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Author Topic: Durlothic Fairy Tales  (Read 3838 times)

Offline bigbaldben

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Durlothic Fairy Tales
« on: May 09, 2015, 06:37:41 PM »
The Durlothic Fairy Tales
The Republic of Megatridimensional Order

Table of Contents
(to be updated as stories are added)

Chapter 1:  Overview of The Durlothic Fairy Tales
Chapter 2:  The Red Robber
Chapter 3:  Cows
Chapter 4:  The Three Crystalisks
« Last Edit: May 11, 2015, 05:15:10 PM by bigbaldben »

Offline bigbaldben

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Re: Durlothic Fairy Tales
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2015, 06:40:53 PM »
Chapter 1
Overview of The Durlothic Fairy Tales

The Durlothic Fairy Tales play an important role in the Republic of Megatridimensional Order.  Ancient explorer Xavery Fupple stumbled across them after being lost in a cave.  He had fled into the cave for refuge from a pack of wild dogs, and it took three days for him to find his way out.  As luck would have it, he came across a primitive tribe, stumbling and weak, handed the books to the first person he saw, collapsed and died.

There are two important things to note about the discovery of the Tales:

First, all we know of Xavery Fupple’s adventure was written in the back of the first book.  Fupple knew he was in the shadow of death, and felt it important to recount his last days.  Ancient historians felt there was no reason to question the authenticity of the story written there.  However, recent dating techniques for ink and papyrus, though not exact measures, seem to indicate that “The Story of Xavery Fupple” is the same age as the rest of the book.   Tests are few and far between, given that the original copy is incredibly fragile.  The ancient age of the crumbling text makes testing it with “invasive” techniques dangerous.  The implication of this new dating, according to some modern historians, is that “The Story of Xavery Fupple” is only another Durlothic Fairy Tale and the identity of the founder of the text is unknown.  There is also a very small representation of historians who advance the theory that Fupple was the writer of all the Tales, but that is widely criticized, as the writing styles, penmanship and multiple ancient languages strongly indicate that none were written by the same author.

Second, the appearance of the books and the circumstances surrounding them gave rise to a devout following of ancient people who followed the Tales as a holy reference.  Though no recorded ancient texts corroborate the existence of such mythical beasts as the Sezour or Gallantrielle spiders, the Tales were mostly believed to be factually true.  These led to the founding of the religion of Durlothia.  The Church of Inference broke off of Durlothia, which soon after dissolved.  The COI view is that, while the text is holy, it is nonetheless to be taken figuratively.  While The Church of Inference continues even today, it is small and dwindling.  Only 4% of Megatrines self-identified as belonging to the COI in the last national census in 2010 - down from 13% from 1990 and 24% in 1970.

It is unknown even if “Durlothic” refers to a culture, a family, a single person, a nation, or a religion. Insane though it may seem, these Tales have been passed down through the ages from parents to children in order to teach moral values.  More directly, the tales were used to influence children into obedience by “scaring the bejeezus” out of them.  They have been banned in some centuries, exalted as holy in others, and completely forgotten about decades at a time.  The Republic of Megatridimensional Order and most of civilized Taijitu view these Tales today as upholding certain moral truths and acknowledge they have been incredibly influential across countless societies.

Needless to say, in the modern era, the Tales are generally considered not suitable for children.

The Durlothic Fairy Tales are presented here in modern language for your enjoyment.  Special thanks to the Megatridimensional National Library in Tabula Rasa, specifically Dr. Thatchley Brunk and Dr. Ciparo Civero for sharing their expertise and assisting with the translations.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2015, 07:30:20 PM by bigbaldben »

Offline bigbaldben

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Re: Durlothic Fairy Tales
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2015, 07:45:48 PM »
Chapter 2
The Red Robber

There once was a family who lived in the woods.  There was a father and mother and they had one boy and two girls, who they loved very much. The father was strong and quiet, the mother was firm and loud, but the children were very bad.  They did not heed the gentle suggestions of their father nor their shouts of their mother.  They were also mean to their siblings.  They pushed each other out of trees, tripped each other, blamed each other for things they did themselves, and broke things just to see them break.  The father and mother were very upset, and tried many different ways to stop the children from their bad behavior.  But they would not listen, and they would not change.

One day, the boy threw rocks at his two sisters while they played near their house.  The two sisters became angry with their brother and beat him unmercifully.  The father heard his cries, and when he saw the boy and the awful beating he took, he called for mother to ride for the doctor, which she did.  The two sisters made jokes while they waited.

“He looks like a plum!” said one cheerily.

“And he’s such a baby – wah wah wah!” said the other.

