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In the cycle of the seasons, da’len, there is only one night when the sky is devoid of any of Mythal’s light. That night marks the beginning of the new year, and we elves have counted and celebrated the years this way long before the humans and their Ages.
Ancient legend says that after a long year of watching over the People, Mythal retired for her rest before returning her protection unto us anew. Earning her trust through trickery and deceit, the Dread Wolf convinced Mythal to let him take watch for this single night.
Without the watchful gaze of the Creators, Fen’Harel roamed freely through the Beyond and called upon the evil spirits to plague the People with nightmares and let the Forgotten Ones steal us from our beds. It was not until when the great warrior Sulanin braved the Beyond that the Dread Wolf’s plot was stopped. He chased Fen’Harel and struck him with his blade, but at the sight of his own blood the Wolf ran away. Following him, Sulanin banged his red-coated sword against his shield, so hard the echoes resounded across the dream land, and his war cries deafened all around him. The spirits fled, startled by the noise, and the Creators woke.
Calling upon the dragons for help, Elgar’nan and Mythal banished the Forgotten Ones from the People’s dreams, and to ensure that not one day we’d be without her watchful gaze, Mythal touched the land with her magic and from it she shaped another moon and put it in the sky.
However, after the Great Betrayal, the moons grew weary with age, and now Fen’Harel and his evil spirits lurk in the Beyond, waiting for the night when the darkness sets and our dreams are heavy. But the People are smart and clever, and we have learned from Sulanin.
That’s why, when the new year comes, we coat ourselves in red, shout as loud as we can, bang our drums and light our da’nan to chase the Wolf away, and we feast, sing, dance and rejoice all night so the spirits and the Forgotten Ones cannot plague us with nightmares.
Lesson from a Dalish elder to her students.