Calansis (legend)

Calansis was the legendary founder of Noulian, supposedly a demi-god who founded the city and empire following a prophesy from the gods. Many versions of this story have existed throughout time but the legend itself is a complete fabrication. No such demi-god existed and the city of Noulian was founded by Emperor Daramsis, incorrectly identified as Calansis's son in the legend. The legend has nonetheless been incorporated into official Noulaenic histories since the middle of the first century NE

Original Legend
The original legend was invented by a commoner from Narmein named Lionthios Criasfal, the grandson of a royal handmaiden. Lionthios bribed an auger and an oracle and forged a note from his grandmother to support his false story that he presented to Emperor Faerthios in 42 NE.

The original story claimed that a demi-god named Clanthios was born near Narmein and received a oracular prophesy from his father, Carasac, the god of rivers, that Clanthios's son would one day found a kingdom that would rule over all of Bindaela. The crown prince, the later King Tharthios, heard of the prophesy and decided to have Clanthios's family murdered to prevent them from conquering his kingdom. Unknown to him, his own wife, Dasthias, was visiting Clanthios's household with her own newborn son Dramthios at the time. The assassins rushed in and killed Clanthios but, in confusion, killed Dramthios instead of Clanthios's son. Dasthias, not knowing who sent the assassins and terrified of what would happen to her if her husband learned their son had been murdered in her care, fled unnoticed with Clanthios's son and raised him as her own. The only person she ever told of her deceit was her handmaiden, Lionthios's grandmother, who passed the information along in a note to her daughter.

This story was supposedly confirmed by the auger and oracle who had been bribed by Lionthios, and Faerthios accepted and publicized it to his people. King Tharthios had never been well regarded, despite efforts to redeem his legacy, and replacing him with a demi-god who had a divine destiny provided a more inspiring origin story for the empire. Lionthios deliberately crafted the story for this purpose, hoping that the emperor would welcome the grand, heroic tale of divine lineage and grant him favor. The plan was successful as Lionthios was installed as a prefect.

Later Versions
Later versions of this story changed the narrative considerably to increase Clanthios's role in the foundation of the empire. Versions told during the first empire claimed that Clanthios miraculously survived the assassination attempt and eventually rejoined his son to fight alongside him once he became king. Still later versions had Clanthios return years later to slay King Tharthios in revenge, prompting Dramthios to come after Clanthios with his sword. In some versions, Clanthios stopped Dramthios by revealing that he was his true father. In the version that proved most popular, however, Clanthios was unaware that Dramthios was his son and only learned the truth when Dasthias threw herself under Dramthios's blade, saving Clanthios and then informing the two of their relationship as she lay dying, saying that she couldn't allow her son to commit the unholy sin of patricide. In these later versions, Dramthios grants the imperial crown to Clanthios after winning the Battle of Falinmal Hill, choosing to serve under his father until his death two years later. Later versions also altered Clanthios's heritage, claiming that his mother was also a demi-god.

This version persisted in official histories throughout the first empire, although the names shifted to the middle Noulaenic version of Calanthios and Daramthios. Today they are best known by the High Noulaenic versions, Calansis and Daramsis. Alternate versions continued to circulate in folk histories that added various odd details to the story. One detail that attached itself to most popular versions of the story is that the prophesy Calansis originally received instructed him to found a city at a site where he found a fish devouring an eagle. In this version, Calansis and Daramsis decided to found Noulian before the Battle of Falinmal Hill rather than after, and the battle was fought to defend the site where they had discovered the unusual omen.

Historians of the second empire further changed the official version of the legend following various folk traditions that better suited their propaganda purposes. In these versions, the false parentage story was eliminated and Daramsis was spirited away from the attack by Tharthios (called Sarsis the Treacherous to avoid any confusion with Emperor Sarsis, founder of the second empire). The two became stateless refugees and built up an entourage of others who had been unfairly cast out from Bindaelic Kingdoms, which were described as treacherous and barbarous in the second empire's histories. These versions retained the eagle and fish legend and moved the foundation of Noulian ahead of the Battle of Falinmal Hill, which was now described as happening within the city's walls. These versions also significantly expand the scope, scale, and duration of the Four Kingdoms War, as well as placing Narmein as an ally of the Four Kingdoms. This version dominates modern Noulaenic historical texts, although there are older extant texts describing older versions at least as alternate tales.

Analysis
Lionthios's original story borrowed heavily from various traditional Malaenic mythic conventions dating to the Age of Heroes. False parentage, treachery, and self-fulfilling prophesies were common mechanisms employed in these legends and would have seemed relatively commonplace as narrative elements to a Malaenic audience. Later inventions also follow similar Age of Heroes mythic conventions, such as heroes being miraculously saved or spirited away from danger by gods and heroes being forced to undertake improbable quests to follow bizarrely specific, improbable sounding prophesies. The mythic character of these stories added prestige and mystique to the foundation of Noulian and added legitimacy to its status as an imperial capital.