The Story of Onato & The Grand Tale
Onato was the most beautiful and powerful god in existence back in the early days when time and creation had just parted their ways after the fateful meeting that gave birth to this galaxy brimming with life.
He had many talents, from singing to dancing to creating stories to fighting. He prided himself on accepting any bet offered from another god and not having lost a single competition. However, Onato was also prideful, stubborn, and spoiled, but most of the other gods loved him regardless, as he had a good heart and would help his kin when needed.
Another god, Juriko, was envious of all the attention Onato was receiving. As his resentment grew, he started to formulate a plan to take down Onato.
Since Onato was an immortal god and couldn’t be destroyed, Juriko devised a plan to entrap him for all eternity.
Juriko called all gods to a competition of challenges to establish who was the most powerful god, and Onato, of course, decided to participate.
In the final round, Juriko dared Onato to escape a prison he had created, and if he could do that, he would be deemed the most powerful god. Onato, of course, accepted and entered the prison, which consisted of a simple cell with a lock that could be opened by giving the correct password.
The only hint given to the Mierese god was that the answer was a good story, perhaps one that hadn’t even occurred yet.
Onato tried his best to crack the password. He used his fantastic memory, trying to think about every event he had lived through in the past, but to no avail. He tried to combine words, but the lock didn’t respond. He tried to create words that didn’t even exist, but the cell wouldn’t budge.
Juriko, who knew Onato well, offered him the possibility of surrendering, needing just to admit he wasn’t the most powerful and smart of all gods. Still, the Mierese father angrily denied his offers and proclaimed to every god that he would only leave once he found the correct answer to the enigma.
Onato was no fool. He quickly understood that this was a trap from Juriko, but he wouldn’t be defeated by some underhanded plot from an envious god. His pride wouldn’t allow it, and he developed a plan to win the competition.
First, he created a record of his story, with every word, secret, and story he used in the competition, keeping track of everything he had tried.
Then, he separated a part of his essence and breathed life into it, creating the first group of Mierese. He came to his children, explained the situation and made a pact with them.
He would allow them to live a vibrant life in the galaxy that he and the other gods created. Every Mierese would be free to live however they saw fit, with the condition that, once they died, they would need to tell Onato at least one new story about the galaxy that he had never heard in order to help him find the answer to the enigma.
Should the Mierese fulfill the condition, that individual would be entitled to live in a paradise prepared for them. If he or she didn’t, they would need to keep company with Onato, helping him crack the puzzle for however long was necessary.
The first Mierese then proceeded to recite everything that their god told them, and this great story became known as the Grand Tale. It’s embedded into the heart of every Mierese since their first day under the stars, and from then on they vowed to find stories for their god so they could help him find the key to his imprisonment and find their way to a fulfilling afterlife.
The Grand Tale has been, henceforth, updated by generation after generation of Mierese Lore Keepers, which incorporated in it the most relevant characters and events regarding the galaxy and overall Mierese culture.
Being featured in the Grand Tale is the supreme honor for the Mierese society, and this founding story, while we don’t know if it’s true or not, impacts and informs every aspect of the Mierese culture and society.
While this is only one of the fundamentals that inform the Mierese society, it’s one that impacted how this population evolved through the ages and reached the current establishment and organization.
In our next chapter, we’ll investigate the second pillar of the Mierese current civilization, a pillar that isn’t part of the Mierese culture but of their world that tested this civilization's will to survive for thousands of years.
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