tleilaxu
First Post
Hey there. Lotsa campaign journals here. How bout something a bit different. Submit the Myths that you use to give a sense of wonder in your campaign! Heck, criticize this one!
Dwarven Creation Myth
In the beginning the earth was white with ice and the sky black with emptiness. But high in the sky, even from the beginning, were the stars that shine down. The light from the stars fell down to the earth as warm snowflakes, and these formed into mounds of snow upon the earth.
When the sun arose the next day, the mounds awoke upon the hillsides and in the endless valleys of ice. These giants of ice were the first creatures to walk upon the earth. They were cruel and capricious, and spent much of their time warring against one another. They threw boulders and spikes of ice into one another, until one by one they dwindled, and the earth was almost completely barren of life.
But during the many battles of the elder race, there was one of the brothers, smaller in physical prowess, but keener of mind and hand. He was called Harr. While his brothers fought upon the surface, he delved into the earth. There, he was the first of all creatures to discover gems, and from them he fashioned a wonderous necklace (which he used as a brideprice). Delving deeper and deeper, he finally found a realm beneath the ground, full of living gems and fountains of steaming water, and he made friendship with the King of the underland, and wed with his daughter Rangah, queen of the earth.
Above ground, only two of his brothers remained, Jari and Nari. They were the two greatest and largest of all the giants, and they had slain all the rest of their brothers. Jari was the largest off all the giants.
Once, years before, when exploring close to the ice waters of the north, he had fallen through some weat ice and would have surely died had his younger brother and companion, Hom (o with a dash) pulled him out. Hom brought Jari back into a cave and sheltered him with his body, but the giants had no knowledge of fire, and Jari was sure to die.
Suddenly, out of the white blizzard raging outside the cave, they began to hear singing. Jari's eyes had been frozen shut, but Hom had warmed them with his tongue, and as he opened them he saw what seemed to be a hallucination, for out of the blizzard came a warm wind, as though made of breath and sweat and musk. Jari saw before him the visage of a woman of beauty never before imagined. Driven insane by jealousy and desire, Jari grasped a rock and bashed his companion Hom in the head, killing him instantly. Jari then took the Lady of Mists as his wife, and from them spring the races of giants.
Nari was even more wild and foul than his brother, and if he was less strong he was quicker of foot and hand. When the killing whiteness came he burrowed into a fox den or fought his way into a bear cave (and many other animals' homes). Before settling down in the animals' homes he killed off the males and took the females as his wives. From him spring all the accursed ones who change their skins.
Harr was happy in the underland for many years, and learned much from the King there of working stone and metals, and indeed made friendship with many of the living veins there. But there came a time, when he had dwelt with Rangah for a full third of his life, when Harr desired to be master of his own home, and to build his own kingdom in the snow, where he could see his mother the stars.
And so it came to pass that Harr dwelt upon the surface of the earth, with Rangah his wife, and their eight daughters, who are called the Snow Maidens, the mothers of our race.
Now it happens that Harr came to the surface at the same time Jari and Nari were fighting each other, and the whole earth shook from their terrible battle. Their wrath was terrible as Jari flung mountains and lightning at Nari, while Nari clawed at Jari with tooth and nail. Finally, from his many cuts and bruises, Nari's body let loose its last hold to the world. Nari's body fell and made the great mountains to the East. His blood fell and made the great river that cuts through the valleys of the world.
Harr and his folk were terrified from the upheavals that the world experienced, and found themselves in dire straits, both freezing and starving to death.
But Jari, wounded but alive, saw Harr and his family from afar. He was smitten with the beauty of the ice maidens, who of all creatures in the world were the most fair. Only they, of all creatures below the sky, had skin as white and smooth as ice, their hair as dark as night, and their eyes the lightest blue.
Leaving his home, Jari strode down to where Harr and his family were camped. There he offered to save Harr and his family, but only if Harr would give his eldest daughter to be one of Jari's wives. Having no choice, Harr agreed. Rangah, Wara the eldest daughter, and her seven younger sisters all wept at this cursed fate, for not only was Jari rough and untender, but his first wife, the Queen of the Mists, was even more cruel to all Jari's other wives.
So it came to pass that Jari brought them food and drink to keep them alive, and brought the warm breath to keep the cold from their bones. But Harr was not of a mind to give away her eldest without conflict, and Rangah was of like mind, being the proud daughter of underworld.
