Along the Shore of the Silt Sea - A Dark Sun Fable

Two travelers were walking along the shore of the Silt Sea. They looked out, across the loose silt and they saw something moving above it.
"Look," said one traveler, "a skimmer is rolling in from distant lands. It's bound to be filled with riches!"
The object they saw came closer to the shore.
"No," said the other, "that is not a skimmer filled with treasure. That is a skimmer filled with food and water!"
As they watched, it came even closer.
"Maybe it's a skimmer filled with beautiful concubines for us to buy!" they cried.
The two travelers rushed to the edge of the sea and a silt horror grabbed them. The two travelers were never seen again.

The Id Fiend and the Erdlu - A Dark Sun Fable

An id fiend had been hurt in a fight with a kirre and was unable to move. He hadn't had food or water in a few days and was nearing unconsciousness. A wild erdlu passed by and the id fiend called out to him.
"Please get me a drink of water," The id fiend begged. "Then, I might be able to regain enough strength to get myself some solid food."
"Solid food!" Replied the erdlu, "That means me! If I bring you water, you will only use it to wash me down your throat."
The wise erldu moved on and the injured id fiend died the next day.

The Hunters and Their Prey - A Dark Sun Fable

A hunter from Gulg rushed from the cover of the trees and speared an erdland. At the same time, a Nibnese hunter rushed from the scrub plains and used his two-handed axe to fell the same beast. The two hunters turned on each other and began battling for their prey. 
After a brief fight, they two men collapsed from exhaustion and blood loss. They had battled aggressively, but neither was close to victory. They glared at each other fiercely, but did not have the strength to continue their struggle.
Hearing the commotion, an elf had watched the exchange. Now, seeing both men exhausted and wounded, he calmly used to his bow to dispatch them both. He then carried the erdland back to his tribe, along with a newly acquired spear and axe.

The Servant and Death - A Dark Sun Fable

A merchant from Gulg once asked his servant to run an errand for him. While at the market, the servant went around a corner and saw Death. Death terrified the servant so much, that he returned to his master as quickly as possible. The servant begged and pleaded to his master, "Please, let me take the fastest kank to Altaruk!"
Seeing how terrified his servant was, his master granted his request and the servant fled Gulg, as fast as the kank would carry him.
Later that day, the merchant went to the market himself and saw Death there. "Why did you frighten by seravnt?" He asked.
Death answered, "Actually, it was he who startled me. I couldn't understand why he was in Gulg, because I have an appointment with him tonight, in Altaruk."

The Friends and the Slavers - A Dark Sun Fable

Two men, Jahin and Walid had become the best of friends and were always doing things together. They would go out hunting, or sometimes filch from a noble's fields. They worked well together and were never caught. 

One day, they were gathering food from a scrub plain and came upon a group of slavers. Walid was afraid, but Jahin calmed his friend and said he would go talk to them.
Jahin approached the slavers and spoke softly, so Walid would not hear him,"Great ones, if you promise not to capture me, I will aid you in capturing my friend. He is much stronger than I and would make a much better slave."
The slavers agreed and Jahin returned to Walid.
"They have agreed not to capture us." Jahin lied to his friend, "Let's go that way, away from the slavers."
When Walid turned to look, Jahin hit him on the head with a stick, knocking him unconscious.
Now, when the slavers saw one of the men was theirs for the taking, they quickly descended on Jahin and subdued him. Both men were forced into slavery and Jahin knew that he should have expected treachery, much more than his former friend.

The Dancing Half-Giant - A Dark Sun Fable

At a great celebration, in honor of Hamanu, The Lion if Urik, a beautiful half-elf was asked to dance for the gathered nobles and templars. Her dancing was superb and everyone was impressed with her grace and agility. Everyone clapped and cheered as she danced.
The praise that was showered on the woman made a half-giant guard envious. He was very sure that he could dance just as well as the half-elf woman, if not better. So, he pushed his way into the crowd, that was gathered around the woman, and rising on his left foot, began to dance. But the big hulking brute looked ridiculous as he clumsily stumbled around the dance floor. He crashed into the crowd and stomped on several toes.
When at last, one of his huge feet came within an inch of the King's own toes, Hamanu raised a hand. The dancing stopped immediately and all eyes turned to the half-giant and the displeased look on the King's face. King Hamanu stared at the offending half-giant and the half-giant began begging for his life.
The crowd gasped as the half-giant's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground, dead. The other half-giant guards dragged the body of their former comrade away and the celebration continued.

