#fantasy myth

[cherrybombfangirlwrites]

Undral ~ The Youngest, the King of the Under

it's been a hit minute since I’ve done this but it's fine- anyways I think for WBW for the next bit i'll talk about each kingdom specifically. but that may not happen for a while because school is keeping me busy, we'll see.

Undral is the only god that actually makes an appearance in Fractured Stars Falling, in the seventh book Escape from the Under, as the main antagonist. Half of the main cast is trapped in the Under (Eltyan underworld and afterlife), and trying to escape his clutches.

Undral is the youngest of Mother Hallya’s children. He is the God of the Dead and King of the Under- where all mortal souls go when they leave the living world. He is the most violent and quick to anger out of his siblings. Even in his early days of godhood, Undral disliked the job he was assigned to do, given the powers he was born with. He saw and still sees mortals as beings that do nothing but complain and waste their time fighting with each other- so being assigned to take care of their souls when they die was the last thing he wanted to do.

He’s the most disliked out of the gods, but most feared by mortals. Because everyone is so afraid of him, there are very fear myths about him- all of which tell of the horrifying things he has done and his violence.

The myth that is most told about him actually centers on the mortal brother and sister, who were two of the first kings of Eltya. The brother and sister didn’t want to live without each other, so they used the most powerful magic they could find to cheat death and add a hundred years to their lives. After the time they should’ve died had passed, Undral sent his demons to warn them that no one could cheat death and they would die one day. When the hundred years had passed and the siblings died, they escaped the underworld, further angering Undral. He ravaged the land looking for these two kings, bring terror to the living world.

Mother Hallya stopped her son’s actions, chastised him for going to extremes and punishing innocent mortals, and when the two kings died one final time, they went to the underworld like everyone else.

Undral is the main reason everyone fears death so much in Eltya, and there is so much culture and rituals surrounding death to ensure that it’s painless as possible and that people live happy and full lives. He is always depicted wearing dark robes made of dead things, a tall black crown of spikes, ashy gray skin, and a voice that sounds like tortured mortal souls.

Happy WBW!!!

[writer-haley-e]

I’d love to read any myths you create for your stories! I won’t be able to reply to them today or maybe tomorrow, but I’ll get back to them whenever I can!

[cherrybombfangirlwrites]

happy wbw! are there any myths in your wips? cryptids? any stories that parents would tell their kids to scare them into helping out around the house?

Happy WBW!

There's a whole pantheon in Eltya, so you bet there's myths! Here's what I have so far for myths:

Mother Hallya created the world, starting with the sky, then her children, then Eltya and the things in it

Dragia (the god/goddess *referred to as both* of magic and magical creatures) saved the world from monsters of dark magic, and as a reward, Hallya created astronomical events in the sky (meteor showers, eclipses, blood moons and blue moons, etc) that make magic stronger

One time, Dixy (goddess of entertainment and comedy) played a prank on her younger brother Undral, king of the underworld and god of the dead. He got so angry we went on a rampage through Eltya, causing natural disasters like earthquakes and volcano eruptions trying to find her and make her pay- until Mother Hallya stepped in and made them both apologize, then forbade Undral from leaving the underworld and Dixy from leaving the living world; which explains why there is no happiness or fun in the underworld and there's so much fear around death

That's it for myths right now, but more are sure to come

Cryptids (except some of them actually exist in Eltya)

There's a giant squid like sea creature called the Rumble, with almost indestructible skin and it's the size of a large battleship

There's a lot of sea serpents, but the biggest and baddest one is dark red and sailors call it "Bloody Marianne"

There's a giant orange fish the size of a ship that sailors call "Big Freddy Fish"

On the island with an active volcano, there's a huge immortal gorilla pirates and sailors call "King Gord"

In the woods of Goke (Snow's kingdom) there's rumors of a deer the size of a house with glowing eyes. No one's actually seen this one or found proof that it exists. They call it Dolly Mama.

There's a werewolf in the woods that used to be Farkle called Marmon. He's taller than two men standing on their shoulders, and leads most of the werewolves in the dark woods

People in Dinvirty are always talking about mountain trolls or blob monsters made out of snow

In Goke there's also these creatures that are a cross between snow leopards and saber tooth tigers up in the mountains wherever there's snow. Those are real and my mcs get to fight them. The biggest one is called The Blizzard cat.

Scary Stories Parents Tell Their Kids

You can't be out at night because that's when Undral rules and dark magic seeps out of it's hiding places, and they hunt children who are out at night, but adults are safe

Dark magic users can summon demons from the underworld and live in the woods, so stay out of the woods kids (this one is specific to the area where Farkle, the fallen kingdom, used to be and where everyone is still suspicious of magic and the dark woods). They also tell kids there's werewolves in there, but that part actually turns out to be true

There's a witch named Goo-Goo-Mi who captures children, turns them into crows, frogs, or snakes, and keeps them as pets.

