Legend of Emerald Hare

The Legend of Emerald Hare is a legend told through generations in lands now known as the Dominion of Tiamat, and is the source of the comparison people make to the Emerald Hare, meaning something non-existant.

The Legend
In days of yore, when dragons were even more common than now, there was a hare. It was the most clever hare of them all. And because of that, it became very cocky - it knew it was way more clever than a lot of other creature in the forests. Because of its ego, it decided to trick a dragon. It travelled far west, and found a green beast that recently had an egg.

"Do you need help, o great dragon?" - the hare asked the powerful creature.

"I actually do, small one. Look after my young one, while I run an errand."

"I will do so, great one."

"And do not do anything else. That's the only thing I have asked you to do."

"Of course" - replied the hare.

The dragon had flown away. After making sure it was far enough, the hare entered the dragon's hoard. It was magnificent, filled with gold, silver, and gems. The sly animal was unimpressed with most of it, but then saw something astounding. A great emerald sat on top of a pile of silver coins. The hare grabbed it, and brought it outside of the lair and into a nearby forest, hiding it under moss. It then quickly returned to the egg, looking after it until the dragon returned. The lizard thanked the hare and entered it's lair with the egg. The hare quickly hopped from the lair into the forest. However, the moment the hare had touched the emerald, the dragon's cry could be heard.

"Curse you, hare! For your greed, you shall become what you stole!"

Suddenly, the hare had become of pure emerald so that every animal in the forest knew that it tried to outsmart a green dragon. The hare started hiding from that point on, occasionally showing itself to help lost travellers, or to share its wisdom with worthy adventurers. Nowadays it is mostly said to be just a legend and a saying meaning something not real - It's just an emerald hare.