The Aprig and the Ruby - A Dark Sun Fable

An aprig was busily rooting around the scrub plains, looking for something to eat for himself and his family. The aprig happened to uncover a large ruby worth thousands of ceramic pieces.
"Aha!" said the aprig. "No doubt the previous owner of this gemstone searched for hours to find it. But I don't care at all, I would choose a single grain of rice, or a drop of water, before all the gems in the world."

The Battle in Urik. A Dark Sun Fable.

A young man from a small village south of Altaruk set out to explore the Tablelands. He returned a year later and told everyone of his great adventures and the wonderful things he had done.
One of the stories he told was about an army of gith that attacked the city-state of Urik. He told how he marched out in the front of the army and slew a dozen gith himself, with nothing but a stone tipped spear. He said he slew more than any other single man and the King heaped praise upon him. If anyone in the village ever traveled to Urik, they could find out it was true from the many witnesses.
Not long after he told this boastful tale, a dozen gith raiders were spotted approaching the village. The villagers laughed at the small force and did not prepare a proper defense. The boastful young man was given a stone tipped spear and made to stand between the village and the raiders.
As the villagers watched in anticipation of their champions victory, the man broke and ran, not having the bravery to face the gith. He died with a gith spear in his back.
The people of the village were captured and sold into slavery. Their village was destroyed, so they had nowhere to return to. The villagers cried out in anguish, but they all blamed themselves for believing such a fool.

The Tigone and the Biting Fly. A Dark Sun Fable.

"Get away from me, you vile insect!" said a tigone angrily to a biting fly that was buzzing around his head. But the biting fly was not scared of the great beast at all.
"Do you think," he questioned spitefully to the tigone, "that I am afraid of you because all of the other beasts are?"
Then, he flew quickly at the tigone and bit him sharply on the nose. Mad with rage, the tigone struck fiercely at the biting fly, but only succeeded in harming himself with his own claws. Again and again the biting fly bit at the tigone, who was roaring and striking out, but only succeeded in harming himself again and again. Even his strength with the way could not stop the mindless insect. At last, worn out with rage and covered with wounds that his own teeth and claws had made, the tigone gave up the fight.
The biting fly buzzed away proudly, ready to tell the whole world about his victory over the great cat, but instead he flew straight into a spider's web. And there, the fly who had defeated one of the greatest of beasts came to a miserable end, the prey of a little spider.

The Kank Carrying the Templar. A Dark Sun Fable.

A young and beautiful templar of Nibenay was being carried to the Naggaramakam. She was mounted on a kank, which was adorned with garlands and gorgeous trappings, and a grand procession of lesser ranked templars followed it through the streets. As the kank walked along, the people openly gawked, smiled, and waved. The kank thought all of the attention was for him.
With his head full of these foolish ideas, he became so puffed up with pride and vanity that he halted and started to klack his mandibles loudly. But in the middle of his display, the man leading him guessed what he had gotten into his head. He began to beat him unmercifully with a stick. "Go along with you, you stupid insect," he cried. "The smiles and waves are not meant for you but for the templar you are carrying."

The Rat and the Mekillot. A Dark Sun Fable.

A rat was traveling along the High road in Nibenay. He was a very proud Rat, even though he was small and had a bad reputation, as all rats do. As the rat walked along, he kept mostly to a ditch, he noticed a great commotion up the road, and soon a grand procession came into view. It was the Shadow King and his retinue.
The King rode on a huge mekillot, adorned with the most gorgeous trappings and an ostentatious howdah. A great crowd of people followed the procession. They were so taken up with admiration of the mekillot, that the rat was not noticed. His pride was hurt.
"What fools!" he cried. "Look at me, and you will soon forget that clumsy mekillot! Is it his great size that makes your eyes pop out? Or is it his armored hide? Why, I have eyes and ears and as many legs as he! I am of just as much importance, and"—
But just then a slave boy spotted him, and captured him for his families dinner. The rat then knew that he was not as important as the mekillot.

