The Cloisters: The Too Tall Tale of Tocks Hyr’na’beo

The Too Tall Tale of Tocks Hyr’na’beo
Excerpt from Circadia’s Common Oral History, Transcribed by Cecily Rakes

“Everyone around these parts has heard the story of Tocks Hyr’na’beo. While most people around these parts know Tocks, not everyone knows that he was born under a special sort of sky. This is the way my grandfather told me, so it’s how I’ll tell you. This is what we call ‘The Too Tall Tale of Tocks Hyr’na’beo.’

“Tocks Hyr’na’beo was born some forty years ago on the Brightwater Isles. His mother, a Mortal woman from Faeris’Tel, wasn’t from the Brightwater Isles, but she fled there. She fled there because she had laid with a God, the King of Gods, and become pregnant with his child. She had heard a story, that the God’s aunt–the Wicked Verine–would slay her child should she ever find them.

“So she decided to flee Faeris’Tel and went to the place known to be safe for mothers seeking refuge: the Brightwater Isles. Setting sail in boats captained only by starlight, she prayed and prayed to the Goddess Steramestei that she would be safe. Of course, the Goddess heard the woman’s pleas and, taking pity on her, offered her refuge. But refuge at a price.

“The Goddess told that Mortal woman that for her to offer her safe passage as she fled from Verine’s cold heart, the Mortal woman would need to give up her life on the mainland and commit herself to the Monastery of the Brightwater Isle. The woman readily agreed as long as her child would be safe.

“In a few short months, the child was born. The woman named the child Tocks Hyr’na’beo. He was raised in the care of the Brightwater Islanders, with little a care in the world.

“As a young boy, Tocks already had a sense of adventure. He liked to swim out as far as he could–even in the strongest of surfs, he found he could keep himself afloat. And, when he climbed the tallest of mountains, he found his legs never gave up. The birds sang to Tocks, bees never stung him, the bears were his friends, and even the bugaboos called him neighbor. He was truly a strange child.

“This didn’t stop the Goddess Verine, however. She had it in her wicked heart that every child born of Mortal and God must pay an awful price. She conjured her greatest magic and set it upon him in terrible order.

“At first, her plans were simple. She merely sent one of her assassins to stalk the boy and kill him in the night. But, as she did so, a great She Wolf, bigger than any anyone had seen, spotted the creeping stalker and gobbled him whole. So Tocks slept well, and Verine’s plan failed.

“Next, Verine called forth a great curse of emptiness. Verine made it so that every feast set for Tocks would wither before him, and she hoped the boy would quickly starve. However, as soon as the food shriveled up, a great hand–stinking and fetid–surged out of the earth and, offering plentiful abundance, refilled the platter more than Verine could ever imagine. So Tocks ate well, and Verine’s plan failed.

“Verine then bellowed a curse of thirst. No matter how much Tocks drank, his throat would grow drier and his blood beg for more. But the Sea Maiden herself saw Verine’s cruelty and offered Tocks the Waters of the Tides: anytime he drank from the ocean, even if his thirst was unimaginable, it would be quenched by the sweetest waters. So Tocks drank deep, and Verine’s plan failed.

“Undaunted, Verine’s wickedness continued. Never had the child of a Mortal so evaded her!

“Verine pulled forth a plague of shadows, twisting and turning. They surrounded him, casting him this way and that until he had no sense of himself or anyone else. But, as Tocks was nearly lost to such confusion, a surge of orange butterflies exploded around him, lighting the way and scattering the shadows. So Tocks found himself, and Verine’s plan failed.

“Finally, Verine, seeking to fight nature with nature, called up a giant hornet–angry and deadly, it sought Tocks out. But, just as Tocks was about fall, a swarm of thousands and thousands of bees surrounded the hornet. Engulfing it, they buzzed and buzzed until it boiled in their humming. Once more, Tocks was saved, and Verine’s plan failed.

“To this day, the Jealous Goddess Verine tries as she might to slay Tocks Hyr’na’beo. But, as they say, he is a child of nature, and the natural way of things is the surest.

“And that is the Tall Tale of Tocks Hyr’na’beo, just as my grandfather told it to me.”

-Transcribed by Cecily Rakes, Told by Pippa Aspera.