Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Page 3905

The precise history of the Fountain was something of a contentious subject. It was known to have existed during the time of the Armans, over three thousand years ago, but its power was described differently during that era. It also didn’t help that the Fountain was often at the heart of mythic tales from that time period.

The Fountain, in its earliest form, purportedly had the ability to influence all the water in the world. To drown nations and reshape oceans.

Not unlike what the world had just recently experienced, strangely enough.

But in the most absurd tales, it could also use water as a basis for the creation of... just about anything, seemingly. There was one story where Lhutwë used the Fountain to create lhughleoths, the ice-breathing sea serpents of legend--the same serpents that Zeff now viewed all reapers as. There was another story where Lhutwë used the Fountain to create the madega trees, planting them in what was now modern day Sair but intending for their roots to spread throughout the world.

Which actually held some truth to it. Throughout history, madega trees had occasionally been discovered in far-off lands, always in strange isolation amid a modest body of water. Supposedly, there was even one in the Jaskadan Forest, though neither Zeff nor Axiolis had ever personally seen it.

And of course, there was also the tale of how Lhutwë had used it to create even the Armans themselves. That one, Zeff found especially unbelievable, though he couldn’t necessarily articulate why.

Beyond the myths, however, the Fountain still had a very real history among his later kin. Rhein Ricardo famously used it in the war against the Lyzakks, though only toward the end. It was the final key element that drew the war to a close.

For years, the Lyzakks had been fielding a ferocious group of elite warriors called the Had’ir. And though they were few in number, no one among the Armans could stand against them. Wherever they were deployed, the Armans would begin losing their grip on the region.

Until, that was, Rhein began to harness the awesome power of the Fountain. With it, he met the Had’ir head on, alone, and forced stalemate after stalemate, rendering the final Lyzakki trump card ineffectual to the greater war effort. Which culminated in the eventual negotiations and peace.

In that tale, the Fountain was nothing more than a simple enhancer of Rhein’s already impressive power. Though, some have maintained that Rhein simply did not tap into its full potential.

Or that he refused to, for some reason.

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