Lots of stuff about getting eaten or taken away by the cryptids i listed above

That's all for now, thanks for the ask @loveimogen !

[cherrybombfangirlwrites]

Dragia ~ The Second Youngest

Back again for WBW! Here is one of the last two gods in Eltya I have to talk about, next week we're doing the one we actually see and one of the big antagonists in the last three books :)

Dragia is the second youngest of the gods that Mother Hallya created. They are a gender neutral diety, and god and goddess are both used for them interchangeably. They are arguably the most powerful out of all their siblings as the goddess of magic. They possess all of the knowledge of and power in magic possible, and use it very often in myths.

The most popular myth about them is how they were gifted events in the sky that make their magic stronger.

After Hallya finished creating the world and her children, she was exhausted. Dragia was a young god then, and their powers were just starting to bud, not yet very powerful. Hallya rested for a long time while her children cared for the mortals and developed their powers and abilities. Dragia learned everything possible about magic, but their magical power was still very weak.

Then a huge, awful monster made of darkness and emptiness blocked out the sun, moon and stars in the sky for three days. The darkness wrecked havoc on the mortal world, as their fire was not enough to banish the darkness. While their siblings did what they could to help the mortals, and Hallya was still resting, Dragia took it upon themself to fix the problem.

Their powers were not very strong yet, but they knew much, and sought the help of the sun, moon and stars. They gave the sun, moon, and stars each a corner of a net- woven with magic and starlight behind the monster. Then they went to talk to the monster, who reached across the whole sky, too big for the net to catch, and tricked the monster into making itself a little smaller- small enough for the net to catch. Then the sun, moon, and stars all dropped the net and caught the monster.

By this time, Hallya had recovered, and Dragia brought her the captured monster of darkness. Hallya was so proud and thankful to Dragia for saving Eltya she gave them a gift- whenever the sky danced or did strange and wonderful things, it would make Dragia's magical power stronger. The sun, moon, and stars all agreed, and the stars streaked across the sky, making Dragia's magic grow. Then Dragia was powerful enough to bring the magic to mortals, and their power grew as well as the stars streaked across the sky in a shower.

It is for this reason that many magic spells are more powerful during eclipses, blood moons and blue moons, and other events in the sky. They are the one that magic users pray to during anything magic related, and the reason that being knowledgeable about magic and using it wisely is just as important as having magical power.

Happy WBW!

[cherrybombfangirlwrites]

Gregra and Jhar - The Twins

It's worldbuilding wednesday and I'm back with more dieties from my fantasy world! This time we're doing two because the twins are a package deal and there's hardly anything on them individually.

Gregra is the god of Farming and Trade. His twin brother, Jhar, is the god of Peace, Nature, and Tranquility. Farmers are most profitable and do the best during peaceful times, so the two gods are often associated together in earliest depictions. Out of all the gods, these two brothers are the most neutral and peaceful in everything.

As these are the gods that cause the least trouble and refuse to get involved, there are very few myths about them (most myths are about the gods getting into squabbles with each other until Mother breaks it up). The most popular myth about them tells of how they brought gifts to the world. When Mother Hallya created the world, and then the twins after their older siblings, this was the first thing they did.

Once Eltya and the skies were existent, Gregra and Jhar spent eight days bringing gifts down to the mortal world. Every night, they brought one gift. First they brought fire. On the second night they brought hunting tools and weapons to the humans, then showed them how to hunt beasts. The third night they brought seeds and tools for farming. The fourth night they showed mortals how to craft stone and wood into dwellings. The fifth night they brought music to the mortals. The sixth they brought beautiful cloth and showed the mortals how to make beautiful clothing. The seventh night they helped the humans organize the system on how they operate and govern themselves, including crowning the first kings. On the eighth and final night, they brought down magic to the humans and taught them how to use it.

There's not much on them in recorded history and very few myths about them, but they are highly respected and worshiped, especially by farmers, merchants, fisherman, miners, metalworkers, and others who's jobs are directly affected by war. Many farmers have small shrines to the two gods in their fields, barns, or houses, and regularly make sacrifices from their livestock and crops to Gregra and Jhar.

[leifandthorn]

The Queen and her Steed by ErinPtah

A bit of Sønheim winter mythology. Children dress as the young Princess Szélanya to celebrate Szélanyanatt, but she did grow up (and grow wings). Here's the adult warrior-queen of legend. She was allied with the lord of the reindeer, Ragnagord, which is an homage to exactly what you think it is.

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