The father was angry, but held his tongue and did all he could for the boy until the doctor arrived.  The doctor said he was very close to dying, but treated his wounds and said the boy would have him rest for a few weeks.  Mother assured him they would and the doctor left.  The father and mother carried the boy inside and the father tended to the wounds.  The mother was angry at the two girls and sent them to bed without any supper, which caused them to throw an awful tantrum.

When morning came, the sisters thought it was odd that they did not receive a beating or a lecture or further punishment like they normally would.  Instead, the mother and father only said that the boy would be better by Celebration Day.  At the mention of Celebration Day, the children’s eyes, including the boys, grew wide with greed.  Everyone got presents on Celebration Day, brought to them by the Magical Man in the Red Suit late at night.  And if one did not get something they liked when they woke in the morning, they would make every attempt to destroy the other children’s gifts, so that no one was happy.

As Celebration Day approached, the boy, now recovered, and the two girls asked the father and mother if they should write down what they wanted, as they usually did for the Magical Man in the Red Suit.  The father and mother said that wouldn’t be necessary this year.  The children were confused, but soon went back to fighting and forgot.

On Celebration Eve, the children plotted to stay awake until the Magical Man in the Red Suit arrived so they could beat him up and try to take the toys he had brought for other children.  They kept from falling asleep by plotting how they would attack the Magical Man in the Red Suit, and greedily imagining how much they could get from him.

Finally, they heard the door open slowly.  The three children burst out of bed and rushed toward him.  The boy had a knife and each of the two girls had horse whips.  But when they saw the man, they stopped. 

“You have a red suit, but you are skinny and not at all jolly.   You are not the Magical Man!” they cried.

“Indeed, I am not,” said the man. “I am the Red Robber, and I come to your house when the Magical Man in the Red Suit cannot.”

“Have you brought us gifts?” the boy asked.

“Oh, I don’t bring gifts.  I take children.  Naughty children.”

The children became frightened and ran to their parent’s room and flung open the door.  But there was no one there.

The Red Robber laughed an evil laugh.

“They have left you here alone, knowing that I would come and steal you away.”

The boy was frightened, but lunged with the knife at the Red Robber, and sunk the blade into his chest up to the handle.  The Red Robber did not even move.  Blood poured from his chest all over the floor and the Red Robber sighed.

“Such a mess,” he said, and pulled the knife from his chest.  The children gasped as they watched the wound close and the blood stop.  “Now you have done it,” said the Red Robber.  “I will have to call my Monster to deal with you.”

Now the children were extremely frightened and began to cry.

“Monster!” called the Red Robber, “Come get the boy!”

No sooner had he said the words than a blur of hair and teeth and snarling flashed through the house and gobbled up the boy.  It was to his two sisters as if he had just disappeared.

“Now come with me,” said the Red Robber to the girls, “or I will call the Monster back to take you.”

------

Two years later, it was Celebration Day again.  The two girls had been sent home for two weeks.

The father and mother were happy to see them, but said nothing of the Red Robber or where they had been.  The girls were very well behaved, and listened obediently to everything the father and mother said.  When Celebration Day came, the sisters stayed in bed until the father and mother called them in the morning.  They came out and opened their gifts when the father and mother said they may.  The children smiled and politely showed each other their new treasures, then one of the sisters began sweeping the floor, while the other went out to feed the livestock.

No one ever spoke of the brother again.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2015, 02:20:59 PM by bigbaldben »

Offline bigbaldben

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Re: Durlothic Fairy Tales
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2015, 05:05:34 PM »
Chapter 3
Cows

One summer night in heat so fierce
I went to bed but couldn't pierce
the veil of slumber or respite and that is when the cows came

The door was open; they came through
They did not speak or even moo
I pulled my blanket to my nose to hide me when the cows came

They gather'd 'round my bed in fact
No more could fit into my shack
I counted more than seventeen and still the blasted cows came

Brown eyes wide they stared at me
I cursed them all - yelled "Leave me be!"
They remained quiet and chewed their cud and bolas as the cows came

I leapt from cover and stood tall
Grabbed my cutlass off the wall
Waved it angrily in the air to scare them as the cows came

Standing on my bed I saw
Through the window in the wall
The moonlit glow of a thousand eyes lined up as all the cows came

I looked over at the door
At the same time, two or more
Destroyed the frame and broke the floor; I panicked as the cows came

I swung my cutlass, chopped off heads
The bodies fell and they were dead
But eyes stayed open and the heads floated strangely as the cows came

As severed heads moved closer still
With their hot breath I lost my will
I dropped my cutlass on the floor; surrendered as the cows came

Now I sit here in my chambers
I can't escape the pending dangers
Thinking that I should have fled the moment that the cows came
« Last Edit: May 11, 2015, 05:09:58 PM by bigbaldben »