Genin is a famous mage who is said to have met and challenged Chanakur, the demon that plagued villages up and down the Genin Trail [K7+]. The tale is widely known and many villages claim the story as their own.
Chanakur is
said to have been a foul and evil creature who reveled in bringing
tragedy to the lives of common folk. The few who lived to tell of seeing
the beast described it as being tall and hairless, with five horns upon
its head and three razor-sharp claws on each of four limbs. Chanakur
weighed as much as two men and was as strong as three. He had a mighty
appetite and liked nothing better than manflesh.
People barred
their doors on the nights of the full moon, when Chanakur was said to
roam. A few brave men would sometimes lie in wait, hoping to ambush and
slay their tormentor. The measures were to no avail. Chanakur wandered
about, taking victims from village after village. The beast could break
in walls when the hunger took him and could make himself invisible. The
men could not catch him and despaired.
One day, the famous mage
came to the village and the reeve asked him to aid the people. Genin
talked to the people and folk told him what they knew of the monster and
pleaded for his aid.
On the next full moon, Genin confronted Chanakur and bound him with a mighty spell. He told the reeve:
Lo, have I bound the beast in a place beyond thy ken, and long will Chanakur stay in that place, but nothing lasts eternally. Chanakur is strong and a fey spellcaster himself, and he has much malice to sustain him.
But perchance there will come a day when Chanakur shall slip the bindings I have laid upon him, and he will break free to walk among you again. I give you this lens, an artifact of great powers, to warn and aid you should this terror come again.
Genin
gave the reeve a lens of pure crystal and told him to keep it safe, for
through it a man could clearly see Chanakur even when the creature was
invisible to others.
The lens is said to have been kept safe by
generation after generation, although no one can now say where it is.
Chanakur has remained bound for more than a hundred harvests and the
memory of his terror has grown dim, a tale now recounted mainly to
contain wandering children.
