Islander's Myth: The Rise Of Platia (Told By Bart The Tinkerer)
''A long, long time ago, back when ordinairy people built temples for the extra-ordinairy Gods they worshipped, there lived a Priestress called Platia.
Platia was a Keeper of the Moon Temple, domain of the Moon God Bulan, one of the most important Gods of that time. It was a great honor to serve him, but Platia had a horrible time in the Temple...
Her fellow Priestresses would always bullied and looked down on her. This was because most of them were powerful; they were capable of casting magic spells, could float a few metres above the ground and were able to create diamonds with their bare hands... Platia possessed none of these talents.
Fortunately, there was one bright spot in her life. Her burden would get a little less heavy whenever she was sent off high up in the mountains to collect important herbs and spices, one day per week in the early morning. Most other Priestresses thought that as a tedious job; getting up by the break of dawn just to walk an awfully long and dangerous mountain path and gather plants along the way - and that's why Platia was chosen to do it.
If she accidently fell in a ravine, it wouldn't be much of a loss to the temple.
Platia was a very skilled climber though, and instead of fallen of a cliff she'd fallen in love with the wildlife she saw on her mandatory walks. The colorful moving creatures were much of a refreshment after having seen nothing but the dark grey brick walls of the Moon Temple.
Colorful? Wild piñatas? Yes!
We should not forget that in this period of time, all piñatas had their bright colors, even those that were 'wild'. Tame piñatas hardly existed back then, since there were hardly any gardeners... Domestic piñatas were the only ones that the Villagers dared to keep, others were considered far too dangerous - or, in most cases, just a waste of time. What in the world was you going to do with a Jameleon? Such a thing yielded nothing!
Platia was one of the first Islanders that had heart for non-domestic piñatas.
Syrupents, Mothdrops, Lickatoads and other piñatas that were usually given the cold shoulder - or even worse, the cold blade of the spade! - came to Platia whenever she was near.
It's uncertain why, but they seemed to enjoy her presence. And she enjoyed theirs just as much. She would watch the piñatas closely, talk to them and even pet them.
At that time - it must've been somewhere in the late 1500's - human having such a close bond with piñatas was very uncommon. Not only on Piñata Island, if you look at late medieval Europe you can see that wild animals weren't considered as anything but a plague. People just didn't like other species than theirselves - they even detested variants of their very own race!
However, the most remarkable thing about Platia wasn't her love for piñatas, but the piñatas' love for her. Platia had no idea about this in her mountain-walking years, but she was a revolutionist in both human's and piñata's religion...
It all started with - and I suppose you can see this coming - Mallowolves. And with one pack in particular, the Canda.
The Canda was an exeptional pack. Strangely, they mainly existed out of variants, without even having eaten any blackberries or pots of marmalade.
They seemed superiour to their ashy-purple peers, they were gifted with great communication skills and outstanding intelligence. Just like with all Mallowolves, their pack was a little 'society', but theirs was far more advanced than the average group of piñatas. They'd built their very own Village...
This 'Village' is nothing but another myth nowadays, but I can assure you - it's real. And actually it isn't all that far into the wild, it's should be pretty easy to reach from here if you know what to look for... I've never found it; but old scrolls say that it's located in one of those caves relatively near your garden...
I fear that Canda Village's become abandoned after the disappearance of Platia and her fellow... No! We're anticipating... Let me tell you more about this legendary place.
At its heyday, Canda Village must've been magnificent. There are few eyewitnesses, but one of those was a very skilled writer called Girasol - the Herodotus of Piñata Island - and he described the small city as 'breathtaking, unbelievably well-built and with a slightly terrifying beauty'.
He also mentioned all the pink, sky blue and silvery Mallowolves running around, carrying various objects and goods between their huge, destructive jaws as if they were graceful, delicate hands... The architecture of the buildings they lived in was marvelous - nothing like those dark, gloomy wolf-shaped caves their less-developed congeners still use as their homes by now...
