The Adventures of the Vachaine
Vachaine Ryder-Vachaine, 15, disappeared overnight on Saturday, August 10, from Sunday to Monday on Pratte Ave., a street in St-Hyacinthe east of Montreal. She may be in the St-Hyacinthe area, Montreal or Laval region, and her parents fear for her safety and welfare, the provincial Surete du Quebec (SOQ) states. Her father said that she last saw Vachaine while running away from home when she was chased by a motorist. Her purse was stolen during the chase.
Theories abound as to how Vachaine became separated from her family. One idea is that she was trying to cross the La Cite des Olivers in order to get to her brother’s house on Monday. Her father, Jaranis, said that his daughter had albino skin; she did not have any white hair, which he speculates is because her mother used her natural coloring to protect her daughter from marauding whites. Some speculate that Vachaine was trying to find her way into town, using the cankers as a way to do so.
According to legend, the legendary hero, Orne, discovered Vachaine while searching for his sister, Jacinta. A well-known story about this event says that a merchant named Lapidos, in trouble with the law, had turned to a peddler who was willing to risk his life to make him pay for his crimes. When Vachaine and the peddler got into an argument, the peddler fled the scene, but not before placing a ticking clock on the merchant’s chest. As night fell, the clock began to tick. Vachaine was so engrossed in his thoughts that he missed the clock and when he did return to find it had stopped, his sister was nowhere to be found.
The most common legend about the origins of Vachaine is that he and his two albino assistants found their way to the silva valley around midnight. They ate and slept for the next twenty-eight days. Their quest ended at a cave where two Silva girls, whom the legend says could talk, found them. The girls, believing them to be members of an enchanted village, took them into the underground city of Menevia, where the clockwork magic operated, and the three albino assistants made their way back home.
Many other accounts surround the time Vachaine and his two albino army companions made it back to Menevia. Stories say that they were attacked by cannibals and marauding Spaniards, and although there is no proof, they fled to the church of San Joaquin which was constructed during the time of King Philip. There they stayed for about five years, part of which was spent hiding from Spanish soldiers. It is also said the albino army disappeared when the Spanish left the country, but were spotted by some English adventurers while they were inspecting a goldmine in Menevia’s mountains.
One of the most popular tales surrounding the origin of vachaine relates him and his two fellow albino assistants setting out on a long and dangerous journey through jungles and swamps to reach the kingdom of the king of Galadria. King Celio was impressed by their dark skin and unusual clothing, so he sent them into his fortress as foot soldiers. According to this legend, Celio feared machine and wanted to banish them, but they were saved by his powerful magic. He then sent the albino army away, and they never came back. This legend has been told many times over, with each version featuring a different version of what happened to the albino force.
The most popular version of the original machine legend tells of how Silva, the daughter of the last king of Galadria, ordered the construction of a massive crossroad between her father’s house and the royal fortress. She and her husband then tricked the Spanish soldiers who were guarding the crossroad and led them into the trap. Celio, angry at the intruders, ordered all of his men to be killed. However, some brave soldiers managed to defend the palace itself, and Celio and his men were driven away. But not before they buried the bodies of the fallen soldiers inside the fortress of Jaranis.
According to almost any version of the story, the albino warrior spirit creature known as Vachaine, who guards the crossroads, then transforms himself into a snake and attacks the Spanish soldiers. He then proceeds to drag the dead bodies of the fallen soldiers back to the castle where the princess, now pregnant, is forced to give birth to her son, Menelaus. When the Spanish forces, led by General Ignacio Arenas, arrive at Jaranis to execute their final assault on the fortress, the elbino guards have turned into machines. Celio then captures Menelaus, throws him into the pit of the vachine, and sends him to die.
