Lore

Lore of Lugaru

This page is for all ideas or stories regarding the lore of Lugaru Island and surrounding islands (i.e The Wolves island before they invaded Lugaru). Feel free to add stories, myths, legends and any ideas.

All the stories on this page are Fanmade, and are not necessarily canon.

Stories

The stories of each race will mainly provide small snippets of backstory from around the time of the events in Lugaru. Most will not involve Turner or other main characters but will instead focus on the inhabitants of Lugaru and it's surrounding islands.

The Story of Jounquil Terbouchet

(This first story is just to give an idea of what a story should be like, it's not supposed to be anything special)

Not so many moons ago, on an island to the south of Lugaru, there lived a young rabbit called Jounquil Terbouchet. Jounquil was a simple rabbit, a farmer with a modest cottage and crops. Jounquil sold his crops to other rabbits, and sometimes dogs, at the local market. He made a decent living and was well known and respected all over his island.

One day, while tending his crops Jounquil was approached by a young rabbit who had been watching him for some time. Jounquil straightened up, using his hoe for support. The young rabbit introduced himself as Javern, a representative of King Hickkory of Lugaru. He asked Jounquil how long he had been running his farm, Jounquil told him that it was the family farm, passed down to him from his father, and his father before him. Javern asked him how much money he made when he sold his produce. Although Jounquil thought this young rabbit was acting a bit strange, he told him that he made enough. Javern repeated his question, this time asking for the exact amount. Finding the young rabbit extremely rude, Jounquil raised his hoe to Javern, telling the rabbit to state his true purpose. Javern stepped back, warning Jounquil that he wa making a mistake. With this, Jounquil lost his temper, striking out at Javern.

Javern, sensing that Jounquil was not the country simpleton he appeared to be, backed off. He gave Jounquil one more warning, before leaving his farm.

Jounquil ended up traveling to Lugaru and becoming a raider. He never encountered Turner but he joined the Guards at Rock Hall after Fiver took control. He served Fiver well, fighting in several battles with the wolves. He retired from Guardship at the age of 57, settling down in a small settlement near a dead volcano

Fendalin the Defender

Fenadlin was a Rabbit warrior from one of Lugaru's neighboring islands, Vatoor (Lugaru and Vatoor are both part of the Mannow islands), and is known for his gallant death while fighting the legendary general Ansandi.

Fendalin grew up near the city-state of Vieren, where constant political tension between Vieren and the surrounding island government of Vatoor led to most towns losing the majority of its males as conscripts for whichever government controlled it. Fendalin was to be conscripted for the Vierenese, but he succeeded in running away at a young age and becoming a volunteer for Vatoor. He grew as a warrior during this time, which came at the cost of killing many of his Vierenese friends in battle, including his brother. Eventually his superiors recommended him for a special program, the Suteran, and he became a member of this force of joined warriors from various Mannow islands. He may have had interactions with the fighter known as Turner while a member of the Suteran.

Many of the missions which Fendalin was assigned during his life were classified and never revealed.

The mission for which Fendalin is known was his last, and took place during "The War In Which Mannow Fell," also known simply as the "Mannow War," which took place between the forces of a magician named Chaar, and the unified governments and armies of the Mannow islands. Fendalin was given by the Suteran a small group of skilled warriors under his command who were to assasinate a Cat named Ansandi, who was one of Chaar's generals, and who was a member of the Assasins of the Bright Tapestry, and who is considered one of the greatest fighters and strategists to have ever lived. During this misison, Fendalin's group were killed and Fendalin was forced to face Ansandi alone, managing to wound Ansandi three times before being killed.

Fendalin's near-success put him in the history books as one of the greatest warriors ever, and a hero of the Mannow islands. Unfortunately, Chaar's forces eventually conquered most of the Mannow islands, although Chaar commanded his forces to stay away from one of the sacred temples in Lugaru, known as Krypa, possibly at Ansandi's request and the temple's connection to the cat deity, The Sphinx.

