The baleful Basilisk

Many children like to sneak out at night to fool around. But it is said that some never return, only to be found as statues years later... or at least that is what their parents tell them.

Summary

According to the myth, lone children that leave their home at night get turned to stone by terrifying roaming basilisks.

Historical Basis

The myth is based on a real occurrence, when a basilisk family terrorized a forest and its surrounding villages. Over about a year more and more people disappeared, including everyone trying to investigate it. The cityfolk believed it to be some stupid myth, not bothering to do anything about it. That is until someone spotted one of the statues. It was that of a kid, frightened, standing alone in a clearing. It still took way too long for the kingsmen forces to do anything about it, but in the end they sent a whole army division to deal with the basilisks. They managed to kill a grand total of 16 in there. To this day people avoid the forest, scared of the possibility of finding another beast.

Spread

The myth spread throughout the The United Kingdoms, probably even whole Cerulen. A traveling bard picked up the story while staying in one of the villages and decided to write a song about it. For no good reason it stuck with the people, spreading it far throughout the empire.

Cultural Reception

The more brutish races laugh about the myth, saying that they would simply kill any basilisk that tried to turn them. The folk of the Northern Continent can't believe how long it took the empire to actually kill something as "simple" as a basilisk.