Folklore and other Tales

Some fairy tale ideas I made up for the world of Atal. They'll each get their own page eventually and when that happens this article will be reduced to a list of links. I'll most likely be spit-balling here so bear with me, okay? Tone shifts and wording is not my expertise.

Beauty and the Beast
Wow...I wonder what this one's based off (Don't worry I'll change the title once I find something more fitting)

In Grimm's, doesn't the fairy grandmother kinda curse a kid? Granted, the kid must have been a brat but still the whole Beast and servants turned into household objects is kinda overkill. Well here, the fairy that cursed him is the Beast's mom. In this version, this is a cautionary tale about parenting styles and about domestic abuse. Maybe.

I have 2 versions in mind.

Version 1:
In a faraway land was a thriving kingdom and a very young Prince. He had many siblings and others aiming for the throne. But he was different as he was the direct heir to become the Fairy King. Thus, his parents went very hard on him to mold him into the perfect ruler. Many were jealous of him and many plotted his death. In truth, though he may be king, one man cannot rule alone. With everyone against him, he had no friends except one: a poor Orphaned girl. Together, they played in secret.

Then one day, the current Faerie King died and the Queen despaired. She turned to wine and potions for comfort and turned the Prince into a king. Even though she gave him no guidance, she still held high expectations for him. The kingdom's state turned worse anyway. He may have been taught by the best but the nobility was against him and the government officials were rotten through. Soon the Orphan's orphanage was shut down and left the children to the streets where they would die of hunger. And so the eldest of them all, the Orphaned girl told them to follow her to the crowned Prince. And so he gave them food and hid them in the castle for shelter. However as timed passed, the Faerie Queen demanded more wine to drink and more potions for power. She used that power to personally execute any who was against her. She dressed in the finest of dresses and used bread as napkins to wipe her hands. The orphaned children took that bread.

Needless to say the Queen's actions didn't help the kingdom. The kingdom turned against on her and so the Queen took her anger out on the Prince. She demanded more dresses and more wine and more potions and more bread. And the supply of bread was noticeably dwindling. She demanded an explanation and the Prince told her it was because she used so much of it. So she used her magic to summon all the bread in the castle into the throne room. Instead of the bread she was expecting, the orphaned children appeared, vomiting the bread onto the carpet. The Queen was furious and demanded an explanation but the Prince stayed silent. She could tell he had something to do with this and said all will be forgiven if he to use his magic to execute them on the spot. He couldn't and pleaded to his mother to spare their lives and punish him instead. It was at that moment that she saw the love he had for his "family" and how much the children loved and respected him. .

So naturally, she turned the Prince into a Beast and the children into cutlery. She used the cutlery as her own and locked the Beast in the depths of the castle dungeon. He despaired in that cell. At the very least, he knew the queen takes great care of her property so at the very least the children were (kind of) safe. However the Orphaned girl had become an apprentice witch had gone out to look for more ingredients for the Queen's potions. He feared for her safety and well-being and he wanted to somehow reverse this curse. So he used his magic to find a cure and he produced a one beautiful white rose.

However it was too late. The Orphaned girl returned and she couldn't find any of the child; just cutlery with their names engraved like a tombstone. She asked the potion Brewer what happened and the Brewer told her what the Queen told him: that it turns out the Queen was keeping the orphaned children safe out of the good of her heart and when the evil-fool-Prince-king-brat found out, he turned the poor children into cutlery. In retaliation, the Queen turned him into a Beast and locked him in the depths of the dungeon.

The Orphaned girl thought, " No that's clearly bullshit!" as she asked the other servants and even some nobility about what happened. They all shared similar stories. "Serves him right!" says one as he raises his shotglass. "For all the wine he orders, he drinking this kingdom dry!" "Hah! Justice is served!" sneers another. "His mistresses love the fine dresses and gifts! They don't love him!"

But the kid's like 15 so the Orphaned girl is calling even more bullshit because she knows for a fact he's a lightweight (she made fun of him that night) and that he spends all the time dealing with his advisers' bullshit (she brings him coffee at night so she knows he's not sleeping with anyone). The poor bastard copes by overworking and insulting her coffee skills. I like to think he worked 2 all-nighters straight and she just served him hot water the third night. That was the only time he didn't complain (mainly 'cuz he fell asleep without the caffeine). And why would he see mistresses if he knows the nobility and other royal families are out to kill him for the throne? Sorry back to the story; but I'm not deleting this I like this info.

So she ran to the dungeon and sneaked past the guards to see him. She got caught in the last second, right in front of his cage. She didn't find the Prince there; only the Beast. It seems that the guards were ordered to feed him the other prisoners and her eyes widened at the pile of skeletons in the back. The guards started to drag her away when the Beast caught sight of them. He grew angry and lashed out, taking the guards out in the process and hitting the girl unconscious. Realizing what he had done, the Beast broke out of the dungeon and into the woods, leaving his rose to the girl.

