Lost Folklore: Breath
This short story originated from a writing prompt suggesting I come up with some kind of folklore for something small, akin to the Greek myth of soulmates. I chose a reason why humans need to breathe.
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It is said that when man was first raised to walk the earth, there was no spirit whose domain he could not tread in.
It was said we had great cities atop the peaks that are always covered in snow. We had fortresses in the deepest depths of the earth, where the rock has never seen the sun. That we had vast fields beneath the waters which fed villages with uncountable numbers of people.
We were many and we spread, covering every spirit’s domain, ruling them like the spirits do, for generations.
So it came time that the Tok’ahim, the five greatest spirits who lord over each domain, came together to make counsel, as they do every few centuries.
“Man has spread too far.” said Ormesa, the prideful great spirit of the winds and heavens. “They have come to see themselves as our equal to us.”
“They think too highly of themselves” chimed the vain spirit of oceans and water, Alnat.
“We must destroy him before he seeks to rule us too!” came the crackling responsive of Isneu, the chaotic and impulsive spirit of fire.
But a grave, deep voice interrupted.
“No” spoke Denrao, his gravelly voice like the quaking of a mountain. The spirit of the earth, considered to be the wisest, rarely spoke.
“To destroy man would be foolish. His potential is great, as is his potential for worship to us. Let us instead bind him to one of our domains, so he will never overtake the rest of us.”
The Tok'ahim began to argue, each in turn refusing to accept man into their domain. None of them would accept him, their pride and fear keeping them from allowing man in.
Then quiet voice, one that had yet to speak, rose. “I will allow him in my domain” said Mishon, the kind spirit of nature, who loved man like her own creation.
“Very well” replied Denrao. “I have a plan to drive man out and into your domain. Come, listen…”
With that, the Tok’Ahim came to an agreement. Ormesa took a portion of his essence, and tore it to pieces. Though it pained him greatly, his fear of being ruled and his want to dethrone man was greater. He gathered these tiny pieces of himself and sent them out into the world, with one piece coming to rest inside each human.
Having done this, each man was now connected to Ormesa, and could not live unless they were touching his domain.
The spirits of the deep, the spirits of the earth and of fire, caused the ground to spew forth noxious gas and intense heat, driving man from the earth's depths and killing a great many.
“You may touch only the edges of my kingdom, but no further.” bellowed Denrao as he drove them from the earth's crust.
The water separating them from the winds, a great many drowned in Alnat’s great oceans.
Alnat decreed as the survivors swam for shore, “You may visit, but you may never again live in my domain.”
Ormesa himself forbade man from going too far into his domain, revoking their connection and choking them if they went too high.
“You may need me to live, but I will never let you close to me again.” Ormesa said as those in the cities in the clouds fled.
The only domain where man was not rejected was kind Mishon’s, the domain of plants and animals. She welcomed man with open arms. Though our numbers were now few, with Mishon’s guidance, we recovered and thrived.
It is because of these events that we worship Mishon, for she of all the spirits welcomed us where the others shunned us. It is why we can no longer live under the ocean or in the high mountains. It is why we are bound to live on the surface until the bell of ages tolls, and the age of man ends.
So it was, and so it shall be.
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Colors That Run Highlights 22
when u take a few days off and they’re still a Lot
Upon arriving back at their cabin, the Breakfast Club saw that the cabin had been upgraded! Plus the garden had been well-maintained. The cabin was now bigger and newly-renovated, with more beds and rooms. Corrin and Calypso claimed the two bunk beds, specifically the top bunks.
Calypso headed next door to see if Lin was available 👀 but Mishon informed her Lin and Banjiu were both out at the Fighters’ Guild. Calypso also questioned why Mishon was always the one to answer the door when he’s the only one that has to like, climb up to open it, but apparently the others are usually too busy.
Back at the Breakfast Cabin, Calypso invited Corrin to go with her to the FG, to do a fight with her and to see Banjiu 👀. But he seemed hesitant, though he acted like he was okay and just wanted to chill at home. Calypso squinted at him (determining he was a bit on edge) and ultimately convinced him to go with her, and that kicking some ass would be good for him.
Fea asked to tag along as well, and Kattie caught them on the way out and joined too. The last to join was Slim, who had looked up from his inspection of the weed garden to see them all leaving. Family outinggg
On the way to the FG, Calypso asked what her and Corrin’s team name should be in the ring. Corrin suggested C-SPAN, as their names both start with C and they span the region on their adventures. Despite not believing “span” is a real word, Calypso found this name pretty cool.
At the FG, the party walked in just in time to see Lin fighting a giant snake creature. After cleaving it in twain, Lin exited the ring for her winnings and happily greeted the party. Fea and Kattie both placed their bets on C-SPAN (though it was joked that Kattie might bet against them).
Calypso made an acrobatic entrance, which Corrin, not knowing how to follow it up, said made him look bad. Some bickering ensued, which the ring announcer pointed out. Oops
Their opponents were a pair of Winter Wolves, with their nasty bites and paralyzing stinger attacks. But thanks to a combination of Stunning Strikes and cool new Echo Knight stuff (force ghost OG corrin) C-SPAN came out on top! Corrin got both killshots, my man
(duality of man)
Upon exiting the ring, Fea immediately began fussing over an rather injured Calypso, who was not even really paying attention to her sick wolf bite. C-SPAN celebrated a bit like the frat boys they are, before reigning it in because HEY Lin and Banjiu walked up
After Slim healed up Calypso, the group left the FG in pairs-- Calypso and Lin, Corrin and Banjiu, Fea and Kattie, and Slim and Dave. As one would expect, Calypso headed inside with Lin, and Corrin probably could have made a move on Banjiu, but he didn’t this time.
