Post by Rain on Jun 15, 2010 16:08:53 GMT -5
This is where I shall, or any of you can, posts and myths or legends that deal with the world we are creating. For a start I am going to do the ones for the gulf area and the lake in the middle of the continent.
The gulf
In ages past the people of the known world traveled in tribes and never lingered long in a single place. They were heavily superstitious and almost fearful of anyone not of their tribe. It was at this time that the dark forces had decided to try and make themselves a kingdom and enslave the various tribes. The Oni poured across the west of the land for a start. Tribes fell under the assault of the demons and their numbers. Even those who submitted without a fight were not saved completely from the blades and fires. Many men were lost, the women enslaved. Once the Oni get a nice base set up they started branching out across the land like a cancer. While the tribes did not talk unless it was for trade, the occassional swapping of blood to keep from inbreeding in the tribes or to pass on news of desasters like a river flodding or drying, they knew that remaining as they were would not save them. But as in all times when tribes try to unite there is the issue of who will lead them. Many fights broke out between tribal leaders and the tribes themselves weakening them all in the face of the assaults of the Oni. It took several years before anyone managed to step forward and take control. He was not imposing looking, though history would paint him to be a mountain of a man with striking eyes and a face to strike fear into the hearts of all. He had been fighting the demons for months at the least and heard of the tribes trying to join. Everyone listened to him and soon he was leading the various tribes in assaults agaisnt the hordes. The battles were long and bloody, many men and women losing their lives. But in the end the Oni were defeated. The victory was great...but not without a price. The man who led the tribes was gifted by the gods and the power sent through his body to aid in his battle was so great that it destroyed him. The land where the battle had taken place was cast down below the sea trapping those who survived under the suface.
The Lake
The lake became a central hub of sorts after the Oni were defeated. All the rivers led to it, fish were plentiful in it as well as plants and other flora and fauna that were benefitial to the people. The lake in those days was not very large taking only a few hours to cross and half a day to circle around. No one knows what exactly happened there but many speculater heavily over it. One of the common ideas is that a maiden who lived at the waters edge had caught the eye of one of the gods and that he had approached her disguised as a mortal man to try and woo her. He could have taken her but there was something about her that compelled him to court her. despite his best attempts she turned him down time and again. When he left the girl and went back to the Heavens he saw why. She belonged to another, or she was waiting for him to return so they could be together. While the devotion and loyalty the woman showed to a man who had been gone for some time was touching it did not really register to him in his fury of having been denied by the woman over a mere mortal man. In his rage he struck out at them nd he killed the man he was spurned for. The maiden, disdraught over her loves death cried. For days she cried, her tears falling into the lake. As the days wore on and her grief remained the lakes borders changed and grew. The God tried again to court the woman and again she denied him, her heart broken. He was again outraged. He grabbed the poor woman and carried her far into the waters of the lake drawing an island from the depths to show her his power but she was not swayed. He cast her to the ground and stood over her his fury around him. He took her on the shores of the island leaving her soon after to return to the Heavens. Every night for a fortnight he came to her and every night he left when done with her. And every night the woman cried anew. The gods actions did not go unnoticed by his fellow Gods or Goddesses. But there wasn't much they could do to him. But they could try and help her. The Goddess of love and life soothed the womans suffering and created on the island a sanctuary for her. It was rumored that the woman died there of the heartache she suffered. But this rumor is less accepted than the one that she lived and gave birth to a child, a girl and only died when the child was a few years old and she saw how like the Deity the child looked and that she had cast herself into the waters. There is much speculation as to what causes the fluxuation of the waters borders and the occassional disappearance of the island but whatever truth there may be to them is highly limited and the only one who knows resides on the island.
The gulf
In ages past the people of the known world traveled in tribes and never lingered long in a single place. They were heavily superstitious and almost fearful of anyone not of their tribe. It was at this time that the dark forces had decided to try and make themselves a kingdom and enslave the various tribes. The Oni poured across the west of the land for a start. Tribes fell under the assault of the demons and their numbers. Even those who submitted without a fight were not saved completely from the blades and fires. Many men were lost, the women enslaved. Once the Oni get a nice base set up they started branching out across the land like a cancer. While the tribes did not talk unless it was for trade, the occassional swapping of blood to keep from inbreeding in the tribes or to pass on news of desasters like a river flodding or drying, they knew that remaining as they were would not save them. But as in all times when tribes try to unite there is the issue of who will lead them. Many fights broke out between tribal leaders and the tribes themselves weakening them all in the face of the assaults of the Oni. It took several years before anyone managed to step forward and take control. He was not imposing looking, though history would paint him to be a mountain of a man with striking eyes and a face to strike fear into the hearts of all. He had been fighting the demons for months at the least and heard of the tribes trying to join. Everyone listened to him and soon he was leading the various tribes in assaults agaisnt the hordes. The battles were long and bloody, many men and women losing their lives. But in the end the Oni were defeated. The victory was great...but not without a price. The man who led the tribes was gifted by the gods and the power sent through his body to aid in his battle was so great that it destroyed him. The land where the battle had taken place was cast down below the sea trapping those who survived under the suface.
The Lake
The lake became a central hub of sorts after the Oni were defeated. All the rivers led to it, fish were plentiful in it as well as plants and other flora and fauna that were benefitial to the people. The lake in those days was not very large taking only a few hours to cross and half a day to circle around. No one knows what exactly happened there but many speculater heavily over it. One of the common ideas is that a maiden who lived at the waters edge had caught the eye of one of the gods and that he had approached her disguised as a mortal man to try and woo her. He could have taken her but there was something about her that compelled him to court her. despite his best attempts she turned him down time and again. When he left the girl and went back to the Heavens he saw why. She belonged to another, or she was waiting for him to return so they could be together. While the devotion and loyalty the woman showed to a man who had been gone for some time was touching it did not really register to him in his fury of having been denied by the woman over a mere mortal man. In his rage he struck out at them nd he killed the man he was spurned for. The maiden, disdraught over her loves death cried. For days she cried, her tears falling into the lake. As the days wore on and her grief remained the lakes borders changed and grew. The God tried again to court the woman and again she denied him, her heart broken. He was again outraged. He grabbed the poor woman and carried her far into the waters of the lake drawing an island from the depths to show her his power but she was not swayed. He cast her to the ground and stood over her his fury around him. He took her on the shores of the island leaving her soon after to return to the Heavens. Every night for a fortnight he came to her and every night he left when done with her. And every night the woman cried anew. The gods actions did not go unnoticed by his fellow Gods or Goddesses. But there wasn't much they could do to him. But they could try and help her. The Goddess of love and life soothed the womans suffering and created on the island a sanctuary for her. It was rumored that the woman died there of the heartache she suffered. But this rumor is less accepted than the one that she lived and gave birth to a child, a girl and only died when the child was a few years old and she saw how like the Deity the child looked and that she had cast herself into the waters. There is much speculation as to what causes the fluxuation of the waters borders and the occassional disappearance of the island but whatever truth there may be to them is highly limited and the only one who knows resides on the island.