Post by Bleu on Mar 5, 2015 20:57:24 GMT
 | WEREBEARS |
THE ORIGINS OF THE BEARMAN
the man of the forest, or rather the lumberjack, is usually seen as stand-offish and happy with his solitude as he works among the trees and forest creatures. a bear is not much different.
there was once man, a lumberjack as is the way of coincidence, from a village alongside a mountain, who once travelled too far, for too long, and became lost in the darkness of night in the forest. he found himself a cave and he knew he had to chance it, though the region was known for bears, who are naturally cave dwellers. this man had always been in awe of the lazy and powerful way of bears, and he often lost himself in thought of them and had studied them since childhood. he reasoned that all bears are nocturnal, and it would not return and eat him as he slept. though fitful, he soon entered dreams, and in them, he thought a large and brutally scarred bear found him in the cave and spoke to him.
"there is a human." came the rumble, and the man raised steady eyes to the monstrous beast.
"there is a bear." he responded, this false bravery only possible in dreams.
"awha! a sarcastic human. i may have you for lunch, i say." the bear rose up onto his back paws as he chuckled, his massive forelimbs swinging at his sides like boughs of oaks attached to his shoulders. the man still did not know fear and laughed along.
"do not eat me, for i am old and cold from sleeping on this floor." the bear lowered himself in thought and made grumbling noises that the man somehow perceived as the beast perusing his options.
"you have made good reasons, sarcastic human, but i cannot allow you life." this was the bear's final words on letting the man live and the human copied the bear's previous actions by pacing and hmm'ing and haw'ing as a good human should during just critical moments of choice.
"do not kill me, beast of the mountain range. instead, allow me passage to your soul; let us be one. for are not bears reasonable? you would no longer be forced to wander at night, watching for humans. you would have me for your daytime travels and your own strength for your nighttime endeavours."
The bear listened and turned, heading into the night without another word, and the man awoke instantly find footprints he could've sworn to be impossible.
Returning home at daybreak, the man told his story across the village, which caused most to think him mad. Disheartened and enraged, the man returned to the forest the next night and slept once more in the cave, though it was with more ease.
"there is a human once more." the rumble was welcome though, and the man gave a deep bow to the beast.
"and again, a bear has arrived." it was the same one as the night before, and instead of being sociable, he seemed irritable. the man began to fear for the first time.
"good, you know danger. i was beginning to think you as mad as the humans in your town. and do not question how i know; i am the king of the mountain range, i know and hear everything." the bear settled in the entrance of the den, his sturdy and embossed snout towards the freedom of the night as he let out a sigh as heavy as gravity on the mountain itself. "i have thought of your offer through the day, and i accept it."
stunned, the man remained silent for several minutes, and when he found words in his mouth again, he feared that the monster had fallen asleep. "you want to become something unnatural?"
"nay, sarcastic human; i wish to become a man much as you wish to be a bear." the bear then stood and took his leave of the den and the man, who returned home upon awakening, not even pausing to register the eyes that watched his trek.
upon months of continuing to sleep in the cave, the man slowly became more and more antisocial to humans, and the bear and he often travelled alone among the trees. the village began to talk and whisper of the man who wished to be a bear, and the forest creatures of the bear who wished to be a man.
on the summer equinox, which was the bears' celebration period, the bear and the human went to the fairgrounds of the king's subjects, a secret valley hidden inside the mountain range. when they arrived, there was much controversy, but no one dared defy the king's wishes. when the sun was at its highest peak, the bears brought forth the shaman who had dealt with such matters in her life of a thousand years, and she merged the two without question or hesitation.
when the man returned to the town a week later, the villagers called him a demon and turned him away. nearby settlements, who caught wind of the stories of the bearman, dubbed the town "landsbyen bjørnen", which translates to "the village of the bear". after he was exiled from the community, the man vowed eternal neutrality with his former race and began to hunt out humans who wished to be a bear as he had. upon his death, the race of werebears had been steadily increasing, though it is one of the most endangered of the mythical beasts.
