Old Celest once stood among the cities as a paragon of intellect and virtue.
Even now its architecture, libraries, and elegance is spoken of in glowing
admiration. Many scholars believe there were no rivals to its culture and
refinement.

It is not an oft-spoken fact that it was also the leader of Basin fashion. We
would perhaps like to elevate our ancestors to the status of spirits, believing
they had no use for cloth and appearances. It was not so.

Nobility of every race would look to the merian capitol for hints as to what
materials, accessories, and ornaments to prefer from one season to the next. If
the Queen of Celest were to attend a ball wearing a simple gold sash over her
robes, all manner of gossip would begin until an entire hierarchy of sashes,
cummerbunds, and belts had been established. The hierarchy would be re-drawn
two weeks after when the Prince went hunting in an ivory waistband. Thus did
the wealthy entertain themselves and each other.

So it was that the royal family acquired a seamstress for himself. She was
named Yalaina, a young merian of low birth but truly transcendent tailoring
skill. She was with a needle as a bird was with wings, crafting glorious
garments for the King, Queen, and their children. Some say it was truly this
girl, little more than a child, that was at the epicenter of Basin fashion.

Yalaina worked night and day in the Star Palace for several years. Every
morning, excepting holidays, she would rise and begin spinning her thread and
weaving her cloth, for she did not trust servants with the making of her finest
materials. By afternoon she would complete a blouse or skirt or other item, and
by night before she slept a new outfit would be ready for the next day's
wearing. She was well-paid for her services, which she shared with her large
family she had left in the poorer quarters.

Yet as she grew older, Yalaina began to understand that her life was not
complete. She had made friends with the other royal servants, her loom maker,
and her apprentice seamstresses (sent by the most ambitious Celestian nobles).
Yet she
wanted more. She dared not say anything to the King, and vowed to keep her
problem secret, for she believed it was selfish. So it went for some months.

One evening as Yalaina worked she was approached by the King. She lowered
herself into a deep curtsey.

"Rise, seamstress. His Majesty wishes to know why your work has been lacking,"
said the messenger.

"Lacking? Whatever do you mean? I have fulfilled His Majesty's orders without
fail," replied the shocked Yalaina.

"His Majesty no longer finds your designs appealing. If you have no explanation
or improvement to show, you are to be dismissed on the next full moon." So
saying the messenger, she departed on other errands.

Yalaina was devastated and spent the night agonizing over her decision. On the
next morning, she approached the King directly. "Your Majesty, I know why my
designs have been suffering, though I did not dare admit it to myself," she
said.

"I ... I am lonely beyond words, Your Majesty. I feel I am the only merian in
the world that works all day and has no love to support me when I am
overtired," said Yalaina. "I desire a husband. Give me leave to find one and I
shall return to you a better seamstress."

The ancient Emporer's name has been forgotten over the years, but his temper
remains legendary. He rose to his feet and threw his goblet to the wall, where
it shattered. "You shall not leave! Sew us a golden coat for the morrow or be
killed for treason."

Yalaina left His Majesty's presence weeping. It is said during this time he was
leading a war campaign in the south, which perhaps explain his cruel words.
Yalaina finished the coat as demanded by working all through the night. When
she
finished, the dawn light showed it was the worst to have ever come from her
needle. The stitching was poor, the material shabby, and the embroidery
incomprehensible.

Yalaina was on the verge of packing her things to flee the palace when a knock
sounded on her door. It was the Emporer's messenger come for the coat or her
head, and the seamstress drew her shears. Yalaina decided she would fight for
her freedom. The shears were normally used for cutting thick swaths of silk;
they were almost too large for her hand and wickedly sharp. She prepared to
thrust them into the belly of the messenger and drew open the door, opening her
mouth to issue a warcry.

Yet as she opened the door, she stopped and fell silent, jaw open. She dropped
the shears. The handsomest merian she had ever seen stood before her. He bowed
gracefully and picked up the shears from where she had dropped them. He smiled
in confusion and offered them to her, speaking in a voice soft as the moonlight
tide, "Are you ... Yalaina? I am Lord Weras. If you are not well, we do not have
to walk the gardens together, but the dew will soon dry."

Over the next few weeks the lordling and seamstress met by appointment and in
secret, each vying with the other for the strength of their love. Yalaina felt
her life become complete, and within the month they were wed, with His Majesty
in attendance at their ceremony.

However, it soon became apparent that the distraction of a husband was more
demanding than the longing of a maiden. Yalaina's inspiration had returned and
once more Celest was abuzz with talk of fashion and silken beauty. Yet she
produced only half what she once did. Yalaina simply could not work as quickly
as she had. As a result, the King was forced to wear the same trousers to two
different balls, and was greatly humiliated. He returned to the palace in a
fury.

His Majesty stormed to the servant's quarters, bringing his judiciary as a
witness. Throwing open Yalaina's door, she and her husband startled awake. The
King sentenced Weras to be exiled from country at once, and killed if he
protested or tried to return. The Lord and his new Lady wept as he was escorted
from the palace and the city, all the way to the nation's borders.

The King's plan, if so it can be called, was ill-conceived and he soon came to
regret it. After her love was sent away, Yalaina's garments were worse than
ever, and always stained with tears. Yet the King was a proud man, and could
not simply
allow an exile to return within weeks of being sent away. The royal family was
forced to wear the clothing from less talented hands, and rumors of Celest
falling as a fashion capitol began to spread.

An old Celestian tradition is that of the Noble Boon. It was once a custom that
a noble could, on his or her birthday, make a visit to the Star Palace to ask a
single boon of the King and Queen. Commonly these would take the form of Lords
and Ladies asking for a particular species of fish named in their honor, or
that a charitable gift be made to the city library in their name. Uncommon
indeed was the noble that wished to ask something that seemed overly selfish,
and thus lose favor at court.

On the 6th of Avechary, Yalaina stepped into the audience chamber. She had
never attended the noble events, nor used her noble title in any way since her
marriage. Thus as she curtseyed and asked the Noble Boon, the audience chamber
filled with shocked silence.

"It is the day of my birth, and as a Lady, I ask a Boon of the throne. Allow me
to meet with the exiled criminal Weras on this day and I shall be your inspired
servant for ever," she said.

"Let it be so," said the King. To his advisors he gave the order to have the
Lord brought to the beach outside the city, and to escort him away at dawn.

It is a difficult task to find an exiled Lord, and it is even more difficult to
convince one that his prayers have been answered, even in part. Yet at length
the King's advisors succeeded and as the moon rose that evening over the sands
of Old Celest, Yalaina and her love embraced, diving into the waters of the
sea. At dawn he was escorted from Celest, and it was a year before the
seamstress was allowed to ask her boon once more. Yet she waited with patience,
pouring her heart into her sewing needle, and once a year until her death, Lord
and Lady met by night.

It is said their joy on that first meeting imprinted itself upon the very
waters, perhaps through the grace of Raziela. On the 6th ofAvechary, sit on the
shores of the Inner Sea and watch the whitecaps dance in the moonlight. It is
said one can see the smile of Weras in its foam and hear the laughter of
Yalaina in their roar.