The Folklore challenge

Rokku Hizori · Jun 9, 2012

The foundation of fantasy: Myths

So, I know the first thing you probably think of when you hear 'myth' is the great heroes and gods of ancient Greece and the Norse Vikings. However, every culture has its own myths. The stories of the Bible and Koran, stories from Native Americans, The Japanese, Mayans, Aztec, all cultures have myths of some sort or another, some written, some oral. All of these myths usually explain why something is the way it is, how the world was created, why you should behave in a certain way, etc.

Now here's my challenge to all of you. Create a myth in the style of any culture you know of explaining something unique. This could be why caterpillars turn into butterflies, why the ocean is salty, etc. Be creative. Use existing gods and heroes, or make your own. Be as creative as possible.

Anglkate · Jun 11, 2012

((does it count if this was a 'myth' of the creation of a world for one of my old stories I never finished? : D if not oh well...but it sounds like it would fit!! ))

Long ago it was said that two beings of great power crossed paths one day on a barren world. It wasn't by mere coincidence they came to be together; they were drawn to each other's path like a moth drawn to a bright light. Some say it was destiny, others claim it was some greater force. Before they even knew it, their lives were intertwined and woven together, one for the rest of eternity. Love flourished and bloomed, growing stronger with each passing moment they shared. Never were the two lovers found apart. Through their love, the barren world they came to possess prospered and was made fertile with life and essence. Thus, the lovers became known as First Mother and First Father. First Mother and First Father ruled their newborn lands justly, and watched as their world grew and populations emerged.

First Mother nurtured the land and earth and cared for all its newborn creatures with a stern but gentle hand. First Father kept watch and helped the individuals inhabiting the lands grow wise and pass their time. With each of their roles taken First Mother became Earth and First Father became Time. Brought together as one, Earth and Time created Exordium, meaning the beginning, and life was good. However, all good things must come to an end. One day, a Great Darkness was born and spread across the land, a plague that couldn't stand the gaiety of the newborn world. Bitter and full of spite at the warm light, the Great Darkness began to spread forth its hand in hopes of wiping out the goodness in the world. The Plague began to infect people one by one, invading their hearts and minds and spreading greed, war, famine, and death. At first it was only a few, but the Great Darkness held immense persuasion and slowly began to spread, eating away at the light of Exordium bit by bit. The First Father and First Mother fought desperately as they watched their creation slowly crumble away to the Darkness of the plague. War, fueled by greed, ravaged the land, destroying the goodness no matter how hard First Mother and First Father fought back. Famine brought great hunger and strife to the land, animals, and people crushing their spirits. Death followed in all footsteps, striking down any fathom of hope. Despite all their efforts, the Great Darkness was winning and the light of life was fading from their beloved world.

In a last desperate attempt to save their legacy, First Mother and First Father decided to wipe out the world of Exordium and start anew; the greed and darkness had become too strong to contain. Before their final efforts, the couple gave birth to a wondrous tree of life, one that would bloom forever and never die, but always give forth pure life, a fountain of eternal essence and purity, a cry for their last hope of peace.

On the day of the final battle, the light of First Mother and Father faced off against the armies of the Great Darkness. With a final attack, an engulfing darkness spread over all of Exordium crushing the life of anything living. The Great Darkness seemed to have clasped victory, and the world seemed forever doomed. But through the darkness a bright light suddenly shinned and broke through, growing brighter with each passing second. The last of First Mother and First Father's energy saved for this encounter. Eventually the darkness was engulfed as the new light radiated forth and the darkness was driven back. The final attack served its intended purpose, but almost all life upon Exordium was lost. A second result of the immense collision of light and dark was the creation of morning and night.