the man of the forest, or rather the lumberjack, is usually seen as stand-offish and happy with his solitude as he works among the trees and forest creatures. a bear is not much different.
there was once man, a lumberjack as is the way of coincidence, from a village alongside a mountain, who once travelled too far, for too long, and became lost in the darkness of night in the forest. he found himself a cave and he knew he had to chance it, though the region was known for bears, who are naturally cave dwellers. this man had always been in awe of the lazy and powerful way of bears, and he often lost himself in thought of them and had studied them since childhood. he reasoned that all bears are nocturnal, and it would not return and eat him as he slept. though fitful, he soon entered dreams, and in them, he thought a large and brutally scarred bear found him in the cave and spoke to him.
"there is a human." came the rumble, and the man raised steady eyes to the monstrous beast.
"there is a bear." he responded, this false bravery only possible in dreams.
"awha! a sarcastic human. i may have you for lunch, i say." the bear rose up onto his back paws as he chuckled, his massive forelimbs swinging at his sides like boughs of oaks attached to his shoulders. the man still did not know fear and laughed along.
"do not eat me, for i am old and cold from sleeping on this floor." the bear lowered himself in thought and made grumbling noises that the man somehow perceived as the beast perusing his options.
"you have made good reasons, sarcastic human, but i cannot allow you life." this was the bear's final words on letting the man live and the human copied the bear's previous actions by pacing and hmm'ing and haw'ing as a good human should during just critical moments of choice.
"do not kill me, beast of the mountain range. instead, allow me passage to your soul; let us be one. for are not bears reasonable? you would no longer be forced to wander at night, watching for humans. you would have me for your daytime travels and your own strength for your nighttime endeavours."
The bear listened and turned, heading into the night without another word, and the man awoke instantly find footprints he could've sworn to be impossible.
Returning home at daybreak, the man told his story across the village, which caused most to think him mad. Disheartened and enraged, the man returned to the forest the next night and slept once more in the cave, though it was with more ease.
"there is a human once more." the rumble was welcome though, and the man gave a deep bow to the beast.
"and again, a bear has arrived." it was the same one as the night before, and instead of being sociable, he seemed irritable. the man began to fear for the first time.
"good, you know danger. i was beginning to think you as mad as the humans in your town. and do not question how i know; i am the king of the mountain range, i know and hear everything." the bear settled in the entrance of the den, his sturdy and embossed snout towards the freedom of the night as he let out a sigh as heavy as gravity on the mountain itself. "i have thought of your offer through the day, and i accept it."
stunned, the man remained silent for several minutes, and when he found words in his mouth again, he feared that the monster had fallen asleep. "you want to become something unnatural?"
"nay, sarcastic human; i wish to become a man much as you wish to be a bear." the bear then stood and took his leave of the den and the man, who returned home upon awakening, not even pausing to register the eyes that watched his trek.
upon months of continuing to sleep in the cave, the man slowly became more and more antisocial to humans, and the bear and he often travelled alone among the trees. the village began to talk and whisper of the man who wished to be a bear, and the forest creatures of the bear who wished to be a man.
on the summer equinox, which was the bears' celebration period, the bear and the human went to the fairgrounds of the king's subjects, a secret valley hidden inside the mountain range. when they arrived, there was much controversy, but no one dared defy the king's wishes. when the sun was at its highest peak, the bears brought forth the shaman who had dealt with such matters in her life of a thousand years, and she merged the two without question or hesitation.
when the man returned to the town a week later, the villagers called him a demon and turned him away. nearby settlements, who caught wind of the stories of the bearman, dubbed the town "landsbyen bjørnen", which translates to "the village of the bear". after he was exiled from the community, the man vowed eternal neutrality with his former race and began to hunt out humans who wished to be a bear as he had. upon his death, the race of werebears had been steadily increasing, though it is one of the most endangered of the mythical beasts.