Session Fifty-Five: Vermin at War

 Note: For those unfamiliar with Dark Sun, psionics are called the Will for wild talents and the Way for trained psionicists.

 The tari raced forward, the swarms of rats rushing in front of the horde. Kalino watched the mob surge toward Kiara and himself. Kiara's breathing was measured and calm, she was obviously well-trained in the templarate of Urik. Kalino could see Shade on top of the cliff, smoothly drawing arrows from his hip quiver and firing them into the oncoming rush of vermin.

Suddenly, the ground erupted in the midst of the rat swarms, tossing chunks of earth and rat corpses through the air. It was obvious hat Julius was using the way and Kalino was amazed at the power the mind could unleash. Kalino was a preserver and could unleash destructive and wondrous energies, but he had to take the power from vegetation and shape it into what he desired. The way didn't work like that and Kalino, in that moment, thought it would be wise to develop his will into the way at a later date. If he survived.
Kalino spotted Mohamed pushing in front of the tari, charging toward Julius' position above him. The undead man had a few arrows sticking out of his body, but the arrows did not impede his movement, nor seem to cause him any pain. He was unarmed, which made Kalino even more uneasy. Foes who chose to be unarmed were generally very powerful and undead were unpredictable.

The Gorak and his Shadow. A Dark Sun Fable.

A gorak left his lair one evening and was in an extremely good mood. As he ran, the setting sun made his shadow appear very large on the ground. To the gorak, it looked as if he were a hundred times bigger than he really was.
"Look!" exclaimed the gorak proudly, "See how big I am! Who wouls I ever run away from a puny tigone! I'll show him who is the biggest and most ruthless creature in the desert!"
Just then an immense shadow covered him and his shadow. In the next instant, a tigone struck him down with a single blow.

The Hurrums Who Wished for a King. A Dark Sun Fable.

After being free for so long, the hurrums of the scrub plains grew tired of governing themselves. They had too much freedom, they complained, and it had spoiled them. They didn't have enough food, because no one wanted to work. They would just lounge around all day and hum about how bored they were. They wanted a government who could organize them and make the lazy among them work. So, they cried out to *Badna to send them a king.
Badna knew that the hurrums were foolish creatures, so Badna sent them a large block of obsidian. The block fell from the sky and the hurrums thought it was a fearful thing and hid themselves. However, they soon discovered that their king was peaceable and tame. The younger hurrums would climb and glide from their king and the older hurrums would hold meetings atop it.
They hurrum became even more spoiled and lazy. They would not get food to feed each other, or defend themselves from the easiest of predators. All the hurrums did was complain about their lackluster king. Badna saw this and decided to show the hurrums mercy.
Badna knew the hurrums could not care for themselves, so Badna instead sent them a Z'tal for their king. The Z'tal was cruel and occasionally devoured one of the hurrum, but the z'tal was a much better king. He organized the hurrums into a proper civilization and forced them all to work, which provided food for everyone. The hurrums were much happier with this new king and thanked Badna, for they knew they could not rule themselves.

*The deity in question differs based upon the city-state where the fable is being told. For example, Badna is used in Raam, the Oba in Gulg, Tectuktitlay in Draj, etc.
This fable is promoted by the sorcerer monarchs of every city-state.

The Dwarf, the Man, and the Coin Purse. A Dark Sun Fable.

A dwarf and a human were walking along the road near the dancing gates of Nibenay. The dwarf became excited and picked up a large purse from the side of the road.
"Look how lucky I am!" The dwarf exclaimed. "This purse is full to bursting and must be full of ceramic pieces. Maybe even a silver or two."
His human companion looked at him irritably. "Don't you mean look how lucky we are?"
The dwarf pressed the purse closely to himself. "No. There is no we. I found it and it belongs to me!"
Suddenly, a shout was heard from within the gates and fingers were pointed at the pair of travelers. Cries of "thief!" could be heard and some guards and a templar were moving quickly toward the dwarf and his companion.
The dwarf looked around in a panic. "What are we going to do? They think we stole this purse!"
The human stepped away from the dwarf and replied, "No, there is no we. You found the purse and it belongs to you."
In a panic, the dwarf tried to run, but was quickly caught by the guards and templar. Unburdened by the full coin purse, his human companion was able to flee easily away from the city.

