Arin Legends & Folklore

---

Areeott is a land where stories do not fade. The past lingers in the mountains, in the forests where the trees lean too close, in the roads where no one walks alone. The Arin do not write their history in books—they carve it into memory, pass it down in warnings and whispered names, in customs followed not because they are understood, but because they have always been.   The oldest tales speak of things that do not belong to any kingdom—the Hush watching from the quiet places, the Pale Lise walking a road she should not have, the Hollow Roads that appear when no one is looking. Some stories are told to frighten children, others to remind those who should know better. Not all of them are true. But none of them are lies.   It is said that the land itself remembers. A house where tragedy once struck will never settle, doors opening in the night, footsteps in empty halls. A name spoken in the wrong place at the wrong time may draw something closer. Some stories are warnings, others are echoes, but all exist for a reason. No one tells a story without cause. If it is remembered, it is because it was never meant to be forgotten.   These legends shape the Arin people in ways outsiders struggle to understand. They follow customs without question—not stepping through open doors without knocking first, never leaving a seat empty during the Emberfeast, avoiding the Hollow Roads when they appear. Some call it superstition, but the Arin do not argue. They do not need to.   The way stories are told matters. Some are spoken only in hushed voices, meant only for certain ears. Others are sung, turned into ballads, softened through retellings until they no longer resemble the truths that shaped them. The wandering storytellers of Louve collect them like treasures, trading versions from town to town, never knowing which details have changed and which have been deliberately left out.   Some legends tell of the gods, of the oaths that bound them, of the ones who kept their promises and the ones who did not. Others tell of people who walked into the mountains and came back wrong. The line between folklore and history is thin, but the Arin have little need to separate them. The lesson is what matters, not whether it ever truly happened.   Even the scholars of the Temple Observatory, with their skepticism and their insistence on written proof, cannot deny that Areeott’s folklore holds weight. Too many travelers have taken the wrong road and not returned. Too many nights have been spent listening to footsteps that should not be there.   The legends of Areeott do not ask to be understood. They exist because something, long ago, gave people a reason to remember them. If you wish to know them, listen carefully—but do not speak too loudly. Some stories do not like being told too often.