No, the Canda used actual bricks. Bricks they had baked in ovens and colored with red and yellow ocher. The buildings had actual door posts and windows, but the doors and plates of glass were left out.
The edges of these openings though, were decorated with blue glaze detailing - the Gods know how thumbless creatures ever managed to create something as complicated as that!
But this wasn't the most baffling thing to mister Girasol. To most piñatas, houses are just places for them to sleep and romance in. The Canda on the other hand gave their buildings more worthy and noble purposes.
Temples, community centres, archives and musea. The Canda had it all, and they kept the strangest things! Crystal skulls you might've seen in Inca movies - Islanders used to make the same to honor their Gods of Death -, gems, pearls, jewelry, idols and undefined magical objects... Historians think the Canda'd stolen them from humans, but I'm not as sure about that.
We must not forget that the Canda were masters of architecture, that's said to have been the foundation of their culture. It was what distinguished them from submissive piñatas... So, why no sculptry, why no smithery? It is even known that these Mallowolves had their own script, paterns they made by scratching their lovely claws in wet tablets of clay...
Anyhow, I think you've heard enough about the Canda to figure out these Mallowolves you saw tonight were most probably... descandants of the ancient pack, heirs of the superiour. The Gods know what they want from you...
What they wanted from Platia back in the day, is crystal clear though.
Except for her love for piñatas, Platia kept another secret. Eventhough she was born to serve him, she was NOT faithful to the Moon God Bulan!
Platia had absolutely no magical talent, but she was an extremely intelligent young lady. She'd taught herself how to read at the age of six, and not only was she exceptionally bright, she was also very brave.
The chief Priests and Priestresses of Bulan kept a register deep, deep under the foundations of their Temple. Top secret scrolls were stored down there, files that described how certain important rituals were supposed to be performed, lists of magical artifacts the Temple possessed and the names of all Priests and Priestresses that had ever abided in the sanctuary of the Moon God - organized by date of birth, rank and date of death.
But, none of these things ever woke Platia's curiousity.
More important writings were stored in the sinister cellar of the Moon Temple... Documents that contained detailed descriptions of the Moon God, information only the Upper Priest and Priestress had access to.
Platia had known from a very young age that she'd never manage to participate in the 'Talk Ceremony', a ceremony in which a powerful Shaman created a small portal between the regular World and Neragua - World of the Gods - in order to speak to Bulan, ask him questions and behold his legandary figure...
Platia was dying to know what this supreme entity was like, though! From her baby years she'd heard stories about his great deeds, his great powers and his great appearance.
She imagined Bulan to be the salvator of all poverty and misery she'd seen on the streets. She thought that Bulan was the one that would help the maimed, disabled and metally incapable people that were dying in the gutters every day.
There were a lot of those people, and their pain was intolerable to Platia.
The people we are talking about couldn't care less, though. Not only were they used to suffering every day, they also didn't have the intellect to be worried about their situation.
Yes, they were hungry, pestered by poverty, filth and unknown entities... But that was life they knew, life they were okay with, the life their creators had conferred them.
Anyhow, that one night Platia had sneaked off all way down, she had read a few old rolls of parchment by candlelight. Her heart must've beat loudly - if anyone ever catched her in the Sanctuary of Data, she would not only lose her postion as a Priestress, she would also be executed before the dusk of dawn... She knew that all too well.
What controlled her more than her fears and nerves, were the surprisement and dissappointment in the contents of the rolls...
It's not for sure what was written on these ancient things, but we do know that Platia found out that her 'salvator' Bulan knew about the people's horrifying conditions, that he even encouraged it and that he - and his fellow Gods - had hired the Priests and Priestresses to take their place, and rule their twisted stratocracy...
He used their misery and helplessness to maintain his autority over them.
Platia was furious. Right after she found out this cruel truth, she swore an oath to herself that she wouldn't contribute to the evil and wrong system anymore... She had no idea how but she would escape from the Moon Temple, she did no longer want to be a pawn of the tyrants.
