Archaeology

History

Jade of the Loch

Legend holds that Coire Loch (the Hidden Lake) harbors a water spirit known as Jade.  Worshippers sculpted talismans and brought gifts to her.  The gifts were tossed in the loch seeking good fortune in the coming years.

Those who claimed to have seen Jade described her as a water spirit with green hair.  She delighted in merry making and fraternizing with humans.  Ale was a favorite gift.  She was a treasured spirit and villagers traveled from all over to curry her favor.

The popularity of the nymph caused more and more presents to be thrown in her home.  The loch began to look like a dump site.

Here the histories describe the water spirit showing a reversal of mood.  Her hair color is described as a yellow-purple and her mood darkened.

She bantered with her boon seekers.  Their only hope of escape was to talk in rhyme and get the last word.  Those who failed were found floating face down in the loch--If her change in disposition was attributable to the pollution in her habitat, one cannot say.

To no one's surprise, people avoided the loch after this.  The shrine keepers stopped maintaining the site.  Only travelers unfamiliar with the area, those lost in fog or drunk crossed her path.  The lack of visitors only increased her ire.  Jade took to popping the odd traveler with a well aimed skipping stone.

As fate should have it, a group of MacThoys, guided by Arthorgrim the Scintillating, were headed home from an eve of debauch, and wandered by her home.  They spied the gold in the shallow water and began salvaging it.

They were discovered by the Jade, who promptly engaged them in rhyming.  The MacThoy gave a virtuoso performance.

Jade was impressed.  She resolved to make this tribe the instrument of her revenge on the admirers who had abandoned her.

The MacThoy were to rebuild her shrine and lure people back to the loch.  In return they could have the treasure that abounded there.

Thanks to the Widow Oscar MacThoy for restoring this image.

They returned home and told the rest of the Clan what had transpired.  Their story was collectively deemed to be the Worse Lie ever fabricated.

The story might have ended there but Arthorgrim decided to pawn one of the Nymph's gifts.

A villager recognized it as a gift he had left at the loch years ago and demanded to know how he had come to own it.  The Scintillating One revealed it was a boon from the water nymph and blessed with unimaginable power.

The prospect of an icon won from such a mean-spirited creature tripled the value of the trinket.  It was purchased without hesitation.

Arthur hurried back to the Clan and convinced them to accompany him back to Coire Loch.

There they met once again with the Jade.  Arthorgrim asked her to bless the icons in her loch.  The spirit assented and had the MacThoy select the blessings.

Here's where problems started. The MacThoy were unable to devote much forethought to this.  Consequently what started out as great ideas were in fact varying degrees of curses.  For example, Arthorgrim had a cod piece blessed to find "any willing wench" but there was no telling what sort of wench, the bearer would be led to (farm animals, etc.)

The MacThoy made good business selling the items.  They coerced local villagers into restoring the shrine its former glory.  A fabulous sort of carnival atmosphere grew and is said to exist to this day if one can find the Hidden Lake.

A few of her gifts are still with us.  The Enchanted Codpiece, Excalibur, the MacThoi Taps, and the Drinking Horn of Odin, rumored to never run dry.