Later in the night, Calypso left the Leopard Cabin to go sleep in her own (new) bed, but she was concerned to find that Fea was nowhere to be found in the cabin. She woke Slim to ask him about it, and they both soon discovered Kattie was absent also. They went outside and found Fea and Kattie “sparring” in secret.
A confrontation followed, as Kattie was cut up and bleeding, but she admitted she didn’t really feel anything (besides kinda woozy from blood loss). Fea rushed to grab some bandages for Kattie upon learning she was bleeding. Slim admonished the pair for doing this without having him or another healer nearby, and Kattie said that she didn’t want to make a big deal out of this, didn’t want the party to worry. Calypso hated this, and grew rather quiet.
Meanwhile, Corrin got out of bed after tossing and turning restlessly, and started hitting the booze and talking to Androkles. Corrin kept having bad dreams and thinking about how people don’t see to remember him, including Banjiu and Lin. He later passed out at the table next to an empty bottle of whiskey. Boy’s going through it
The next morning, Calypso got up to do her usual morning routine, and Dave joined a bit late (unlike everyone else, Dave has been vibing and slept like a rock). After failing at a particular stretch, Dave pointed out that Calypso seemed frustrated, and she admitted to not sleeping well and feeling like shit about the whole Kattie thing. Despite Dave’s best efforts, Calypso seemed to refuse his assurances and even said that Slim was better at this kind of thing. Poor Dave 😔
Back inside, Slim found Corrin in the dining room and they had a Talk.
Back outside, Calypso wandered to the garden and found Fea, and they had a conversation that was a bit nicer and less Angst than the ones that either just happened or were happening at the time. They talked about colors (Fea can get them approximately right with her Weird Vision) and flowers (Calypso admitted she tried eating one when she first found a field with flowers in Ibera). Then they started picking flowers to put in a vase for the dining room table 🥺
Kattie, after the previous night’s discovery, made her leave early in the morning to avoid further Confrontation. (She just wanted to go to Waffle House by herself-- though she did find a ring or something?)
“We’re makin’ a... whaddya call it. A boo-kett.” “A bouquet?” “That’s the bitch!”
After breakfast, the group dispersed to various places in town. Calypso went and joined the Brewers’ Guild to practice some mixology (Bartender Caly real), Slim joined a Florists’ Guild for some herbal resources and later worked as a cook at a restaurant for some coin (even as a chef he made tips for being cute), and Corrin went to the post office to grab a letter from home. 🙃
Calypso purchased a shovel and brought it home to give to Dave, partially to apologize for how she acted toward him that morning (though again she deflected his heartfelt forgiveness because she’s a huffy teenager). But hey now Dave can dig with the proper tool!
Afterward Fea joined Calypso outside for a bit-- casual head-in-lap while smoking a cigarette vibes-- though they soon got up to investigate some commotion nearby. Corrin, having thrown his helmet down, was slashing repeatedly at a tree with his sword.
After some talking down and inquiring about what was wrong, Corrin tossed his sword aside, saying that Asmodeus had taken everything from him, and gave Calypso the letter he had received. She read through the letter as Fea and Kattie sat with Corrin on the grass, and Slim returned home as well. Turns out, the letter was from Sera Stonehammer, and she wrote about Piory’s partner Magnus getting revived... but she also wrote as if she did not know Corrin at all, addressing him almost like a stranger, and inviting him to her bakery. 😬😭💔
Calypso said aloud that it would seem that the contract Corrin made with Asmodeus meant that his own parents would forget who he was. She offered a cigarette to Slim and stooped down to join in a group hug for Corrin.
The group offered to let Corrin take another day or so to process before they went to Thedda for another mission, but he figured something to do would be better than to just sit and think about how horrible he feels. Off to Thedda it was. She gave the group new Heroes’ Guild badges (including Dave and... Corrin) and gave them some updated info on the missing persons cases.
This updated info suggested that perhaps the Feywilds (or rather, Whismal and Marstis) or Calamity could be behind the disappearances, as they have reported zero missing people, and HG investigations in these places have returned no information. The majority of missing people seem to be in Ibera, specifically in Kiran, Smoth, Gilsa, and Agar, and the circumstances behind the disappearances seem to differ between the mainland versus the outer realms.
Thedda offered a few different missions to the group, in various cities throughout Ibera, including Avlas. The party more or less accepted all of these, in the interest of making that money and further researching missing persons cases. Thedda also offered her support to the group because she likes them a lot 🥺
Thedda also offered her services in getting beat up or doing the beating up for the group, in case that kinda thing would help them out. Calypso expressed interest in the latter, though she seemed a little more unsure about it when it was suggested they might have an audience. Fea and Kattie mentioned their whole thing with not feeling pain in battle, and Thedda agreed to look into some possible solutions to that.
Things got a little heavier when Thedda made some joke about being the most unholy person in the room and Corrin, oddly somber, said that was a lie. Because hey, he was the only one in the room so closely connected to Asmodeus via contract. 😬
YEAH angst
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