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[umbrare]

One
Long ago, when the world was being created, God created the sun and the moon. The two never met, as at the same time God created time, and gave half to the sun and half to the moon to rule over. They did so, the sun during the day and the moon during the night. It was only when one awoke and went fell asleep that they caught brief glimpses of the other. They were both mystified by the other's presence, but they were fearful of meeting, as doing so would go against God.

It took ten long years before they both worked up the nerve and finally appeared in the sky together, meeting for the first time. And though it was brief, the two fell in love immediately. They tried to stay away from each other, but gradually their boldness grew to the point where they shared the sky together, constantly.

However, with the sun's bright rays, this meant there could be no night. The moon didn't mind this, but all the living things on the earth began to wither and cry out from the heat. God noticed this, and commanded the two to resume their ways.

But it was impossible. One couldn't live without the other. They refused and, before God could punish them, raced to the ground, taking on earthly forms. In their wake they left remnants of themselves behind, which God gathered up to form the new sun and moon. Day and night were never the same afterwards, as these were not proper rulers. However, the old sun and moon were able to be together happily, on the earth, until the end of time.

Two
There was a great kingdom that had been built on green, rolling hills long ago. The lands its king ruled over always prospered, and the kingdom was wealthy and the people happy. In order to keep their happiness they built great stone walls to keep their enemies, who were numerous, out of the kingdom. For decades any assault failed, and it seemed as if the people and their king had been blessed by the Gods.

But it couldn't last. One day the king's scouts came racing into the castle, their horses completely exhausted and terrified. The scouts reported to the king that a great army had been amassed by their enemies to the south, and that they had recruited a large number of witches to aid them.

While the stone walls could stand up against swords and pikes, they were useless against the great magic of witches.

The people were terrified, and the king was at a loss. What could he do? The only magic used in the kingdom was to help crops and construction, none of it was meant for fighting.

It was then that the king's advisor, an old, wise man, spoke up. He suggested that they go west, into the mountains, and strike up a deal with the great wolf spirit that guarded the forests there. They had always been respectful of those forests, so surely the wolf spirit would at least listen to their pleas.

With great reluctant the king agreed, and he himself led the small troop into the mountains. For three days they searched, enduring the strong winds and cold nights.

But on the fourth day, he appeared. The entire troop dismounted from their horses and bowed low on the ground, and the king begged to the spirit. He spoke of how his kingdom, since it had been created long ago, had always treated the forests in the mountains with the utmost reverence. And even though they don't worship the spirit directly anymore, they needed his help more than ever.

The wolf replied that he would require another two days of thought, and disappeared. The troop, disheartened at how quick the meeting had been, nevertheless remained in the forests for two days.

It was on the eve of the second day that the spirit finally returned. As their ancestors had been so respectful of him he agreed to help, but in return they were to resume worshipping him directly and they were to build a large statue in his honour in the city square.

The king agreed immediately. With the deal in place the troop raced back to the kingdom, just in time for the enemy army's attack.

The walls stood up to the normal army, strong as ever, but what was surprising was that even the strongest magic from the witches didn't even make a dent. Even the fireballs sent over the walls dissolved harmlessly within the kingdom. It was an easy victory, and the enemy army was easily crushed.

The people were ecstatic. A great celebration was held immediately, and lasted for a week. However... the people heard not a word of the wolf spirit. It was the king the celebrated, and his genius strategy in dealing with the witches.

The king, overcome with pride, didn't stop them. In fact, he forgot all about the wolf spirit, and in the main square had a statue of himself erected.

It didn't take long for the wolf spirit to realize the people hadn't begun worshipping him again. In secrecy he visited the kingdom, and there he found the statue of the king.

He was enraged! And, right there in the city square, he took on his true form. The people were terrified by his sudden appearance and the king raced out to beg forgiveness, but it was too late. The sky darkened and fire rained down, destroying the kingdom and its surrounding land. Only the old advisor, who had disapproved of the king's actions, was left alive, and the wolf spirit returned to his mountains once more.

Three
A long time ago, when humans were still young, a small group of witches decided to set out from their homeland of the mushroom forests and explore the world. They traveled all over, and saw many strange things, and were gone for many years. By the time they had seen all there was to see, they were old and tired and only wished to settle down and live out the rest of their lives in peace and quiet.

They made their way towards the mountains which were isolated and had towering pine trees that reminded the witches of the tall mushrooms back in their homeland. They walked through the mountains, looking for a place to make their home, but were suddenly set upon by human bandits. Though the witches had magic they were vastly outnumbered, so they fled and managed to hide in a cave.

They knew the humans were bloodthirsty and hated witches, and they knew if they were found they would be killed. So, in an act of desperation, the witches began to beg and plead to every spirit and creature that made its home in the mountains, asking for assistance. But nothing responded.

They had all but given up hope when, one night, a wolf appeared at the mouth of the cave. He offered to help them, and the witches agreed without hesitation.

There, in that cave, their bodies were changed into the bodies of wolves. Their minds remained intelligent and they still had their magic, but they now had sharp claws and deadly fangs, and could easily outrun a human. The witches, delighted with their new bodies, howled and took off into the forests. One by one they hunted down the humans using their magic, their speed and their strength, until all had been killed. Then they returned to the cave, and the wolf returned them to their original forms.

The witches settled down in that area and from then on began to worship the wolf. Their children, and their children's children did the same, and in exchange the wolf spirit always protected them from their enemies.