Myths

Myths will be ancient stories that revolve around a particular person or event, but not necessarily real ones. Myths will be the most common form of story, and be the most freely written. You can write about whatever you want, but nothing too rude, and nothing offensive.

The Myth of the Whale-Man

If you ask any regular sailor if they believed in the Whale-man, they'd obviously reply "No", laugh nervously, and go about their business. That is because any sailor that does completely believe in the Whale-man, is not a sailor anymore due to their intense fear of the ocean, and has moved far inland due to their Thalassophobia. The rumors and theories regarding the Whale-man's intentions and origin vary greatly depending on which paranoid pedestrian you parley with over a pint, but one common theme amongst every speculation is that he is brutal, unforgiving, and craves destruction for one reason, or another.

Some believe the Whale-man is a religious figure, once worshiped by a cult as the god of the sea, but after some mysterious incident, the cult disappeared. The Whale-man now seeks revenge for the loss of his subjects and demands tribute from all lowly mortals for their crimes against him. He assaults ships for the fear and respect he deserves, and lives off of the agony of the infidels.

Others believe that the Whale-man was born under a group of whales, but had the hideous deformation of arms and legs, and that he was cast away due to his grotesque appearance. The then Whale-boy never knew right from wrong, and out of its probably teenage whale-angst began to attack both whales and denizens of Lugaru alike. Anything that was large and floated in the water reminded him of his kind that had betrayed him over his appearance, and in strife, would lash out against it with his blubbery flubbery whale arms, trying to break it in two and eat the remains.

An interesting possibility is that the Whale-man is the next step in, what many feline biologists call: Whale-volution. The whale species would benefit greatly from the addition of limbs, and perhaps if the Whale-man has offspring, he could easily conquer Lugaru. Although this is a very wild conclusion to reach, it has struck fear into the hearts of many people, and there have been cases of hunting parties hired by cats for ludicrous sums of money to kill the Whale-man before he can breed with a Whale-woman. One such party was headed by a rabbit named Retsae, but that's another story for another time.

In the end, it's all just rumors, theories, and speculation. There's no hard evidence any ships were lost because of a whale-like individual. The people of Lugaru can be quite split on the subject of the Whale-man's existence. There was one such instance of this when two drunkards began a debate about the Whale-man, which escalated into a fist fight about the Whale-man, which escalated into a town wide riot about the Whale-man, which escalated into a full scale clan war, all because of the Whale-man. In the end, no matter which side you choose, the prospect of a gargantuan, whale-like being lurking in the depths of the ocean should send a chill up your spine. Unless you were Retsae, but Retsae was totally bonkers.

Legends

Legends will be sort of a cross between stories and myths. They revolve around real people, the person can be unbelievably powerful or strong or charming or anything, but Legends will have an element o truth to them.

The Legend of Retsae

If you've heard of the Whale-man, and have spoke about the Whale-man while rabbits are present, there is a large chance that you will be told the story of Retsae, whether you want to hear it or not. Retsae is revered as a legend among many rabbits, and regarded as a villain among most cats. Many variations of her story have been told to me throughout time, but for your sake I'll tell either the most interesting or the most plausible versions of her narrative.

Retsae was born on the cliffs of Lugaru, her mother facing the oceans, and her father facing the land. Rabbits say she was launched out of the womb like an arrow from a bow, but cats say she merely was dropped by her possibly inebriated parents into the cold, blue depths below. Either way you see it, she was an excellent swimmer from birth onward, and managed to swim to a nearby dock before her pink body was scooped up by fisherman.

Retsae grew up to be (in rabbit standards) a beautiful young lady, who had a tender heart, but was often very somber and preferred the crashing and sloshing of the ocean to the pipping and chipping of her rabbit brethren. She was loved by many of the burrow-members but spent most of her time outside of the burrow, swimming in the deep blue sea to relax after a days work. She was given many gifts by male members of the burrow, and given many cold shoulders by female members of the burrow, which resulted in her feeling isolated in her own community. She ran away from home at her prime in rabbit standards, and half of the burrow followed her trail and vowed allegiance to her. Without her consent, she began leading a crew of devoted, and probably sexually frustrated male rabbits across Lugaru in search of a place she could ditch them without leaving them to die.

