The Lords commanded it, and so it was being done: the Ithmias were being
exterminated. Fleeing the destruction to the Zaphar river were many
animals, many of whom normally had little to do with one another. It was
at the river's edge that a snake came upon a beaver.
"You! Carry me to safety," said the snake."It looks safe on the far
shore."
The beaver refused. "You are a snake. Not only will you bite me with
voyria when we are halfway across, you can swim for yourself. I will
die."
"I cannot swim," admitted the snake quietly. "I swear that I will not
bite you, if you carry me to safety."
The beaver took the snake on his back and began to swim across to the other side.
Three quarters of the way across, the snake bit the beaver.
"Why did you do that?" the beaver asked, his nose bleeding. "Now I will
die!"
"Look ahead of you, you stupid creature!" the snake hissed. "The
Mhaldorians have crossed ahead of us. Die, die, die, I don't care if I
die too!"
The snake bit the beaver again with each word, and the beaver soon died
a most agonising death. The snake then floated on the dead beaver's
corpse til it suddenly decayed to nothing.
The snake gasped in surprise, finding that he could swim after all. Twin
voices boomed in his head, the Lords saying in tandem, "Welcome to Our
service. We are pleased." And the death adder swam to the shore,
instinctively approaching a Naga who was summoning his companion for the
first time.
Full Version: A Mhaldorian Childrens' Story
Meanwhile, a fledgling Sentinel impatiently awaits the arrival of his bucktoothed woodland companion.
Uhhh isn't this like, a very well known fable...that you have changed a few words in? 
QUOTE (Balynne @ Sep 22 2009, 10:01 PM) 
Uhhh isn't this like, a very well known fable...that you have changed a few words in?
Heretic! How dare you accuse him/her/it of such an atrocity! This is quite clearly a unique and perfectly original piece of work. There's no sign of a single scorpion or frog anywhere in the story!
I'm fairly certain this has been posted on the forums before.
Nevermind, skimmed over the last line.
QUOTE (Eurulis @ Sep 22 2009, 04:37 PM)
So the snake is the Naga and the bever is the Ebonfist? Otherwise, the story makes little sense. No story, just "Everything dies".
The beaver is Eleusis.
QUOTE (Gorlasintan @ Sep 22 2009, 05:39 PM)
QUOTE (Eurulis @ Sep 22 2009, 04:37 PM)
So the snake is the Naga and the bever is the Ebonfist? Otherwise, the story makes little sense. No story, just "Everything dies".
The beaver is Eleusis.
See above! Otherwise, meh.
Achaean artists are so creative.
Thanks. I expected one or two replies, not a whole bunch. You are all correct, this story is almost entirely a lift from something in the public domain. It's not here because I want to win an award. It's here to be one of those stories your Mhaldorian character grew up being told, or your character with Mhaldorian origins grew up hating. If I thought it wouldn't get moved here, I would have posted it in the RP forum. It's a character development tool: How did little Yournamehere react to this story, if he or she had the chance to hear it?
I'm confused. Why didn't the snake just take the bridge?
Why didn't the Serpent cross the bridge if they saw a PERFECTLY GOOD SNAKE RIGHT THERE. I swear, you people get lazier and lazier whenever I breathe!
Is the moral of this story 'when you're going to die, make sure your friends come with you?'
QUOTE (Trevize @ Sep 23 2009, 08:07 AM)
Is the moral of this story 'when you're going to die, make sure your friends come with you?'No, it's "Take as many motherlovers out with you when you go."
QUOTE (delijoan @ Sep 22 2009, 10:22 PM)
Thanks. I expected one or two replies, not a whole bunch. You are all correct, this story is almost entirely a lift from something in the public domain. It's not here because I want to win an award. It's here to be one of those stories your Mhaldorian character grew up being told, or your character with Mhaldorian origins grew up hating. If I thought it wouldn't get moved here, I would have posted it in the RP forum. It's a character development tool: How did little Yournamehere react to this story, if he or she had the chance to hear it?
Yes, but wanting to give a reading of said story that you didn't write to an audience IC is a little on the meh side. Why not just write one yourself?
I think to a degree using modified folktales is acceptable, as long as they're not LOLTORTOISEANDTHEHARE. For example, Quoren often delivers sermons-cum-parables with folktales, which often include elements of such stories as "The Blind Men and the Elephant" or "The Chief's Three Sons," which are both fairly obscure.
Picking the beaver as symbolic of the general Achaean population is an interesting choice. Certainly appropriate for a segment of the population.
QUOTE (Manny @ Sep 23 2009, 01:56 PM)
QUOTE (Trevize @ Sep 23 2009, 08:07 AM)
Is the moral of this story 'when you're going to die, make sure your friends come with you?'No, it's "Take as many motherlovers out with you when you go."
Neah, I'm still leaning towards 'divided we stand, united we fall.'
QUOTE (Gayat @ Sep 23 2009, 02:00 PM)
Picking the beaver as symbolic of the general Achaean population is an interesting choice. Certainly appropriate for a segment of the population.
I think I've seen that part of the population, they are almost always Sirens, are all under level 21, rarely leave the Theran Hotel and have descriptions including the words "heaving", "heart-shaped" and "taut".
QUOTE (Lisbethae @ Sep 24 2009, 07:02 PM)
QUOTE (Gayat @ Sep 23 2009, 02:00 PM)
Picking the beaver as symbolic of the general Achaean population is an interesting choice. Certainly appropriate for a segment of the population.
