Winter Festival | 00:02 | Ixchel
Sure, I enjoy studying the myths and legends of Balamtok. You've got to know your stuff as a leader, after all. But our stories are different from the ones the rest of you have been telling. Balamtok has always been abundant in glunite and home to sacred beings -- we've never needed an outside force to guide us. Still, we have great legends of our own. Lend an ear and let me tell you.
It is said that after Kukulkan guided the Balamtok people in the founding their nation, countless believers ventured to its Sacred Forest to give thanks. Yet, apart from a few shamans, no one could find it. That is, until a meteorite fell from the sky. It triggered a flood that swept across the land and devastated the nation. The king's eldest daughter, Nikte, was unable to bear the suffering of her people. She resolved to embark on a journey to the Sacred Forest where Kukulkan was rumored to dwell, hoping to find this merciful god and ask it to save Balamtok once more. Her journey had just begun when she became lost in the endless forest. Exhaustion and despair grew as the nights passed.
Finally, she could go no further and collapsed. A great storm thundered down, awakening Nikte. The rain god, Chaac, appeared before her eyes and spoke:
"Human, you have proven yourself. Now receive my message. A great enemy threatens Balamtok. An outsider from this shard has left behind an evil object from deep space. You must find and divide it into four parts. At the end of each season, take one part to the four altars in this Sacred Forest and deliver it to me. If you succeed, Balamtok will be freed from its shackles, and this land will be saved."
Nikte returned to the capital, only to find that the evil object had polluted the residents. They had been turned into violent, mindless monsters. Nikte, heeding Chaac's words, followed the evil to its source and found a conch shell covered in malignant spikes. Nikte recovered the shell-like object and divided it into four parts. At the end of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, Nikte ventured into the Sacred Forest. She delivered one piece each to the altars in the southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest. Whenever Nikte delivered a piece, a fierce wind would rise, and the leaves of the forest would roar. Each time Chaac appeared to receive the object, the evil object began to transform into a shell-like monster. Before the monster could complete its transformation, Chaac opened up the earth and buried the monstrous shell-like creature deep underground. Chaac spoke to Nikte again:
"When the winds of the four seasons have passed, the earth will purify the evil beneath. Balamtok will be whole again. If the shell-like monsters return to Balamtok from deep space, may your ancestors follow my winds and return to this Sacred Forest. Deep within lies a sacred treasure to help Balamtok in its most desperate moment."
In winter, after burying the last piece underground, the rain god disappeared, and the floods and storms receded with him. Nikte harbored doubts and subsequently searched far and wide search for any trace of Chaac and the sacred treasure, but to no avail. The "sacred treasure" that carried the winds of the seasons vanished into history.
...Sonar, I can tell by your expression you know of the threat I speak of. I fear that the shell-like creatures from Balamtok legend are the same "Chelae" who invaded Mariana. I don’t know what you all think, but I have an indescribable feeling of dread. What are they? Just how powerful are they? What are their intentions? I only hope Chaac's winds won't rise.
