In The Land of Eriatilos

Once upon a time there were four lands created by four brothers. There was Edaps the hardest working of the four, Dnomaid the richest, Bulc the strongest and finally the compassionate Traeh. The lands were created in their images and times were good, but the four brothers agreed that something critical was missing from their lands.

One day Traeh came to his brothers after a night of deep thought and said unto them "To make our lands complete and perfect we must populate them with people from all corners of the world" almost immediately his brothers agreed, all understanding the crushing loneliness they all felt. However they could not agree how to gather these people.

Bulc stepped forward and said "We should hold a tournament directed by Traeh, each of us taking a side and seeing who can win over the most people"

Edaps frowned and disagreed with his brothers competitive idea "Instead I say we should try to sort out these people by examining them all trough the ritual of Llec Eerf"

Dnomaid scoffed at his brothers idea and said smugly "No, rather we should open the borders of Eriatilos and let people come from anywhere through the Redips gates"

They argued deep into the night until finally Traeh stepped in and brought forward his own idea "No my brothers I think we should do this in the old ways of Eriatilos and send for an outsider" The brothers muttered to one another but knew that Traeh's decision was the wisest, and so they sent for an outsider.

Soon a sage from distant lands arrived before them and Traeh gave him his quest "You are to go out into the world Sage Reyalp and bring back as many people that fit our philosophies as you can. Be warned Reyalp, you will only be armed with only your wits and the outside world can be cruel and cunning, and many people only follow those stronger then them" Even so the Sage accepted his quest, touched deeply by the silent suffering of the four brothers.

Entering wild lands coverd in lush green fields the Sage Reyalp came across small gatherings of different people, but no matter how hard he tried he could not convince any of them to come with him. As hope for the success of his quest already fading the sage recalled Traeh's words of how people only follow those stronger... with that thought in mind the Sage left for other lands seeking those who could help him gather these people together.

The trip was long and hard but not fruitless, during his travels he met a large man by the name of Thgie that had already gathered a group of people under his wing. The Sage spoke to him often of the lands of Eriatilos and how it was a paradise to behold but Thgie looked unsure and said "You say this place is grand yet it seems to me that no one lives there, making it a hollow Eden... If others begin to populate this land then perhaps then I shall accompany you there" With that the Sage left him and carryied on his quest to find those willing to leave their homes for a better future.

It was in one of the citys of this land of green that the Sage Reyalp encountered a poor man llieing in the street. He gave his question to the man and he replied "Any hope for a richer life then this is worth taking, I shall go with you to this paradise" smiling to himself th Sage continued his journey to find others to travel to the land of Eriatilos.

Leaving the city the Sage was confronted by a most peculiar site, new cities had begun to spring up over night populated by all sorts of people. It wasn't long before he met with the man Thgie again and asked what had happened.

"While news of your land has spread Sage others have begun to spread their own rumors, proclaiming their new cities as paradises, and while I am unsure of them for now they seem tempting places to flock to" The Sage could not believe what was happening, what he had caused to happen. If he did not do something soon then any chance of getting these poor people to glorious lands of Eriatilos would fail.

But as the Sage confronted those who had mislead these people into forming cruel mockery's of cities he could already tell that he was too late. His rumors had saved a few souls, but at the price of all of them.

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Thus ends our tale of woe dear reader, and the moral of this story?

No one ever wins at Solitaire.