Weakened, but not destroyed, the Great Darkness was cast back into the shadows from whence it came. Exordium had been returned from the darkness that had consumed it so. The darkness, for the time, was pushed back and Mother and Father were said to have vanished from the world, but their final gift brought new hope. The tree that had been created before the end took root within the new soils and slowly grew, feeding off the newly created light. Life was restored to the dying lands, and new life began to emerge from the tree's flowering branches. The world was born anew. With the new generation of life, the deeds and sacrifices of First Mother and First Father faded into legend and lost lore. The tree that had bloomed to give the world a rebirth was lost to knowledge, save for a few forgotten races that remembered the stories of old. But, the darkness that had taken over the world once before, still lingered deep in the hearts of all the creatures ready to come out again if the stimulus allowed.

Thus, our world, Geminus, meaning the twinned and the new replica of Exordium, came to be.

Villamvihar · Jun 14, 2012

A long time ago, when gods still existed, there was a man who lived for nothing but war. He has forged empire after empire just so that heroes could rise against him and defeat his troops, so that he may conquer, steal and slaughter, so that he may bathe in the blood of his enemies. The empires that he built would always leave behind chaos and disorder, yet he himself was never once defeated, always returning to head an empire once more, always eager to create more conflict. Soon, the gods have become tired of his game that they decided to punish him, and have gathered together in one place, eager to crush the man who turned the world that they created upside-down. However, they could not agree on the punishment, and as they argued back and forth, the war god's sword fell into the world of mortals, right into the hand of the man who loved wars.

Panicking, the gods have started a war against the mortals, but the sword of the war god granted the war-loving man and his armies invincibility. He could no longer be defeated by anyone who stood in his way, slaughtering gods and mortals alike, without restriction. He even wounded the war god and took his place, then set out to spread chaos and devastation throughout the world. His armies marched from country to country, mercilessly crushing all opposition, slaughtering those who dared to stand in their way, until they have reached the last city remaining in the world. The gods watched all this with fear, knowing that they could never challenge a war god, for he would ultimately win and gain power, thus they put all their faith into the mortals.

The last city in the world held out for hundreds of years, even under the siege of the war-loving man's armies, and soon, the war-loving man became bored of the conflict. He then turned his army against the other gods, waging a literal war against their rule, but as he was about to enter the palace of the gods, a lone man stood before him. He was clad in armour that obscured his features, but even as the millions-strong army of the war-loving man marched on, he showed no fear. Curious, the war-loving man challenged the stranger himself, and found that he was just as skilled as him in the art of war. Delighted in finally finding an oppononent, he continued on fighting the stranger, the sparks from his sword igniting the night sky.

But eventually, the stranger tired of the duel, so the war-loving man made him an offer: If he sparred with him each night, he would withdraw his army from the world, and leave both the gods and the mortals in peace. The stranger wisely agreed to his proposal, promising that he would wait for him each and every night in the same place, at the centre of the sky. Even now, they wage their battle in the night, littering the night sky with thousands of sparks.

Ashaekin · Jun 15, 2012

The night is cold and dark. Mist clung to the air while the bugs were silent, well aware of what's to come. Farmers locked their doors and windows, cradling their children and wives. Soon, fear would strike and all knew what was coming to past. Soon, tables shook, classes clattering together, chandeliers clashing along, creating a chaotic symphony of havoc.

Men could not explain why earthquakes occurred, but knew when they struck. They had known this was to happen. Those either stupid or drunk enough to wonder the roads and survived told stories of what happened. Gabe and his hounds were roaming about. The hunt itself struck fear into even the toughest of men.

The hunt consisted of Gabe, the head hound, and his followers. They rode steeds that took form of what their rider chooses. From a skeletal horse on fire, to great beast of fairy tales. They roamed the land from time to time, consuming the fear of those around as their sustenance. No one has ever laid eyes upon them. If they did, their mind would trick itself into thinking it was something else, walking away from their path. Some claimed to have seen them and told fellow villagers of the tale. They claim this is the reason why men have fear and why earthquakes occur.

(If you like it, pm. I thought I'd do this just once. Say I did a challenge. But I'm not subscribing and won't look back at this.)

Fate · Jun 15, 2012

(This is actually a myth I had to write for my mythology class a couple of months ago. Fit the challenge so I figured I would post it.)