I think I've seen that part of the population, they are almost always Sirens, are all under level 21, rarely leave the Theran Hotel and have descriptions including the words "heaving", "heart-shaped" and "taut".
Not to mention "quarter-sized", "inch-long" and "glistening".
I'm fairly certain I've heard this analogy in another story before.
QUOTE (Lana @ Sep 24 2009, 01:19 PM)
QUOTE (Lisbethae @ Sep 24 2009, 07:02 PM)
QUOTE (Gayat @ Sep 23 2009, 02:00 PM)
Picking the beaver as symbolic of the general Achaean population is an interesting choice. Certainly appropriate for a segment of the population.
I think I've seen that part of the population, they are almost always Sirens, are all under level 21, rarely leave the Theran Hotel and have descriptions including the words "heaving", "heart-shaped" and "taut".
Not to mention "quarter-sized", "inch-long" and "glistening".
I took a quick run up to Thera and I think I found the woman that you're talking about.
QUOTE
She is a beautiful Siren and is ready to head back to her room in the Theran Hotel. He smile needs a bit of work as her front teeth are more reminiscent of a beaver than a siren. Having just returned from a few years servicing the members of a pirate fleet, he clothing is spattered from many long hours heaving over the rail. A tear in her right sleeve reveals a heart-shaped tattoo with "Mother" inscribed in it. Her skin is taut from the salt spray and too many hours in the sun, reminding you of cheap leather. Quarter-sized pox scars mar her skin and she has several inch-long bruises on her face from stumbling drunk into the masts of various ships. Her one good eye glistens with desire as she looks you up and down. She is completely naked.
I think I'm in love.
QUOTE (Gayat @ Sep 25 2009, 12:14 PM)
QUOTE
She is a beautiful Siren and is ready to head back to her room in the Theran Hotel. He smile needs a bit of work as her front teeth are more reminiscent of a beaver than a siren. Having just returned from a few years servicing the members of a pirate fleet, he clothing is spattered from many long hours heaving over the rail. A tear in her right sleeve reveals a heart-shaped tattoo with "Mother" inscribed in it. Her skin is taut from the salt spray and too many hours in the sun, reminding you of cheap leather. Quarter-sized pox scars mar her skin and she has several inch-long bruises on her face from stumbling drunk into the masts of various ships. Her one good eye glistens with desire as she looks you up and down. She is completely naked.
I think I'm in love.
LOL. Dude, you're hilarious.
QUOTE (Exelethril @ Sep 25 2009, 10:31 PM)
QUOTE (Gayat @ Sep 25 2009, 12:14 PM)
QUOTE
She is a beautiful Siren and is ready to head back to her room in the Theran Hotel. He smile needs a bit of work as her front teeth are more reminiscent of a beaver than a siren. Having just returned from a few years servicing the members of a pirate fleet, he clothing is spattered from many long hours heaving over the rail. A tear in her right sleeve reveals a heart-shaped tattoo with "Mother" inscribed in it. Her skin is taut from the salt spray and too many hours in the sun, reminding you of cheap leather. Quarter-sized pox scars mar her skin and she has several inch-long bruises on her face from stumbling drunk into the masts of various ships. Her one good eye glistens with desire as she looks you up and down. She is completely naked.
I think I'm in love.
LOL. Dude, you're hilarious.
Is that Kurt Cobain?
I don't know the story.. therefore I am completely clueless to what the moral is.
Fill me in?
Fill me in?
Possibly adapted from The Scorpion and the Frog, which goes something like this
QUOTE
The Scorpion and the Frog
One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.
The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.
Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.
"Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"
"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.
"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"
Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"
"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"
"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.
"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"
So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.
Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.
"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"
The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog's back.
"I could not help myself. It is my nature."
Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.
Self destruction - "Its my Nature", said the Scorpion...
One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.
The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.
Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.
"Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"
"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.
"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"
Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"
"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"
"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.
"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"
So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.
Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.
"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"
The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog's back.
"I could not help myself. It is my nature."
Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.
Self destruction - "Its my Nature", said the Scorpion...
QUOTE (Manny @ Sep 24 2009, 03:56 AM)
QUOTE (Trevize @ Sep 23 2009, 08:07 AM)
Is the moral of this story 'when you're going to die, make sure your friends come with you?'No, it's "Take as many motherlovers out with you when you go."
I add a little extra on the end saying that if you take enough, they'll make a nice soft landing for yourself.
QUOTE (Synbios @ Sep 26 2009, 07:19 PM)
Possibly adapted from The Scorpion and the Frog, which goes something like this
QUOTE
The Scorpion and the Frog
One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.
The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.
Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.
"Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"
"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.
"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"
Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"
"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"
"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.
"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"
So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.
Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.
"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"
The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog's back.
"I could not help myself. It is my nature."
Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.
Self destruction - "Its my Nature", said the Scorpion...
One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.
The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.
Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.
"Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"
"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.
"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"
Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"
"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"
"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.
"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"
So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.
Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.
"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"
The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog's back.
"I could not help myself. It is my nature."
Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.
Self destruction - "Its my Nature", said the Scorpion...
They used this parable in ST:VOY
QUOTE (delijoan @ Sep 23 2009, 03:22 AM)
It's here to be one of those stories your Mhaldorian character grew up being told, or your character with Mhaldorian origins grew up hating.
I never heard this story growing up as a Mhaldorian, I was to busy being fodder for raiders and trying to look like I knew what I was doing holding my darkbow.
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