In the first part of the Water Imps' lore, I recounted their history. Now, let's explore the legends surrounding them.
"According to legend, the song of the Water Imps can lead sailors to their ruin. But if everyone was lost to the water, where did this story come from?"
"It's probably from a Domovoy sailor who was too short to go over the ship's railing, heh... Stop giving me that look, Odette! I was just joking!"
There is a tale of a Water Imp who was nobler than the daughters of the sea and more beautiful than any living creature on earth. She possessed an extraordinary voice, and whenever she sang ancient songs, sailors would willingly seek their doom in the depths, and the ice-bound sea would melt with tenderness. One day, the beautiful Water Imp met a prince on the shore and, despite her sisters' warnings, followed him onto land. From then on, she sang only for the handsome prince, for his glory and his ambitions, bringing beauty to the royal banquets with her singing so that he might boast of his power and grandeur. The prince cherished her like a precious jewel, keeping her within the confines of his splendid palace, and bestowed upon her silk, golden robes, and gemstones.
Yet no one in the palace understood the sorrow woven into her songs, and the purer her voice became, the deeper the ill foreboding grew in her soul. Eventually, the day came when she could no longer sing those ancient, touching melodies that once drew tears from her audience. Her voice grew harsher and began to fade. The prince grieved like a priceless jewel that had lost its worth.
The Water Imp’s clan sealed a blood pact and learned from the Vila how to save their sister. Her song had been imprisoned within the prince’s indifferent and disdainful heart, and to reclaim it, that heart had to spill its blood. Her sisters swam to the shore and brought their beloved youngest sister a sacred artifact with which to pierce the prince’s heart. Mindful of the sacrifice her people had made, the Water Imp returned to the palace and raised the blade over the sleeping prince. Her hands trembled, but instead of a strike, only a heavy sigh escaped her lips. From that time on, the ancient melodies were never heard in the palace again and were lost forever. For the Water Imps, this tale serves as a reminder that they should sing only for those who understand their songs.
There is a legend that the Water Imps' tears of genuine sorrow turn into pearls. One tale tells of a wayward Water Imp hiding amidst a snowy plain. Unable to return home, they endlessly sings mournful songs. This weeping Water Imp once imprisoned an adventurer in their cave, a cave where the floor was strewn with pearls. Yet this is merely a fable, otherwise, the beds of the Snezhnaya’s waters would be carpeted in pearls, and pearl necklaces would not command such a high price.
One of the legends tells of Reed Miller and a man named Zima, originally from Snezhnaya. He was born in a small town southeast of Snezhnograd, where villagers told stories near the bonfire. They said that some Snegurochka were looking for love, which warms mere mortals in the cold wind, but when they were betrayed, they turned their lovers into frozen statues. Zima's companion, having fallen in love with such a Snegurochka, froze to death on the side of a mountain, and even after death, a crazy smile remained on his face.
Zima found it a monotonous way to die, he was drawn to adventure, he wanted to find his destiny, unlike others, so he went south to the archipelago in the middle of the blue sea, where he first heard about Reed Miller. At that time, there were rumors that he had been captured by the governor and taken to Snezhnograd for a hanging in the public square, but at the last moment, the great thief escaped the noose and became an idol to the youth.
So when the master thief reappears, buys a three-masted ship, and starts recruiting sailors seeking adventure and fortune at the harbor, Zima offers his name without a second thought. Although Miller became famous for robbing the rich and giving the loot to the poor, he walked along the sea as carefully as if he were a spice merchant and not a great thief. He spent days skirting around those regions, avoiding the dark abysses where dangerous creatures lurk as well as the serpent-infested Sea of Mist.
Life on the ship consisted of scrubbing decks, patching sails, and scurvy gums. To Zima, it all felt too safe, familiar, and dull. At night, he prayed to the inky sea for a real storm, or for some monstrous kraken to rise from the depths. His prayers were answered, and one day a song was heard in the azure waters. It was not a human song, it had no melody, but it instantly ensnared the souls of the sailors. From the water emerged the pale, hauntingly beautiful face of a siren, who demanded a sacrifice or the ship would be sunk. But Reed Miller refused to make the sacrifice and instead ordered the entire crew to plug their ears with beeswax so as not to hear the siren's haunting song.
Seized by panic and the deadly song, the sailors hurled the crates of Mora looted from the governor's palace overboard, thinking the gold might serve as payment. But the siren did not even look at the gold coins plunging into the water, because human wealth meant nothing to her. Her greedy gaze was focused on the sailors themselves. The master thief had no choice but to choose a victim, and he put his cold blade to Zima's throat, but Zima didn't even resist. This was the moment he had traveled so far for. As the icy waters rise above his head, the face of his long-lost friend appears before him, frozen in sculpture, still wearing that faint, familiar, ecstatic smile sealed by the snow maiden's kiss. All his life, Zima has abhorred following a pattern, running from every known ending, only to realize in this final moment that every escape has been a flight into another mirror.
Some versions of the tales of Reed Miller, the legendary thief, even tell of a so-called "King of Whales" who helped Reed and his merry companions resist the sirens' bewitching song — and, in turn, caused the siren queen herself to fall in love with him at first sight.
