Myths And Legends

Local mythology. A few are associated with specific countries or cultures, but most are found across broad regions.

Big Sister and Little Sister

Appearances: Big Sister, Little Sister

The names of the moons in Iuilic mythology. (The same words are used for “sister” and “moon” in Iuilic, while “brother” is literally “he-moon.”) They created the world together.

According to ancient legend, both moons stayed up and full for six days while the Iuilic people fled the Horn Kingdom. It's commemorated in the festival of Vyrvatsya, with easy-to-carry foods and two-bulbed moon-phase lamps.

Gnomes

Tiny people who live in tiny forest houses in the North. They are very serious and not at all adorable.

Uldras are slightly-larger tiny people from the tundra. Don’t mess with them, or they will mess with your reindeer. That’s very scary if your livelihood is based on reindeer.

Most likely inspired by pre-historical contact with Tamaputians, but directly referring to Tamaputians as “gnomes” is considered a slur.

Imps and Faeries

Fairies

If you’re in Ceannis, and a couple of figures pop up on your shoulders to start giving moral advice, here’s what they’ll look like.

Imps are traditionally depicted with horse-tails and feathered dragon-wings — very large, to distinguish them from the wings that some normal humans have. No horns, because those are associated with dogs, and loyalty and friendliness and all that good stuff. Wear a lot of blood-red and shadow-black.

Faeries wear crowns of flowers, for the same reason brides and grooms do. Butterfly wings, not feathered ones, to distinguish them from imps (and dragons). They wear a lot of white and pastels.

Night-ghasts

Ravenous, skeletal figures that sit on you in your sleep and give you bad dreams. (Unless you’re into that, in which case they’re good dreams.)

Most likely inspired by night terrors.

Pantheon of Kolpos

Centuries ago, gods were subjects of worship in Ceannis and neighboring countries, but now they're charming fiction. Being well-known and public domain makes them a source of inspiration.

Pantheon of Norden

The planets are named after this pantheon in Sønska and related languages. In the past, you would pick a favorite (based on family, location, and/or profession), follow that deity's orders, and hope it got you admittance into their heaven after death.

Pre-technological churches are beautiful feats of architecture, but in the modern era there usually aren't enough religious people in one place to handle the upkeep. Most of the buildings have been repurposed and/or preserved as historical sites.

Appearances: Drengr, Agæti, Veiðimaðr, Gørsimi, Dómari

Pantheon of the North

Drengr: Lord of warriors. Depicted with long blonde hair and great abs, clad in the fur of a winterfox and wielding a mighty hammer. Her consort is Agæti, a human blacksmith whose skills were so formidable that she got swept away to run the forge of the gods.

Veiðimaðr: Lord of the hunt. Depicted with silver hair and claw-scars on his face, wielding a bow. Pulls double duty as the god of cooking, so you can also pray for him to bless the new recipe you’re trying with whatever you just hunted.

Gørsimi: Patron of treasure. Depicted with elegant features, wearing ornate clothing and elaborate jewelry. She taught the craft of spell-engineering to the first humans, and is still a popular figure among programmers.

Dómari: Judge of the dead. Depicted in thick furs in an androgynous style, with all identifying features concealed. Those two ghostly ravens fly over the world as the moons, observing human behavior and disappearing whenever they fly back to Dómari to make reports.

Sir Rhódon

Two versions of Sir Rhódon Appearances: Rhódon

Semi-mythical hero, epic founder of Ceannis.

First person to draw a heartsword (broadsword). All the other knights are just copying her.

When Ceannis was a monarchy, any reincarnation of Rhódon (identified by heartsword) had first dibs on the throne, until in her incarnation as Leachtric she invented democracy. Known as Rózsa in Sønheic.

Queen Szélanya

The Queen and her Steed Appearances: Szélanya

Historical winged warrior-queen of the North, predating all surviving vampires. Still venerated in Sønheim. Decreed that everyone must be paid what they're worth.

Children dress as the young Princess Szélanya to celebrate Szélanyanatt, but she did grow up (and grow wings).

Allied with the lord of reindeer, Ragnagord.

Trolls

Big rocky creatures that live in the mountains of the North. They’re very strong, but not too bright.

The light of day turns them to stone. One of Sønheim's oldest and most historic castles is supposedly built on a foundation of 100% ex-troll.


 


myths_and_legends.txt · Last modified: 2020/06/14 21:03 by admin · [Old revisions]
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