Gather 'round, children, and I'll tell you a story that will freeze the blood right out of you, a story of the ogres that rule Rolgulka and how they came to be cursed by the gods, or maybe by a ghost.
Long years ago, back in Conal's day when the Seelie and Unseelie still took turns playing at high king, and the formorians and firbolg all lived on far-off Tir nan Og. In those days, the Cimbri lived in peace west of the great mountains, and Rolgulka was a mostly a wilderness where no one went. Far off in that land was a tower, Naghwar Hrad it was called, where a terrible ogre lord named Waclaw held court. Naghwar Hrad was not really much of a castle, but Waclaw styled himself a king and so he called it a castle, and if his poor subjects ever bothered to disagree they did so only to themselves. He was at least nine feet tall, with skin as black as pitch, and he was a cruel and hard. Waclaw was a poor lord, though, and his lands were not rich.
One night in Naghwar Hrad , Waclaw was sitting at his board with a meager feast in front of him when there came a knocking at the door. His guard opened to see a small man all wrapped in a cloak against the cold. He begged entrance to Waclaw's castle, as a storm was brewing outside and the night was dark and cold. Waclaw was about to tell the man to be off when he caught a gleam of something at the stranger's wrist – a gleam of gold. Waclaw began to plot to himself how he might rob this stranger and have the gold for himself. He told his door warden to let the man in and seat him at his table.
The stranger came in and sat. He pulled back his hood, and Waclaw saw that he was a Cimbri from across the mountains. On his wrists were golden bracelets and about his neck was a torc of silver. The Cimbri spoke, and said "I am called Aod, my lord, and I thank you for your hospitality and shelter from this terrible storm. Your generosity is great." Waclaw told his servants to give the man food and much wine. Waclaw asked Aod how he came to be traveling in his kingdom, and Aod told him this tale:
"I come from across the mountains, my lord, and it was in the mountain I was wandering, for I was curious to see what was on this side. But two days ago, I was waylaid by a terrible giant in broad daylight. He was as tall as three men, and had three arms to boot! I barely escaped with my life, and only because I have a magic horn that can summon a great cloud of darkness. I blew the horn and managed to slip away while the great giant stamped about in the dark trying to find me. I left that area as soon as I could and found myself wandering through your fields when the storm came upon me." Waclaw became even more jealous then, and began to plot a way to get Aod's jewelry and his magic horn.
After the feast was over, Waclaw stood and said "The time has come for you to pay for the food and wine you've eaten and drunk at my table. Give me your jewelry for the food, and your magic horn for the wine, and we will be even."
"In my country," Aod replied, "it is not meet to demand payment from a guest."
Waclaw grew angry at that, for he was not used to insolence from anyone, and he reached down beside his chair where he always kept his great axe. When Aod saw that his host meant to rob him, he pulled out his magic horn and blew it as hard as he might, and the whole tower was plunged into darkness.
But that was what Waclaw had hoped he would do, for he could see in the dark as well as he could in broad daylight. He leapt suddenly over the table on Aod and with a mighty blow he hewed his head from his shoulders. Then he took Aod's magic horn, and his silver torc and golden bracelets as well, and he told his guard to throw the body in the ditch, not even giving it a proper burial.
From time to time, other travelers would stop and Waclaw would always give them a seat at his table. After the meal was over he would demand payment, and if they refused, he would blow his horn and fall on them in the dark, slaying and robbing. So it was that, one year after Waclaw had slain Aod and stolen his horn, another storm was brewing outside Naghwar Hrad . Waclaw was sitting at his board and he was not happy, because his lands were poor and it had been some months since any strangers had come calling.
Then there came a knock on his door, and Waclaw thought, "Ah, I am in luck! The gods have blessed me with someone I can rob." But to his door warden he said, "Let the man in and give him something to eat and drink if he asks for it."
The man that came in was not tall, and he wore a dark cloak with the hood pulled up around his face. He didn't speak, but he went and sat at the end of the table, in the same chair where Aod had been seated a year earlier. Waclaw called out to him and said "Stranger, you haven't given us your name." But the man made no reply. Food was put in front of him, but he didn't eat, but only sat in his chair and looked at the great Ogre. After a while, Waclaw spoke again and said "Stranger, you haven't eaten the food I've so generously given you." But again, the man made no answer. His goblet was filled with wine, but he never raised it to his lips. Finally, Waclaw became very angry, and he jumped from his chair and cried "Stranger, you haven't touched a drop of the wine I set before you! Why do you dishonor me by so refusing my hospitality?" At that, the man rose slowly to his feet, and raised his goblet as if in a toast. But when Waclaw raised his own goblet, the man poured his wine upon the floor!
Waclaw roared in rage and cried "No one dare insult me so in my own hall!" And he took his stolen magic horn from the baldric where he wore it, and blew a might blast to plunge his hall into darkness, but when he did, he discovered that he couldn't see a thing!
Then Waclaw and his door warden and his servants all hear a peculiar voice, and it seemed familiar to them. The voice said only "Waclaw the Cursed you shall be called! For you slew one who was a guest in your house, after he'd been given meat and drink, and the gods will not hold you guiltless! Never again will you be able to work your treachery!" And with that there was a great stroke of lightning, and Waclaw could see that the man had thrown back his hood, and he gave a horrible cry in the darkness and fell back. And the darkness faded and dispersed and the light returned. Of the nameless stranger, there was no sign. When the servants and the guard got their wits back, they saw a terrible sight, for Waclaw lay dead in his chair, and the golden bracelets and silver torc he'd stolen were gone! But the magic horn he still held clasped in his horny hand, and so they buried him with it and the people chose a new lord to govern them.
Now no one can say for sure what Waclaw saw. Some say it was Arawn, the god of the dead come to take him away to hell. Others say it was Aod, and Waclaw screamed because he could see the terrible scar where he'd cut off his head. The only thing for certain is that, from that day, none of the ogres or their kin could ever see in the dark any more like they used, and for that we can all be grateful.
