The Myths of Iteril: Agbatlul

It is believed that the Almighty Ones live in the mountain range of Qait-Atil, west of Iteril, the nation that formerly belonged to the king of Taïeb: Palianes. The Almighty Ones have never shown themselves in their true form before any man’s eyes, but has been proved real by many an unnatural phenomenon. The following is one of these.

There was once a farmer’s daughter who happened to be more beautiful than any girl living in Cetheba, but there was one thing that they had that she did not, and it was something that she longed to have more than anything else; she had no voice. The farmer was poor, and the girl really wanted to help him, so she had tried to go to marriage with a nobleman. However no man would take her as his wife, as it would disgrace their reputation if their wife could not speak a word, hence the girl decided to ask the Almighty Ones to give her a voice.

The girl went to the base of Qait-Atil, knowing that it was strictly forbidden for anyone to trespass its perimeters, and from there she climbed the mighty cliffs that no one else would dare try climbing. The first day she climbed and she lost her ability to hear, but it did not stop her, for she could help her dad as long as she was beautiful and could speak. The second day she lost her feelings, but that did not stop her either, for she could still help her dad if she only received a voice from the Almighty Ones. On the third day the girl lost her vision and when she tried to continue she lost her grip, for she could neither feel nor see where she had placed her hand, and she fell down from Qait-Atil, unable to scream for she had still no voice. It was then that the Almighty Ones helped her as she landed on the back of a giant bird and when the bird landed and got her to the ground, she opened up her eyes and discovered she could see once again. From behind her she could hear the flaps of wings and she turned around and saw the giant bird that had saved her; a white raven. She felt the raven’s long feathers before it flew back to the Qait-Atil, and the girl said to the bird: ‘Thank you, Almighty One’

The girl was later known to have married a nobleman as she had wished for, and succeeded in helping her father out of his poorness. She lived a happy life and spoke the story many times before she died. And since then it has passed down from generation to generation and has become the way as we know it today.

The name of the giant bird became Agbatlul which in the ancient language of Iteril means a white raven.