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Over the space of the next three centuries, there were two more famous crossings of the Wall - each a century apart, so that the horror of the last had time to face from memory before anyone would be so foolhardy again.
The first was a lady named Yvanna, daughter to the Duke of Coldreach. Yvanna was vain, and ambitious to prove herself. She had convinced a portion of the Houes of Lords to treason, sending an army across the wall – not because she believed in the Unfallen King's cause, but to test herself, and her powers of persuasion. She knew that they would die, but believed that it was the army's commander on whom the fey's wrath would fall.
After the army died, the fey rode the Wild Hunt across the Wall and came for her. All those who stood in their way were stricken with curses of madness and flesh-twisting. On Yvanna, they bestowed immortality; the power of their curses, and one more thing – her heart's desire. It was her wish, they said, that she be remembered whenever she spoke. They sealed her mouth, and granted her the power to heal all wounds.
The last of the Lords to invade Faerie was the least cautious and least powerful of them all. He had no thirst for glory, no desire for conquest. He simply wished to test a theory. It struck him as remarkable that every offender the fey wished to punish, they made immortal - and to him, that seemed compensation enough for any curse that might be laid upon him. Wishing for nothing more or less than the slaughter of his forces and the fey punishment to be laid upon his head, he crossed the Wall with a hundred men.
His theory, after a fashion, was correct. The fey laid a curse upon him, marking him as one of the Unfallen - but in spirit alone. He would live forever, his soul jumping to inhabit and animate the nearest corpse. Through the wonders of fey magic, he could command it while it lasted... could feel it decomposing, so long as it still had nerves... and when it deteriorated too far, he would wake in the nearest fresh corpse, and the process would begin all over again.
His name has been forgotten. Now, he is known only as the Fool.
The first was a lady named Yvanna, daughter to the Duke of Coldreach. Yvanna was vain, and ambitious to prove herself. She had convinced a portion of the Houes of Lords to treason, sending an army across the wall – not because she believed in the Unfallen King's cause, but to test herself, and her powers of persuasion. She knew that they would die, but believed that it was the army's commander on whom the fey's wrath would fall.
After the army died, the fey rode the Wild Hunt across the Wall and came for her. All those who stood in their way were stricken with curses of madness and flesh-twisting. On Yvanna, they bestowed immortality; the power of their curses, and one more thing – her heart's desire. It was her wish, they said, that she be remembered whenever she spoke. They sealed her mouth, and granted her the power to heal all wounds.
The last of the Lords to invade Faerie was the least cautious and least powerful of them all. He had no thirst for glory, no desire for conquest. He simply wished to test a theory. It struck him as remarkable that every offender the fey wished to punish, they made immortal - and to him, that seemed compensation enough for any curse that might be laid upon him. Wishing for nothing more or less than the slaughter of his forces and the fey punishment to be laid upon his head, he crossed the Wall with a hundred men.
His theory, after a fashion, was correct. The fey laid a curse upon him, marking him as one of the Unfallen - but in spirit alone. He would live forever, his soul jumping to inhabit and animate the nearest corpse. Through the wonders of fey magic, he could command it while it lasted... could feel it decomposing, so long as it still had nerves... and when it deteriorated too far, he would wake in the nearest fresh corpse, and the process would begin all over again.
His name has been forgotten. Now, he is known only as the Fool.