Rangah gave each of her daughters supplies and sent them in different directions out into the white void. "For only far away will you be safe, for truly Jari desires not only Wara, but all of you to be his wives."
When Jari returned home he asked Harr where his daughters were. "Pray forgive their absence brother, for they are preparing for the journey back to your halls. Eager they are to see their magnificence, and also to meet your wife, the glorious Queen."
"Yes!", responded Jari "I am eager to return to my halls with my lawful wife Wara. Yes, and her lovely sisters as well. We will set out at dawn!"
Hiding his loathing, Harr feigned to be pleased with this, and proposed a toast to the mingling of their houses. But unbeknownst to Jari, Rangah has sprinkled a magical dust from underland into the wine, and Jari fell into a great sleep. So it was that Jari slept, and outside the snow covered the tracks of the eight snow maidens, and Jari could not find where they had went.
When Jari awoke, he had found he had been decieved. "If I cannot have what is mine by right for a wife, then I will take your own wife as one of mine!"
With that Jari advanced upon Rangah and Harr lept forward to defend her. Jari struck Harr down without a second though, and he lay dying on the ground. Then Rangah, calling on her last strength as Princess of the underland, caused the stones of the cave they were in to fall down and crush all three of them to death together. Thus passed the last of the first children upon the earth.
Walking apart from one another in every direction from their home, the snow maidens trekked through the wastes of the world until their food was nearly gone and their energy and hope exausted. Then, as one (though they did not know it), they lay down in despair and waited for death to take them.
As Wara (the eldest) lay dying, she felt a strange warmth on her skin. "Ah," she thought "This is what death is like. The next world must be warm, and for that I am glad to leave this world of sorrows."
Then, before her, she saw a figure engulfed in what looked like flame, though it did not burn her.
"I am the spirit of fire. You are the most beautiful thing I have lain my eyes upon. I will put my fire into you, and from our mingling, fire, ice, stone and star will make a race to cover this earth."
Then Wara's ice was melted, and she lay together with the spirit of fire, and was saved from the blizzard outside. But the next morning he was gone, and no one knows from where he came. But the dwarves do know something more of him, for on that same night the spirit came to quicken all eight of the daughters of Harr, and from them come the nations of dwarves upon this earth.
Dwarven Creation Myth
In the beginning the earth was white with ice and the sky black with emptiness. But high in the sky, even from the beginning, were the stars that shine down. The light from the stars fell down to the earth as warm snowflakes, and these formed into mounds of snow upon the earth.
When the sun arose the next day, the mounds awoke upon the hillsides and in the endless valleys of ice. These giants of ice were the first creatures to walk upon the earth. They were cruel and capricious, and spent much of their time warring against one another. They threw boulders and spikes of ice into one another, until one by one they dwindled, and the earth was almost completely barren of life.
But during the many battles of the elder race, there was one of the brothers, smaller in physical prowess, but keener of mind and hand. He was called Harr. While his brothers fought upon the surface, he delved into the earth. There, he was the first of all creatures to discover gems, and from them he fashioned a wonderous necklace (which he used as a brideprice). Delving deeper and deeper, he finally found a realm beneath the ground, full of living gems and fountains of steaming water, and he made friendship with the King of the underland, and wed with his daughter Rangah, queen of the earth.
Above ground, only two of his brothers remained, Jari and Nari. They were the two greatest and largest of all the giants, and they had slain all the rest of their brothers. Jari was the largest off all the giants.
Once, years before, when exploring close to the ice waters of the north, he had fallen through some weat ice and would have surely died had his younger brother and companion, Hom (o with a dash) pulled him out. Hom brought Jari back into a cave and sheltered him with his body, but the giants had no knowledge of fire, and Jari was sure to die.
Suddenly, out of the white blizzard raging outside the cave, they began to hear singing. Jari's eyes had been frozen shut, but Hom had warmed them with his tongue, and as he opened them he saw what seemed to be a hallucination, for out of the blizzard came a warm wind, as though made of breath and sweat and musk. Jari saw before him the visage of a woman of beauty never before imagined. Driven insane by jealousy and desire, Jari grasped a rock and bashed his companion Hom in the head, killing him instantly. Jari then took the Lady of Mists as his wife, and from them spring the races of giants.