The scent of death filled the air,
And the ground was soaked with blood.
The bodies of those who had fallen
In their quest to save their land
From the knight shrouded in darkness,
Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh stood amongst the bodies,
Laughing,
Like the cruel and sinister man he was.
"None shall defeat me!
This world will be mine!"
He declared to the heavens,
His red cloak blowing in the wind.

His laughter stopped suddenly
As he heard the sound
Of armored steps approaching.
He turned his head
In order to see
The one who would dare to challenge him.

From the shadows of the forest,
That stood on the edge of the blood soaked field,
Emerged a figure.

Clad in silver armor,
With a sword on their hip,
And a blue silk cape
Hung from their shoulders.
Their face was masked
Behind the helmet they wore.

"Who dares to stand before me,
Gilgamesh,
The future ruler of this world?"
He asked the newcomer
With a voice like ice.
The newcomer reached to their head
And removed their helmet.
Shining, silver hair fell down her back
As dark, blue eyes starred right back at him.

"I am Fate.
Daughter of Anima,
The God of Destiny,
And Precia,
The Queen of Saron."
The newly identified women replied.

Gilgamesh laughed.
"A woman?
The person,
Who would dare to challenge me,
Is a woman?"

Fate growled
As she drew her sword from its sheath.
"I may be a woman,
But I am not weak!
I will defeat you
And free the land of my birth!"

"Then fight me,
And prove your strength.
I shall warn you,
However,
That I have never lost a fight."
Gilgamesh stated as he too
Drew his sword.

The wind stilled
And the world went silent.
Both faced one another,
Their swords at the ready.

Sparks flew
As the two blades collided.
The two jumped apart
Only to have their blades meet once again.

The two battled relentlessly.
Their blades singing
As they cut through the air.
Both were evenly matched,
However,
That was about to change.

"I'll admit that you are good,
But I will not lose to you.
I will now show you
The true power of darkness."
Gilgamesh yelled.

He brought his sword back slowly
Behind his body.
His blade began to glow a sinister red
As it was charged with the most dark of magic's.
"Now die."
He stated before throwing his arm forward,
Unleashing the dark magic.

Fate raised her own sword
As it began to glow with white magic.
White and black magic collided
When Gilgamesh's attack
Came into contact with Fate's sword.

The aftershock of the collision
Caused the ground to tremble
And a cloud of dirt and smoke
To cover the silver armored knight.
A smirk formed on Gilgamesh's face
Before he began to laugh once again.
"I win." (46)
Was the only thing
He managed to say in between fits of laughter.

"I think not!"
Fate yelled as she ran out of the cloud
With her sword still glowing.
Catching Gilgamesh off guard
She quickly made her way to him
And imbedded her blade into his chest.
When she looked up at his face
She was shocked to see he still wore a smirk.

"Good work.
You've somehow managed to beat me,
However,
In the end it is I,
Who won.
By killing me,
You yourself have become a killer,
A monster,
Just like me."
Gilgamesh stated with amusement.

"I am nothing like you,
Because I am not going to kill you."
Fate replied as she too
Began to smile.
"I'm going to seal you
For the rest of eternity."

The smile on Gilgamesh's face disappeared
As the meaning of her words hit him.
His joy,
Was replaced by fear and anger.
"No!"

"Yes."
Was the only thing Fate said
Before she began to recite the spell
That would forever lock him away.
A circle of white light appeared beneath the two
And chains shot up,
Attaching themselves to Gilgamesh.

The chains began to recede back into the circle
Pulling Gilgamesh with them,
While he yelled curses to the heavens.
Once he had disappeared into the ground
The circle disappeared.

Gilgamesh's anger,
Combined with his mastery of black magic,
Caused the earth below to heat
And explode above the surface,
Thus creating volcanoes.

Search

Search

The Folklore challenge

Rokku Hizori

Guest

Anglkate

Guest

Villamvihar

Man of Questions

Ashaekin

Guest

Fate

Guest