The Legend of the Half

But it wouldn’t be a legend if there wasn’t a twist to the truth. There are many things that exist in our world that survive as pairs; two hemispheres of the world, two halves of the brain and heart, a twin may suddenly die when the other passes, many creatures mate for life; when the partner dies, the other will slowly starve itself to death. These are the facts about a pair, but what do we know about a half?
Long ago, the Fayde family (the same Fayde family which gives its name to the Eldarus Grainary) lived a seemingly normal existence until one day, the head of the family, Jasper Fayde, discovered buried in his field a grave. Strange, he thought, this field was in his family since the Eldarus was founded, Why was it never discovered before? Sure enough the wood that sealed the tome didn’t look to be disturbed before his plow blade bit into it. The farmer couldn’t see much through the cracked wood and rising dust cloud. Puzzled, he debated leaving any further investigation for after he finished the plowing and planting of his fields, but as he shoulder the leads of his plow, the sun rose high above him and something shimmered from within the tome. If it’s gold, couldn’t leave it for a grave robber to find, he thought to himself. The grave was on his property of course, so that meant anything he found within the hole was his. Disconnecting his plow, he looped the leads to the ceiling boards and smacked the ox. The roof of the grave easily broke away.
The air from within the tome rose like a lover’s whisper, sweet and inviting. The poor farmer could not believe his eyes; the floor of the tome was littered with gold of all shapes and sizes. Coins, platters, woven threads, and what looked like a bowl. The bowl rested in the lap of a wrapped mummy, who like the rest of the tome, didn’t look to have been disturbed since it was placed in the grave. He called to his second oldest son, who was plowing the opposite side of the field, to help him remove the gold. Together they bundled the riches into empty grain sacks and tied them to the oxen. The last thing they removed was the bowl. The second son picked up the bowl and examined it before handing it to his father. Funny, he thought, It doesn’t seem to be a bowl at all. "Look, there’s Eldarus and her coast line. I think this is some kind of globe. Well half a globe." His father snickered telling his son that a half of a globe was no good globe, but since it was gold, it would make a fine bowl. Besides with all the gold we now have, we can forge a new half to complete the globe!
With all the gold removed, the oxen burdened with enough gold to make 10 generations of his family rich, the Jasper saw that the sun was low on the horizon. He told his son that work was over for the day, tomorrow they would take the gold into town and sell the lot! "No more plowing field for us, son! We are now the richest family in the valley!" When the son asked about the mummy, the father told him they would come out at first light to bury the truly poor soul before anyone else stumbled upon the grave and became suspicious. That night the family feasted upon goose and hare, drinking the finest wines in the city’s cellars. The following morning, father and son returned to the grave, only to discover that the corpse was gone. The rags that wrapped the mummy were scattered all within and around the tome, and there was evidence of hand marks, clawing their way out of the hole. Scared that grave robbers had found the corpse and carried it away, they filled in the hole to look like it was never there in the first place.
Generations passed; Jasper Fayde was right, his family became the richest in the valley. Never again did any of his sons or sons’ sons have to plow that field ever again. Jasper kept the land and built the Eldarus Grainary. Rhys Fayde, a great great grandson, became a legendary adventurer who forged the only trading trail through the Barren Lands, and the Lady Rosemary Fayde Ingese was a celebrated poet, author of the Whispers of the Willow and Glitters of Wheat and Gold. Sadly, many of the Fayde family have now been forgotten due to time.
With so many riches, though, greed infested the family and after many years of prosperity, the believed last member of the family, Sir Connor Baldwindaughter Fayde, was found dead in an alley, penniless behind a the Jolly Coachman. No one knows how he truly died. Reports are vague, though many believe it was his obsessive drinking which finally crept up on him. Though why was his dagger drawn when the body was discovered?
The bowl, well, it was sold, but like Jasper said, it did not stay a bowl, but repaired to be a full globe by Silas Jasper Fayde, father of Sir Connor Baldwindaughter Fayde. Its current location is debatable. Some believe the globe is the current one residing in the courtyard of the Temple Circle , others say it’s buried with Fayde family in their cemetery plot. The mummy, like the family’s gold, was never seen again…
To this day there are many unanswered questions; what ever happened to Jasper’s first son, Thomas Joseph Fayde? If he survived, is there a missing heir to the Fayde name? And who was the mummy buried in the grave?