Long ago in the forest of the Serenwilde, beneath the brilliant green boughs of
the sacred Moonhart trees, was a group of followers of the Coven of the Moon.
With their brethren, they fawned upon Mother Moon and her beauty. Like their
guildmates, they watched each night as she cleaved her way through Night's
embrace. They watched as she shined her fullest, casting a beautiful, silver
light upon the land.

There was the First. He was a spirited sort of Faeling, silver winged, striding
with a skip, often fluttering happily. He was always eager to please. The Second
was a fox-like furrikin, simple minded yet passionate. The Third was an ambitous
young elfen man. Tight-skinned and sharp-featured, he was the most ambitous of
the group.

Unlike the Coven, though, they longed for Mother Moon. They wanted her beauty
for themselves- surely it would be glorious to have such a wonder for them
alone! They watched her journey each night, longingly. But how could they ever
excuse such a forbidden desire? One night, they made their growing despair at
the loss of her beauty known.

"Why must her light be swallowed beneath the merciless teeth of the mountains?"
wept the First, his silver Faeling wings drooping.

"Why must Father Sun chase her beauty away?" demanded the Second, her red
furrikin coat bristling at the indignation.

"Why", said the Third, the tall elfen, "must she be so vulnerable? So small
beneath the coldest embrace of Night, a small orb that pales in comparison? She
is so mighty, yet so unsafe!"

A silence followed these words. Night's fearful seduction crept into their
group.

The First declared then, "We must capture Mother Moon."

The Second and Third gasped, appalled at such an idea. But over the months, the
idea wormed its way into their mind. They realized that the First was correct-
they must capture Mother Moon, for the sake of her safety and splendour!

But they had their doubts. They confided their worries to one another.

"Maybe", said the Second. "we must save Mother Moon. She is the lone lady that
battles Night's Stygian reign in the heavens."

The Third frowned at the Second, asking "But surely if we remove her from the
heavens, Night will reign eternal? Is it not Mother Moon that lures Father Sun
to banish the darkness?"

The Second considered this a moment. "What if Mother Moon is divided, like her
Avatars? Surely, we can keep her in the sky to face the Night- but can we take
her from the ground, air and the waters?"

The Third nodded enthusiastically, indulged by the idea. "Yes, one piece of
Mother Moon for all of us!"

They were convinced, then, slowly drowning into the greed so many warn against.

Together, they returned to the First. They debated awhile on how they would go
about capturing Mother Moon.

"I shall take her from the air", said the First, "for it is the closest to
Mother herself."

"I shall take her from the waters", swore the Second, "as she is the most
beautiful there."

"I shall take her from the earth", claimed the Third, "as they both are part of
Nature."

The First toiled away in a workshop of the Wilde, refining gem after gem.
Surely a magnificent gem would attract the light of Mother Moon? The First
would be heard as he grew old, fusing gem after gem together. In the end, he
formed an enormous multicolour orb. It blazed brilliantly, casting rainbows in
even the slightest light. Satisfied, he tried to move the orb. He struggled and
heaved, gasping for breath, but failed. He wept, then, over his folly. He had
been seduced by greed and the fear of Night, and died on the spot.

The Second traveled to the top of the Moon Falls. She lovingly noticed how,
even in the daylight, the Falls seemed to glitter with the majesty of Mother
Moon. Gazing lovingly at it, she set to work. She constructed stone after
stone, making them as big and heavy as possible, and began to pile them up in
front of the Falls. She worked until she was old, until her back groaned with
her effort. Satisfied, she hobbled down to the Banks of Moon Lake. There, she
drank. "Mother Moon!", she sobbed, "Come to me, before it is too late!". She
guzzled down cup after cup of water from the Lake, eventually emptying it dry.
Nothing happened. She cried out in fury, then. How had she been so foolish to
waste her life on emptying the lake? How had she let herself be tricked? How
could she ever think of capturing Mother Moon? She expired then, on the dry,
cracked bed of Moon Lake.

The Third moved to the most isolated part of the Wilde, driven by nothing but
greed. He cared not for 'saving' Mother Moon- he must have her radiance! He
would be loved for such a beautiful thing! Driven on by the insane passion, he
began to dig. His ditch went further and further into the ground, down into the
darkest of the earth. Though ancient in age, he was sturdy. He climbed out of
his hole, caked with dirt. He filled the hole, now, with water, knowing that it
could reflect the most beautiful light of Mother Moon. When the hole was filled,
he waited for the remaining day, uttering not a word. As Mother Moon rose into
the heavens, shining against Mother Night, the Third watched in wonder. Hands
clasped behind his back, he knew he had built a large enough hole. Surely all
of Mother Moon's beauty would fit! He gazed into the hole contentedly, seeing
Mother Moon far at the bottom of the well. With the last of his strength, he
heaved a large wooden lid over the hole, sealing all inside it.

"Surely", rasped the Third with his final breath, "I have captured Mother
Moon."

When the Three's bodies were found, they were all laid to rest. The Coven
smashed the gem, unblocked the dam, and repaired the wound to the land that was
the hole of the Third. They did not weep, nor were they angry. If anything, they
were all the more sure that they must not fall to the dark seduction of Night.
Mother Moon could never be captured- she would battle Night until the end of
time, and they knew she would emerge victorious.