great expanse of ocean that separates our realm from that of the unknown. The trees grow so high in these parts that they brush the clouds and at night the spirits of long forgotten ancestors dance across the black sky. Wild fantastical creatures and terrifying beasts of myth, otherwise long banished, still roam the wilderness of these lands, preying on naïve travellers and lost souls alike.

By the coast of one of these islands sits a certain village whose inhabitants live off the wealth of the sea. Within this village there lived a youth who dreamt of life beyond his homeland. He wished to sail down past the mountains and the tall forests to reside in the land of men so that he could learn of their strange customs so different from his own. Alas, he had no ship to sail with nor any money to live on, so he remained in the place his forefathers had chosen.

One day the youth was walking along the water when he found a small black notebook that had washed ashore. Curious, he took it with him and let it dry in the summer sun while he repaired his fishing nets. That night he investigated the notebook by the light of the moon.

“Aha!” He said. “This book must have come from the land of men beyond the mountains and the tall forests.”

Indeed, the notebook spoke of life in a place far away from the youth and his village. It told of lands of never-ending rain, places so dry that the ground itself would crack open, and areas so cold that they were always encased in ice. Most of all, it talked of people. There were people who lived on top of each other in giant cities. There were people who tamed the animals that ran wild and kept them for food. There were people who worked under the ground to bring up the precious ores buried beneath the surface.

“How odd,” said the youth. “I would give anything to go to these strange places.”

Just then, he noticed a map drawn in the last pages of the notebook that promised to lead him to the treasure sunk within an ancient ship. Strangely, the wreck of the ship was not too far away from the youth and his island.

“I did not know the mortal men from the lands beyond the mountains and the tall forests had ever come here.” He said.

The next morning, he set out in his canoe with the book he had found to locate the shipwreck. He paddled for hours until he came across the place marked on the map. The islands here were thick with trees bearing enticing fruits, but the youth knew that all manner of beasts were hiding in the undergrowth, so he did not land. Wicked rocks lurked beneath the surface of the calm waters. He was thankful that they could not sink him in his shallow craft.

Eventually, he found the wreck laying under the clear sea close to an outcrop of jagged rocks. The youth dove into the water and swam down. A hundred tiny fish scattered as he reached the smashed timbers of a once magnificent ship. Sand had half buried the wreckage and its cargo in the long years since it had come to lie on the sea bed. The youth grabbed an amphora from the ship and swam back up to the surface.

Once he saw that the vessel he had retrieved was full of gold, the youth paddled back to his village in haste, arriving soon after the sun had set.

“Look!” He told his family. “I found this gold in a ship at the bottom of the sea. I am going to buy a ship of my own to sail to the land of men beyond the mountains and the tall forests and live among them to learn of their customs which are so different from my own.”

A week later, after both tears and rejoicing, the youth set out in his canoe with the notebook and gold he had found. Before he left, his family had bestowed a necklace upon him along with food and water for the long journey ahead. The necklace was ancient. Its string was adorned with tens of beads, each one carved of antler or shell, one for each generation of his family. Every bead had been endowed with the spirit of the person who had fashioned it. He had accepted it gratefully, knowing it would bring him luck and remind him of his homeland.

His voyage took weeks, but finally the youth landed at the foot of the mountains, the last outpost of the mortal men from beyond the mountains and tall forests. There he sold the gold he had found for $20,000 which he used to buy a ship and her crew and fill it with enough rations to last a year. As his ship sailed off, the youth looked back towards his island home one last time.

The youth spent years sailing through the lands of men beyond the mountains and the tall forests, seeing the strange places and people he had read about in the notebook he had found many years ago. He was now a young man, an accomplished traveller learned in the ways of the mortal world, but his heart grew lonely. He had money and ships and friendship – everything he had ever wanted. Yet still there was a deep yearning for his family and their little village by the coast near the edge of the world.

One evening, holding the necklace that had been given to him all those years ago, the young man decided to travel back home and leave the land of men behind him. He sailed to the foot of the mountains, to the last outpost of the land of men and disembarked. His once prized ship drifted away towards the setting sun as he watched.

Over the next few days, he crafted a canoe to take him back to the land of his forefathers. Once it was completed, the young man stripped off his finery and set out on his long journey home, this time only taking the necklace with him. He paddled for days and days, passing familiar islands on his journey, when suddenly a storm struck. The young man was thrown from his canoe and sank beneath the rough waves. Further and further he fell until he could no longer see any light.

The young man awoke in a strangely ethereal place under a green sky. It looked like a village not unlike the one he had grown up in, but recreated on a massive scale. After a long moment, he walked towards the biggest building of them all, a large timber hall with door easily three times as tall as he was.

Huge, human-like creatures were lined up along the edges of the room. Each one wore long, finely decorated robes. Some hid their faces behind draping sleeves, the others, with their round black eyes and gleaming white teeth looked like the water spirits the people of his village carved into their doorframes, canoes, and boats. The young man fell to his knees in the middle of the hall.

“I am just a young man from a village by the coast near the edge of the world.” He said. “I have returned after many years in the land of men beyond the mountains and the tall forests. I only wish to travel back home, to the place my forefathers settled.”

“We know who you are.” The largest figure replied. “You stole from us many years ago. Everything that falls into the ocean is an offering made to us. In return we let you live off the bounty of the sea.”

In the flickering firelight the young man noticed the walls were decorated with bones. He thought back to the gold he had once taken from the sunken ship, the gold that had allowed him to travel beyond the mountains and the tall forests. He could guess what his punishment for that crime would be. He thought quickly.

“I cannot give you back what I took.” He said apologetically. “But in return for my safe passage back to my village by the coast near the edge of the world, I will give you something that you can never possess.”

“There is nothing we cannot possess.” The largest figure replied. “What could you ever offer us?”

“Life.” The young man said, removing his necklace. “You can take life but you cannot keep it. For everything that is given to you must first fall through the ocean. Everything that was once living must first die before you can receive it.”

“How can you give us life?” The largest figure leaned forward in its chair, enthralled by the young man.

“Through this.” He offered the necklace. “Every bead contains the spirit of the person who created it. Within this necklace lingers the memory of a hundred lives, a hundred generations. It is a link between the living and the dead. I give it to you freely. Through this token, you may possess a piece of history, a piece of memory, a piece of life.”

Excited chattering erupted around the young man. The largest figure arose from its seat and strode towards him. It took the necklace from his hands and looked at it in awe.

“We accept.” The figure said. “You have won favour among us for your gift. Not only will we let you to go back home, but we shall allow you to take up our symbol as your own and pass it down to your children.”

The young man thanked the spirits for their generosity. “How shall I get home?” He asked

“Close your eyes.” The figure told him. “Think only of your little village by the coast near the edge of the world. Picture it and you will be there.”

The young man awoke on the rocky shore beside his childhood home.

Soon there would be feasting and celebrations to welcome him back. He would tell his people of all the strange places he had been and the people he had encountered. But first, the young man would talk of the water spirits he had met and the blessing they had bestowed upon him.