By Kevin Kaumans, Entertainment Editor
Realizing that he was in no position to refuse, he accepted Salazzard As the man rose from the ashes, he found that his skin was charred from the fire.
Every part of his body except for the upper left part of his face was said to be “as black as one’s shadow.”
His vocal cords, having been scorched, left him mute. The folk tale ends with the man disappearing into the woods to never be seen again.
The Shadowman of Harrowfeild is one of Canatha’s most famous legends due to the mystery and intrigue surrounding the real-life city.
Throughout the centuries, the story has been either retold or interpreted hundreds of times. Some versions say that the identity of the Shadowman who burnt down Harrowfield was not a noble, but instead a laborer who lost his wife and son due to starvation caused by the lord’s unreasonable taxes.
In an act of revenge, he gathered barrels of gunpowder and spread them throughout the city before setting them off, burning himself in the process. Another retelling of the story says that the Shadowman was a serial arsonist who would travel from city-to-city for no other reason than to find new things to burn.
The mythical tale has even gotten a full-length novel adaptation in 1887 by the famous human author Johan Waremur. Waremur was born in Varna, the capital city of Canatha.
The son of a baker and a bard, Waremur grew up exposed to every myth and fable known to man, His essays on the cultural effects of folklore and how they affect a country’s morals earned him a full-ride scholarship to Kaletin University, the top college in all of Canatha.
He would go on to write all four-hundred pages of “Identity Eclipse” when he was just thirty-two.
The book tells the story of two sons of the lord of Harrowfeild. Where the novel differs from the original myth, however, is when Waremur names the sons of the story, with the oldest being Ancril and the youngest being Zarma.
Also, instead of the older sibling being the lazy, underachieving of the two, the books has him be an honest and dedicated young man.
Meanwhile, Zarma was greedy and constantly known blaming his misgivings on his kin. Over the years, their father became turned against Ancril by Zarma, thanks to the younger brother’s masterful charm and ability to make every situation look like Ancril’s fault. When Ancril caught the eye of Farlen, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, Zarma became enraged with envy.
One day, he approaches the lady and convinces her that Ancril is a womanizer and assaulter, causing her to stop speaking to him.
The climax of the book has Zarma burn down the mansion after Farlen rejects his love. He then gets chased into the courtyard by Ancril, where their father was hosting a celebration of his brother’s marriage.
As the two young men run into the crows, Zarma convinces them that Ancril had caused the fire. The crowd soon trunks against Ancril who runs into the still-burning mansion to escape them.
As he bursts through the door, the roof of the first floor falls on top of him, crushing him and setting him on fire.
Now, while the novel plays out mostly like the original folktale from here on out, the story ends with Ancril coming back to life and burning the rest of the city to the ground, killing all its citizens in the process.
The book ends with an inner monologue where Ancril finally accepts his role as the monster his family made him out to be.
Overall, while the true reason for Harrowfield’s burning will forever be unknown, the legends about it will likely live on till the end of the world.
It is in this likelihood that this dead city has become immortalized. This shows us how all it takes is one story, one tale told by word of mouth, for something to be saved from being forgotten.