The first Sunking and Sunqueen

A written account of the beginning of the Celestine kingdom, and it's first two monarchs

The first Sunqueen was the second ever ruler of Celestine. She was christened not a year after the first Sunking.

When the year of Endless Night began, the day the arcane casters of Rhonō were torn from their beds to be rounded up and slaughtered in the streets, the Trinity looked down on the world that they had helped to create and took pity. They brought down darkness to conceal the fleeing mages, hampering the persuing crusaders who relied mainly on torches to see through the gloom.

The mages scattered in all directions, some taking to the seas, some fleeing south, but most braving the Vaulterros Range to head for the fields out west. The range was known to be full of monsters and other various hazards, and many mages lost their lives due to exposure, starvation, avalanches, and falling to their deaths. The few that tried the pass were rounded up and taken back to Rhonō to be executed.

A small group did survive however, and in this group was the first Sunking.

Not the most brave, hardy, or practical of men, the first Sunking could barely be said to be out of boyhood when the crusades began. By the time his group had made it to the forests west of the mountains, he, like the rest of his kin, was a skinny, frostbitten, thing. Though it is said that when his troupe encountered their first tree since leaving the empire, the first Sunking threw back his head and whooped to the sky, though there was no food, and not but stars above them.

That night when they all fell asleep, the boy was touched by sunlight.

When he next awoke, his eyes were bright and clear, and his skin was flushed and tanned. He spread his new-found mirth throughout the group, revitalizing and energizing the weary travellers. It was on this excitement that they were able to push through the forest into the fields they had been heading towards all along.

There they found villages and towns, some more friendly than others, and were able to sustain themselves as they figured out their next move. It finally came to the Sunking —who had at this point become the group defacto leader— in another dream.

In his dream, he flew over the land, crossing North over salted seas before making it to a crescent shaped island. The island was large and forested, with a majestic mountain range to rival the one they had very recently escaped from. He flew over the beach, over the forest, up and up into the mountains until he came to a cave. Venturing further into the cave he found a round cavern with, at the centre, a single large stalactite. Looking up, he realized he could see the sky from in this cavern, and he could see the first rays of sunlight streaming through the opening.

And they were streaming, for through that opening along that stalactite, the sunlight flowed as if liquid, steady, and golden, and beautiful, until it dripped into the cup of his outstretched hand.

He jolted awake and roused his subjects, urging them to come, follow him to the island, to the mountain where they will bring back the sun. Many were skeptical, and talked of deserting, but the Sunking's mother would not have it. She had survived alongside her son, and watched as he had given himself, as much as he could, to these people. How he had grown up and taken charge and saved them. She did not want to cross the water, nor did she want to climb a new mountain, but if that was what her son wanted from them, then that was what they were going to do.

So they went north until they hit the shore, and set sail with only the knowledge of the Sunking to guide them. It was a harrowing journey, as they were not sailors. But they continued north, and in the distance crewmembers spotted shore. They eagerly began to direct their ship in that direction, but the Sunking stopped them. That was not where they were to land.

They continued on, passing more land that was not right until finally the Sunking spotted the beach that he had crossed over in his dreams. They landed the boat there, beaching it on the shore. Many of the mages fell to their knees and kissed the sand.

The Sunking called it 'Maukis' after his father, who had allowed himself to be caught so that him son and wife could escape. It was to be the heart of their new kingdom.

Some of the troupe stayed in Maukis, but the Sunking and his mother, and a few others continued on. They followed the path the Sunking took in his dreams, climbing the mountain and braving the elements.

As the elevation grew, the Sunking, who stayed at the head of the small group, became more and more weary. He became sickly, but did not tell anyone. He was determined to finish his quest, and see sun return to the world.

More and more people dropped out along the path, not able to keep up with the pace the Sunking was moving until it was just he and his mother.

Finally, they made it to the mouth of the cave, and his mother held back as well. She sank to the ground and insisted the the Sunking go in ahead. He was alone in his dream, and so in alone he shall go.

She sat there as her son and king went into the cavern, and from her perch on a rock by the entrance, she watched as the sun began to rise over the world once again. At its peak, she felt the light on her skin, could feel it warming her bones, and let tears stream down her face. They had brought back the sun.

In her elation, she stood, rushing into the cave to celebrate with her child, only to find his body prone and lifeless on the floor. Her tears of joy turned to horror, and she tried everything to revive him, even using the freshly spilled sundew to see if it could do something, anything.

But though sundew can heal any injury a person could sustain, it cannot bring back the dead.

So she weeped, and cried, and howled her anguish over her child, until she could weep no more. Then, she brought him outside, where he would be able to observe his would-be kingdom, and prepared him best she could for his funeral pyre.

She set him a light as the last light of day disappeared behind the horizon, and watched as the flame consumed his body. Because of the sundew, the fire burned brighter, hotter, and longer than they normally would. But tradition stated that someone stand guard until the fires died out, so that no evil may steal the soul before it could be transfer to the other side. So she sat by her son.

For six days and six night she sat there as the fire burned. Others from the group caught up in that time, sharing her anguish that the Sunking was dead. They brought food, but she refused it. They offered to watch over him in her stead, but she refused that too.

She sat watch over him until the fires snuffed out, until his soul was safe away from this plane.

When the next morning broke, she rose, staggering to her feet. And those loyal few who stayed to give their king a proper send off watch as the sunlight settled in her hair, crowning her the first Sunqueen.