MapleTales

MapleStory folklore AU

[martianunicorn]

had to do up a horse tutorial for the part-time job, and i used folklore AU Afrien as the inspiration! the tutorial looks really difficult, idk if the students (they have autism) can understand it. oTL

[mapletales]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Update status: Chapters 1 and 2, will update as and when.

Characters: Freud and Afrien, mentions of others Summary: The diary of Dullahan Freud, affectionately known as "Headless Freud". Backstory.

writer’s comments: Please do read “House Guardian” before reading this. TBH idk what I am doing with this because I barely ever write so seriously in first person. I hope it gets funnier.

[mapletales]

What a guy

[mapletales]

Luminous

Alignment: Lawful Neutral Race: Fae, humanoid Species: Domovoi

Lore: A house guardian spirit of Slavic folklore, their life is tied to their home. If treated well, the Domovoi watches over the house it is attached to, protects it and maintains its peace. It accepts food left out by their owners in return for helping out with chores.

Likes: Fruits, his owner, light magic Dislikes: Barghests and Leanan Sidhes / Idiots.

Description: As a domovoi, Luminous’ powers are tied to his distance from the house he is bonded to. With the house he calls home burnt down, Luminous loses his power. However, he later finds out that Castle Aurora, where he was born, also counts as his house. On top of that, the entity that he originated from, the Dark Magister also functions as a “house” for him – meaning that the closer Luminous is to him, the stronger he becomes.        It is for this reason that Freud recruits Luminous to his cause.        To one without faerie eyes, Luminous would appear like a short gremlin. Otherwise, his true appearance is that of a young adult man, bearing a striking resemblance to a particular well-known wizard.

[martianunicorn]

dump of folklore AU doodles.

Lucia – Changeling, ghost and haunted house.

Luminous – Domovoi. A younger him who is a lot less of a jerk

Mercedes – Lamia (lake siren).

63!Aran – Barghest. As a shapeshifter, Aran has a male form too. Throwback to when Aran did not have a canon gender yet hurhur.

63!Phantom – Leanan Sidhe. As a fae whose life is dependent on human love, i headcanon that Phantom can change genders. After all, why limit yourself to only half of the human population? Though, he mostly takes on female form to piss Mercedes off.

I have apparently drawn enough PhanAria to sink our mum’s PhanMerc ship. She now believes that Phantom won’t be able to get over Aria so it isn’t possible for him to be in another relationship. Sorry mum.

bonus Zero – FengHuang still in their egg.

[mapletales]

I’ve never made proper ref for phantom but here it is now! In all of his sparkly glory

writer’s comment: the funny thing is: Sparkles is Phantom’s name for EunWol.

[mapletales]

Freud

Alignment: Neutral Good Race: Fae, undead Species: Dullahan Class: Leafre’s Lord

Lore: A headless rider usually seen carrying their own head under an arm. It is an undead fae. The name “Dullahan” originates from Celtic folklore, though headless horsemen myths also exist throughout Europe, in North America and India. One origin tells of a killed horseman who is unable to rest even after losing their head while protecting innocents from evil.        Dullahan are able to see for a incredibly long distance even in the dark. It is weak to gold and will not touch it.

Likes: Afrien, faerie beasts Dislikes: Evil, blood and raw meat

Description: Originally a humble enchanter in the town of Leafre, he singlehandedly, while riding atop Afrien, defended the region from an invading Rakshasa army. He was crowned a hero by the townsfolk, and made their Lord. Unbeknownst to them, Freud was actually decapitated in that battle. However, his strong sense of justice would not allow him to simply die, and thus, he resurrected as a Dullahan and resumed his fight.        Being beheaded made Freud realise that he cannot protect the world alone, which lead to him gathering companions in his quest to remove evil from the Maple World.        Keeping his status as a dullahan secret to Leafre, Freud continues to wear gold, although he never touches it directly, only through gloves. He gives all of his food offerings from the townsfolk to Afrien (which makes the Chollima very happy), and sneaks out at night to hunt animals for fresh blood and raw meat to feed himself.        Freud’s head can move some distance away from his body. The farther his head and body are, the more both will show signs of rot and decay, revealing his true undead nature.

[mapletales]

Aran in dog form, Maha in collar form, EunWol in little ghost lights form.

Prior to being forgotten by everyone, EunWol did not have a fixed name. Everyone in the party just calls him whatever they like. Aran names him “Lantern”.

[mapletales]

Sketches of Eunwol from school!

writer's comment: @gamingreader – daaww so cute you are tempting me to be nicer to him. But nope i am an asshole so everyone is still gonna forget him later.

[mapletales]

Afrien

Alignment: Neutral Good Race: Faerie beast Species: Chollima

Lore: The Chollima (千里马 – CH: qiānlǐmǎ, JP: senrima, KR: chollima) are legendary horses in East Asian folklore that can run 500km in a day. In Chinese stories, they are also sometimes called 千里驹／千里车 (qiānlǐjū), implying that they are so fast, that rather than animal, they can be considered a vehicle. At times, they are even depicted with wings and can fly.

Likes: Milk, cakes and baked goods Dislikes: Anyone who threatens his clan or Freud

[mapletales]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Characters: Heroes (minus Evan), Lumi is the main character Summary: Luminous is a domovoi who has never left his house before. Until it burnt down, anyway.

writer’s comments: Pilot chapter! The art is cute as heck, so please check it out for the sake of that. Also, my 56 years old mum approves of this fic, that means it is 1: good and 2: safe for work. Thanks to mod star for putting together this maple collab.