Poliʻahu/Stories
Quotes
I'm glad you're here.
Relax and stay awhile.
If there's something on your mind,
I'm always happy to listen.
Thank you. Oh, and this is for you.
Please, I insist.
You're such a good lad.
I wish everyone were as polite
as you.
I do enjoy the time we spend
together, though I hope I'm not
too boring?
Live long enough, and you will
come to find that precious little
makes you angry anymore.
Good deeds are often returned in
kind. Bad deeds, doubly so.
Humans do seem to rush through
their lives. Perhaps that's simply
the nature of the short-lived.
You'll stay and listen? How kind.
Humans are strange creatures, yet I
find it hard not to cheer you on.
There are good and bad people,
wise men and fools, yet they are all
equally and essentially human.
This place is a bit hot for my
comfort. Would you mind if I made
some ice?
There are happy times and sad,
but in the end, time washes away
all things.
Dragon Story Episodes
Ephemeral Beauty
The gentle Poli'ahu dwelled in the
ice and was beloved by humans for
her generosity—though this caused
some to underestimate her power.
Rumors of the many treasures she
had accumulated over her long life
soon reached the ears of thieves who
sought to steal them for their own
personal gain.
One day, they snuck into her lair as
she slept. The rumors were true:
beside the slumbering Poli'ahu, they
found a mountain of crystals, each
as clear as daylight.
Elated, the thieves rushed to ferry the
treasure out of the nest, but their
footsteps woke the great dragon.
Poli'ahu gazed at each of the thieves
in turn. "You have great audacity,
sneaking into a dragon's den," she
said. "I hope you are prepared to
face the consequences."
The thieves trembled in fear, but soon
remembered that Poli'ahu never
killed humans. They then groveled
before her, a ready excuse on each
of their lips.
"This is a misunderstanding! We are
but art dealers come to discuss
business! You have such a fine
collection, we were hoping you'd tell
us where you stole these treasures."
Too late the thieves realized what
they had said. Surely the dragon
would unleash her wrath upon them
for treating her like a common
criminal—but her gaze was calm.
"Poli'ahu never kills anyone," thought
the thieves again. "We're going
home, and we're taking all of this
treasure with us!"
"We were hoping you'd tell us where
you stole these treasures," said the
thieves, who themselves had come
to steal the dragon's treasure.
Yet Poli'ahu remained placid.
"You think me a thief?" laughed
Poli'ahu. "Alas, all that you see
here I have made myself as a way
to spend the long, lonely hours."
The thieves quickly showered
Poli'ahu in praise. "This is all your
creation? Incredible! We never knew
there were such artisans among
dragonkind!"
"You must allow people to see these
works of art!" they said. When the
dragon said she did not wish for
that much company, they offered
a solution...
"We can take your works into town
and display them there," chuckled
the thieves. "Then all will know the
splendor of the great Poli'ahu!"
The dragon worried that the beauty
of her treasures would be lost in the
outside world, but the thieves
assured her that beauty was a
universal concept.
"Well, if you insist," said Poli'ahu
softly. "Take whatever you like.
Just be sure everything is returned
in a week's time, lest you regret it."
The triumphant thieves returned to
town and immediately set about
selling Poli'ahu's treasures to various
aristocrats.
Every last crystal they sold, however,
soon melted away—for they were
made not of crystal, but of ice.
The ice could not maintain its form
outside of Poli'ahu's domain. When
this fact was discovered, the enraged
aristocrats made the thieves pay with
their very lives.
Dragons are shrewd creatures and
slow to anger, but humans would
do well to remember that they are
only permitted to live by their mercy.