The Templar and the Citizen. A Dark Sun Fable.

A simple-minded and trusting human citizen of Nibenay was asked to join a group of cheerful elves. The elves were planning on visiting one of the Shadow King's fields outside of the city and the human citizen agreed to go with them. The elves saw the food was nearing harvest and starting picking the food for themselves. The citizen watched the elves, but did not gather any of the food for himself.
A templar soon emerged from the field, with a large group of guards in tow. The guards seized the citizen and a couple of the elves, but most of the elves dashed away into the wilderness. The citizen begged the templar to spare him.
"Please let me go," he pleaded. "I am a citizen in good standing. I have never broken any laws and I was not stealing the food. I did not know the Elves were going to steal."
"You may be a good citizen," answered the templar, "but I caught you with the thieving elves. You will face the same punishment as them."

The Roc and the Kes'trekel. A Dark Sun Fable.

A roc swooped down on powerful wings and seized a ram in its talons. It easily lifted the ram into the sky and carried it back to its nest. A kes'trekel saw what the roc had done and somehow got the idea that it was big and strong enough to do the same.
The kes'trekel ruffled its feathers and loudly called. Then, it flew toward a sheep and sunk its claws into the wool of the sheep's back. When the kes'trekel tried to lift the sheep, it found that its talons were tangled in the sheep's wool. The sheep barely noticed the small bird, as the kes'trekel tried to escape, but found that it could not.
The shepherd saw the fluttering kes'trekel and knew what the stupid bird had done. He ran up to the kes'trekel and broke its neck. That evening he took the bird to his family for dinner.
"What kind of bird is this, father?" The shepard's daughter asked him, while eating.
"It is a kes'trekel," He answered. "But if you would have asked it, it would have said it was a roc."

The Zhackal that Flew. A Dark Sun Fable.

One day, a young zhackal was contemplating his life. He saw the flying creatures swoop through the sky. The young zhackal became sad and discontented. He wanted to see the world, but he was bound to the earth, unlike the nimble creatures who ruled the sky.
One day he met a pair of razorwings and told them that he envied their ability to fly. He explained that he wanted to see the world, but he was bound to the earth.
"We can help you to see the world," said the razorwings. "Grab this stick with your teeth and we will carry you. If we go high enough, you will be able to see the world around us. But keep quiet or you will be sorry."
The zhackal was very happy with his new friends and their plan. He bit the stick firmly with his teeth and the two razorwings grabbed hold of it, one at each end, and away they flew. They carried the zhackal above the city-states and mountains.
Just then a Kes'trekel flew by. He was astonished at the strange sight and cried out: "A flying zhackal! Well, this must be the king of all zhackals!"
"Why certainly—" began the zhackal.
But as he opened his mouth to say the foolish words, he lost his hold on the stick. He fell down to the rocks below. The razorwings then had a great feast of the zhackal's broken corpse.

The Trapper and the Little Z'tal. A Dark Sun Fable.

A poor Nibnese trapper, who lived on the game he caught, had bad luck one day and was only able to catch a very small z'tal. The trapper was about to put it in his basket when the little z'tal said:
"Please spare me, Mr. Trapper! I am so small it is not worth the trouble of carrying me home. When I grow bigger, I will make you a much better meal."
But the trapper quickly put the z'tal into his basket.
"I would be a fool," he said, "to let you go. It doesn't matter how small you are, you are better than nothing."

The Kes'trekel and the Lirr. A Dark Sun Fable.

One hot morning as a lirr was using his sharp senses to track prey through the rocky desert, he saw a kes'trekel on the lip of a large boulder overhead. This was not the first kes'trekel the lirr had seen. What caught his attention this time, and made him stop for a second look, was that the lucky kes'trekel held a fat dead rat in her beak.