Nari was even more wild and foul than his brother, and if he was less strong he was quicker of foot and hand. When the killing whiteness came he burrowed into a fox den or fought his way into a bear cave (and many other animals' homes). Before settling down in the animals' homes he killed off the males and took the females as his wives. From him spring all the accursed ones who change their skins.
Harr was happy in the underland for many years, and learned much from the King there of working stone and metals, and indeed made friendship with many of the living veins there. But there came a time, when he had dwelt with Rangah for a full third of his life, when Harr desired to be master of his own home, and to build his own kingdom in the snow, where he could see his mother the stars.
And so it came to pass that Harr dwelt upon the surface of the earth, with Rangah his wife, and their eight daughters, who are called the Snow Maidens, the mothers of our race.
Now it happens that Harr came to the surface at the same time Jari and Nari were fighting each other, and the whole earth shook from their terrible battle. Their wrath was terrible as Jari flung mountains and lightning at Nari, while Nari clawed at Jari with tooth and nail. Finally, from his many cuts and bruises, Nari's body let loose its last hold to the world. Nari's body fell and made the great mountains to the East. His blood fell and made the great river that cuts through the valleys of the world.
Harr and his folk were terrified from the upheavals that the world experienced, and found themselves in dire straits, both freezing and starving to death.
But Jari, wounded but alive, saw Harr and his family from afar. He was smitten with the beauty of the ice maidens, who of all creatures in the world were the most fair. Only they, of all creatures below the sky, had skin as white and smooth as ice, their hair as dark as night, and their eyes the lightest blue.
Leaving his home, Jari strode down to where Harr and his family were camped. There he offered to save Harr and his family, but only if Harr would give his eldest daughter to be one of Jari's wives. Having no choice, Harr agreed. Rangah, Wara the eldest daughter, and her seven younger sisters all wept at this cursed fate, for not only was Jari rough and untender, but his first wife, the Queen of the Mists, was even more cruel to all Jari's other wives.
So it came to pass that Jari brought them food and drink to keep them alive, and brought the warm breath to keep the cold from their bones. But Harr was not of a mind to give away her eldest without conflict, and Rangah was of like mind, being the proud daughter of underworld.
Rangah gave each of her daughters supplies and sent them in different directions out into the white void. "For only far away will you be safe, for truly Jari desires not only Wara, but all of you to be his wives."
When Jari returned home he asked Harr where his daughters were. "Pray forgive their absence brother, for they are preparing for the journey back to your halls. Eager they are to see their magnificence, and also to meet your wife, the glorious Queen."
"Yes!", responded Jari "I am eager to return to my halls with my lawful wife Wara. Yes, and her lovely sisters as well. We will set out at dawn!"
Hiding his loathing, Harr feigned to be pleased with this, and proposed a toast to the mingling of their houses. But unbeknownst to Jari, Rangah has sprinkled a magical dust from underland into the wine, and Jari fell into a great sleep. So it was that Jari slept, and outside the snow covered the tracks of the eight snow maidens, and Jari could not find where they had went.
When Jari awoke, he had found he had been decieved. "If I cannot have what is mine by right for a wife, then I will take your own wife as one of mine!"
With that Jari advanced upon Rangah and Harr lept forward to defend her. Jari struck Harr down without a second though, and he lay dying on the ground. Then Rangah, calling on her last strength as Princess of the underland, caused the stones of the cave they were in to fall down and crush all three of them to death together. Thus passed the last of the first children upon the earth.
Walking apart from one another in every direction from their home, the snow maidens trekked through the wastes of the world until their food was nearly gone and their energy and hope exausted. Then, as one (though they did not know it), they lay down in despair and waited for death to take them.
As Wara (the eldest) lay dying, she felt a strange warmth on her skin. "Ah," she thought "This is what death is like. The next world must be warm, and for that I am glad to leave this world of sorrows."
Then, before her, she saw a figure engulfed in what looked like flame, though it did not burn her.
"I am the spirit of fire. You are the most beautiful thing I have lain my eyes upon. I will put my fire into you, and from our mingling, fire, ice, stone and star will make a race to cover this earth."
Then Wara's ice was melted, and she lay together with the spirit of fire, and was saved from the blizzard outside. But the next morning he was gone, and no one knows from where he came. But the dwarves do know something more of him, for on that same night the spirit came to quicken all eight of the daughters of Harr, and from them come the nations of dwarves upon this earth.
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