The girl planned her revenge and rescue carefully. Learning from books and observations she took the rose and wrote down the names of all the orphaned children onto its petals and wrote the Prince's name on the stem. Dipping the end in ink, she wrote a contract on the scroll. She turned to the people and told them about the passageways and secret rooms in the castle so they can wait and ambush the Queen. Within a week, the people stormed and took over the castle forcing the Queen to run into the forest. The girl was furious. The Queen took the cutlery and potions with her. The Orphaned girl lead a search in the woods and found the Queen controlling the Beast. However, with no prisoners to eat, the Beast was sick and weak from eating the holly berries he found that week. The Queen had nowhere left to run.

The Orphaned girl showed her a scroll and gave her a quill and some ink to write with. If she signs this scroll, her life would be spared. Without even reading its contents, she signed it without a second thought for she feared for her life. This scroll was a contract that used the Queen's powers to not only revert the Prince and children but also made her vomit if she ever sinned.

At once, the children reunited with their older sister and stopped the people from delivering the final blow to the Beast. As he shed his furs and horns, the Prince emerged, still dying from sickness and hunger. With the children saved, he at least died with a smile on his face. His family grieved and kissed him goodnight.

The kingdom slowly began to thrive and honored him as a hero though the nobility rejected him from history.

The end.

Version 1 within the context of Atal
In the kingdom this tale comes from, a lot of the government was based on a series of journals and papers from an unknown author. Whether it was to remind the people that the nobility was still in control or because it was out of petty pride, the whole true story was erased from history. History only says that after the Fairy King died, the Fairy Queen was in despair for a couple years only to suddenly get her act together and rule the kingdom fairly. The son and her cruelty was nowhere to be found. The people however kept this tale to honor the legendary Prince and have a few festivals in his honor.

Version 2
In this version, a sorceress lived with only her son. Sorceress loved magic and spells more than anything and her passion showed brightly in her works that many from all over would request a spell or two. However, her spells were quite costly and many could not pay her for the magic she brought. Thus, she had to pay the costs herself and her heart slowly turned black. One cost her her good looks and turned her into a hideous beast. Another spell made her lose her insanity and she became delusional. Feeling conned and betrayed, she grew paranoid, bitter, and strict toward her son. She distanced the mansion away from the nearby villages and kingdoms, deep into the forest. With her business officially gone, the two fell on hard times. So she turned to spells and potions for safety and constantly sent her son deeper in the forest for ingredients. Day after day he toiled and slaved for fear his mother would be upset.

But he loved his mother anyway and earnestly believed that all she did was for the sake of the both of them. If she didn't use her magic, who else would protect them from the outside world? Who else would care and love him?

Then he made a mistake and he met a lost traveler in the woods. At first he tried to lose the old man but he proved to be too stubborn for the boy's liking. The boy couldn't risk leading the traveler back to his home and he needed to be back by nightfall. Eventually he gave in and led the traveler back to his village. The traveler was so ecstatic and practically begged the boy to have dinner with his family for thanks. Practically dragging the kid to meet his daughter, the boy was astounded at the community around him. All the houses looked weird from a distance but being surrounded by them felt unreal. The poor boy was at a loss so he couldn't even speak and hid behind the traveler. The family laughed and welcomed him. It was... bright. Too bright. Was this how people are supposed to live?

He didn't know that it normal for families to eat together. It blew his mind when his daughter asked for seconds. But nightfall was coming and he bowed and ran back home before the family could say farewell. He was a strange boy they thought.

Another day, another need for supplies. As the days goes by his mother's curse grew worse. Nothing the boy cooked the mother could eat. Her attacks were also getting much more dangerous. Three times that day that she mistaken her child to be an intruder and had almost killed him. He was left in bruises and cuts. However medical supplies were dwindling. He had to be careful in taking some behind her back so he wouldn't further anger her. Only wine could tame her but perhaps it was her hunger that made her worse. At least that's what the boy thought. It pained him to see her like this. He then remembered the dinner he had with the traveler. The traveler and his wife were quite good at mulberry pies. (the filling was the wife's recipe, the crust was her husband's; truly a marriage in heaven and the daughter was proud of her serving skills- she works as a waitress)

Desperate, he traveled back to learn how to cook.

The Sea's Voice
Based off of the Little Mermaid; lesson: don't give up

A sad mute boy loves musicals but for obvious reasons he can't join. He tried going in as a backup dancer but ends up twisting his ankle. (Let's say his name is Alto). One day he hears a beautiful voice and he goes near it. It's as if he was in a daze as he went deeper in the ocean. With his twisted ankle, he couldn't swim and drowned. However, the siren witch found him. Her name was Pirolo (from "pirouette"). Long story short: Alto trades his voice while Pirolo gets his legs for a day. (Alto now has a tail and Pirolo has a twisted ankle).

Join Us
Based off of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

This was one's not as based on the actual tale. There was once a farmer named Joseph who had six kids (Joanne (f), Joe (m), Joan (f), Joseba (f), Josef (m), Josey (m)) with his wife Joelle. The main character is a dog they named Ina (because they always find her stuck: "There's a dog in a trap!")