Sky Snow

All snowflakes come from the sky, some flakes just come from higher up than other ones.

Sky Snow is a mythical substance that commonly appears in myths and legends told by those that inhabit the icy regions of the Frozen South. It most often appears towards the end of the story and usually plays a crucial role in resolving a major problem the hero of the story is currently facing, be it a moral dilemma, a test of his resolve or the looming threat of starvation.
While the appearance of Sky Snow generally leads to the solution of this problem, the way in which it brings about this resolution is not always beneficial to the hero's goals or even his physical integrity, for truly Happy Endings are a rare commodity in the tales of the south.
Due to this, the appearance of Sky Snow is a suspense-packed moment in any story, which signals to the audience that the hero is about to reach the story's major turning point that will either set him on the path to victory or the road to damnation.

Historical Basis

While there have been numerous eyewitness reports of individuals who claim to have seen actual Sky Snow, both the reliability and accuracy of these tales have to be heavily questioned, given that most of those supposed eyewitnesses were either sick, intoxicated or severely malnourished during the encounter and the ones which weren't usually are peoples that have a rather relaxed definition of truth and honesty.
Additional many of the supposed Sky Snowflakes, which some storytellers like to carry around with them in order to grant their tales an extra bit of validity, have been identified as colored pieces of wood, horn or fur.
While these findings make it very unlikely that Sky Snow actually exists, this mystery only adds to the otherworldly aura of the Sky Snow and therefore ensures that it will remain a stable part of future tales, right until the point that someone finds actual Sky Snow and it turns out to be as horrible as some tales make it out to be.
For while tales about horrible things whose existence is ambiguous at best are highly entertaining, the same tale loses a lot of its entertainment value once you saw your neighbor being turned inside out after finding said horrible thing laying at his doorstep.

Cultural Reception

While the numerous types of Sky Snow together with the decisions of the hero lead to a different outcome of the story, most of these stories are built around the concepts of Endurance and Perseverance, given that these two disposition have to be prominent part of one's mindset if one wishes to survive in the harsh lands of the south.
The way in which this message is conveyed to the audience differs from story to story, with some tales serving as a cautions warning to not call upon forces beyond ones understanding in order to solve one's problems for doing will only cause further problems.
Other tales focus instead on the prospect that for as long as one still has hope, there is a chance for salvation -even in the form of otherworldly snowflakes- to arrive, though only those who haven't yet given in to desperation will be able to take this opportunity once it appears.
And even the bleakest of tales that end with the total defeat of the hero, often still carry a reassuring message which emphasizes the fact that no matter how desperate the personal situations of the audience currently are, it could always be even worse, so time crying over one's misfortune is time wasted that could have been used to improve one's situation.

Flakes from Beyond

Despite its prevalence in countless tales and stories, the exact appearance of Sky Snow is far from being uniform and varies wildly from tale to tale.
In some tales, it is described as snowflake-like objects made from a fibrous or even fleshy material.
In others, it consists of balls of grey ice that taste like the innards of a gutted fish.
And in yet other tales Sky Snow is made from burning pieces of sand that ensure the hero's survival during a night out in the freezing cold.

From high Above

A benevolent entity that is enraged is far more dangerous than an incomprehensible one which is oblivious to your existence.

While its appearance might change from story to story, the place from which it originates consistently remains the same.
This mysterious place is the so-called "Sky beyond the Heavens", which is commonly said to be inhabited by all manners of supernatural creatures, whose personalities range from benevolent over malicious to utterly alien and incomprehensible.
Yet regardless of which kind of entity sent the Sky Snow, the effect it will have on the hero's journey more often than not depends on the decisions and actions of the hero, which ultimately makes the morality of the entity sending the Snow inconsequently to the overall tale.

Related Species

• Miwa