One day she came across a settlement of cats who were desperately hiring hunters of any background to go after a mythological creature of the sea, and Retsae, sensing her crew's hunger to prove themselves to her, took the bounty, was rewarded with a ship, and was promised much more money in the process after they came back with significant evidence they had killed the creature that was known as the Whale-man. The ship wasn't actually made to hold all of the rabbits, but they clambered onto it nonetheless. Retsae then steered the ship towards the direction of the burrow from whence they all came, and unbeknownst to her crew, planned to abandon ship before they hit the cliff that the crew didn't even know they were headed to.

Although her plan was to return everyone safely, it was not as simple as pointing a ship in one direction and snoozing till you hit some rocks. They almost immediately were confronted by a storm of epic proportions, and lightning struck the stem of the ship, lighting many rabbits on fire, which jumped into the ocean. Only a few were pulled back from the murky deep. The crew suffered many hardships on their journey, but there was one hardship in particular, that made Retsae both famous and infamous.

After encountering a band of pirates, what was left of crew had pretty much given up hope on survival, and blamed Retsae. She was overcome with tremendous guilt. She walked to the larboard side, saluted her crew, and stabbed herself with a knife. As the crew screamed in despair at losing what made them even made them leave their homes in the first place, she fell into the waters below. A couple decided to jump in after her, and were forever regarded as "lucky", because at the moment the last one of her most devout followers jumped in, the Whale-man had risen from the sea, and belly flopped onto the ship. The crew who had dived down were thrown under the currents from the tidal wave of the ships destruction.

Retsae, and a select few others awoke inside a squishy wet structure, at first thinking themselves to be in a smelly purgatory. They then realized that they were in the mouth of the Whale-man. They began screaming. Retsae calmed them, and asked to speak to the Whale-man. He moaned a deep whale-y moan in agreement. He opened his jaws and released only Retsae from his mouth. She looked straight into the creature's eyes and asked "What do you want?" as elegantly and smoothly as she always had spoken.

The next portion of this legend is almost always spoken in an embarrassed tone, and I'll spare you the....details. In fact, the first time I heard this story I got spared the details and it only got clarified at the end of the story where she goes around laying eggs. Do you get where I'm going with this?

Well, whatever happens with the ocean, shall stay with the ocean. I fear for the terrified young rabbits who were trapped inside the whale. What did they hear that entire time? How does something like that even happen? It makes me shudder every time I think about it. I-I mean not to say I think about it often it's just that-...whatever, never mind.

Back...back to the story. So the Retsae and her crew members were all set free and they headed back home. After arriving, she told everyone of her travels, and promised to exile herself as punishment. Retsae, still feeling quite guilty, gave gifts to every family that had a member leave the burrow in pursuit of her. The gifts varied from money to sweet foods, and by the end Retsae had nothing to herself. She left her burrow along the coastline and vowed not only to never look at the ocean again, but to never be seen by anyone ever so that she would not accidentally lure them into their deaths, and to give back to her species as best she could. She vowed that she would raise the young whale-rabbit-things she had as land creatures, and make sure they were never tainted by the evil of their father. She promised to raise them to be friendly with all rabbit-kind, so that both species may live in harmony.

She traveled the land laying eggs. Retsae Eggs, they were called. If you found one, it was rumored to be extreme good luck, and if you even did find it, you would swear secrecy and forget all about its existence, promising never to tell another soul of its place.

The legend of Retsae is both illogical and disturbing in some areas, depending on how open minded or drunk the teller of the story is. It's a wonder that it's even believed to be a legend told to young rabbits considering it can be very unflattering to female company. The Retsae Eggs have never been located (and the story covers this up quite nicely), but there have been rumors from some skeptics that the eggs could be merely painted rocks. All in all, it's an interesting story, but just don't tell it if you want to impress a lady with your knowledge of rabbit tradition and lore, because as I have found out, it can get you a couple bad looks, and even a swift punch in the face depending on how graphic you tell the Whale-man part.