The Approachable East, Vol. 3
I knew the Gur as travelling folk with a reputation for fortune telling, but you only start to know a people when you sit down and share a tale. At the side of a road, over a pot of bubbling stew, they told me they were the 'Children of Selûne', and claim a history stretching back to ancient Rashemen itself. Gur legend tells of two young Wychlaran (witches!) who refused to follow the instruction of their elders. In frustration, the older witches turned the young maidens into songbirds and locked them in a golden cage, saying if they refused to learn, at least they could make music. But the Wychlaran escaped and flew across Faerûn. Eventually, exhausted, they landed in the garden of a cleric, who blessed them in the name of Selûne, breaking the curse and transforming them back into human form. Since then, they have been Selûne's children. All Gur peoples trace their line back to these young maidens - indeed, some Gur matriarchs even take 'maiden' as a title. Of course, as the beloved of Selûne they no longer practice the Wychlaran's witchcraft, but some say it remains in the blood - that it lets them catch glimpses of the future. It was a magnificent tale (and some excellent stew), but was any of it true? I shall investigate when I reach Rashemen. Perhaps they tell a different story.