The turtle who almost devoured the world

The story about Maasym, the turtle who almost devoured the world, is a creation myth from the Misrala. A people who live on an island chain southeast of East Eghea. It explains why the Misrala land consists of five islands and the constellation Turtle was formed.

Summary

In the beginning of time Ychtis created the world. She made an orb of fertile soil and the sun and two moons to guard it. Then she made the sky and ocean. But the water ran over the world's surface and disappeared into the Eternal Endlessness. Ychtis thought long and hard. And eventually she created the turtle Maasym. Ychtis gave Maasym the order to eat away parts of the world. But only just enough to be able to create oceans with water. Ychtis saw that Maasym was doing a good job. So she decided to take a nap. After all, creating a world is very tiring. And so Ychtis fell asleep. She slept for a long time until she felt a sudden pain. Maasym had bitten her foot. When Ychtis opened her eyes she saw that Maasym had eaten way too much of the world. Maasym was unstoppable though. He kept on eating no matter what Ychtis said or did. She did not know what to do, so she stared into the Eternal Endlessness. And then she became so angry that she cursed Maasym. When the curse hit the world eating turtle he burst into millions of pieces who flew right into the Eternal Endlessness. Since then stars are sprinkled all throughout the endless black beyond the world. The sun could not believe what had happened and threw so much light down on the world that the stars were no longer visible. But the twin moons thought there was much beauty in the stars, and a lesson to be learned. So every evening, when the sun is guarding the other side of the world, the moons dim their light and the stars become visible. If you look real close you can even see the image of a turtle among the stars.

The lesson

Five islands is all that is left of the land of the Misrala all because of Maasym's gluttony. The myth not only explains the creation of the world according to Misrala lore. It is also a warning against gluttony.

Date of Setting

At the beginning of time