She had to devise a plan, though. A well-thought, watertight, delicate but drastic plan.
She couldn't think of anything that was in her power. She stood alone in this, not only was she punishable for knowing secret information, nobody in the rotten Village she lived in would agree on her views.
Luckily for her, the Canda had been watching her for a while. They knew what she was about. She shared countless similarities and viewpoints with the pack, and the pack needed a leader...
The Canda didn't have an alpha male like regular packs did. No, they were a democracy-like community - which worked very well and created a peaceful atmosphere, but now that the wolves wanted revolution... They needed someone to take the lead, perhaps someone that was not a Mallowolf.
Really, the Canda had tried to appoint males and females from their own group as the leader. It just never worked out... There were several reasons why not; but the most important struggle was probably that the Candas' main goal was to bring the Temple down, they needed an insider, someone who knew what the Templars did and hwo they could be distracted or... liquidated, if necessary.
Not more than a week after her discovery, Platia randomly found a silvery blue Mallowolf in her cell, at night... She was stunned; she'd never seen such a thing as a Mallowolf - but she fell instantly in love with it. Not in an inappropriate way, of course.
Eventhough she was happy with her fluffy visitor, she wondered how it'd managed to get in... The Moon Temple was one of the most secured. Armed guards were everywhere, no outsider would get through alive, not even a piñata.
Later she found out that the animal must'd crawled its way through one of the shafts...
The Mallowolf somehow got Platia outside, how is uncertain. As soon as the girl felt the cool, moist grass under her bare feet, she burst out in exultation. She immediately looked up. She'd never seen the nightsky before and the wide collection of silver lights was downright magical to her.
There's said in an old scription, that she muttered 'This must be heaven!' when a cloud shifted away and the moon appeared. Funny as it is, at that point she didn't realize that she was looking at the thing she'd worshipped all her life...
Then, when she looked down, she noticed there were two other Mallowolves standing next to her. A sky blue and a pink one...
She didn't get much time to stare at the nocturnal lights. The two other Mallowolves - who were said to be pretty juvenile - started to bark and jump around impatiently.
They were excited. They'd finally found their leader, and they'd been waiting for so long!
The older Mallowolf growled at them. How did they dare to act as brutal in front of the Alpha?
Despite their inappropriate behavior, he agreed with the youngsters about the haste of the situation. The rest of the pack was dying to meet Platia too!
So, the wolves simply set course to their secret destination in the mountains. It must've been a terribly difficult run to Platia - she wasn't quite used to the darkness, neither was she really fit enough to keep up with her jolly guides.
They made it, though. The Gods know how.
They made it before dawn fell in.
Platia must've felt like a Princess when the city gates of Canda City opened... According to the legend, dozens and dozens of Mallowolves were waiting for her, their huge pink tongues hanging out of their mouths, all panting expectantly and hopeful.
That's what I call a warm welcome!
But not only the inhabitants were impressive, she must've also been wonderstruck by the city's buildings. I've already described them to you, but especially during that time of history such architecture was only used for Temples and governmental buildings. No way an ordinary scavenger could afford a house with brick walls - let alone with mosaic detailing!
The Mallowolves couldn't speak. Regardless of their intelligence, they remained piñatas, creatures without vocal chords. Communicating on a high level with those wolves would've been impossible to most people...
Well, not to Platia! There's no actual evidence or explanation to this... But the story goes that because she was elected by the Canda to guide them, she was instantly gifted with the ability to communicate telepathically with them. Like I said; there's absolutely no evidence to this theory, she might've just been very talented at reconizing piñata's facial expressions and body language.
After the reception, there followed a Welcome Ceremony - which is kind of similar to your Mask Ceremony, but keep the fact in mind that people didn't wear masks that much back in time... let alone Mallowolves!
The Welcome Ceremony consisted of a short parade to the City's Well, a small well in the centre of the village. Water from it was given to drink to Platia, and her hands and feet were washed in it too. The most noteworthy thing though, was how the wolves gave Platia a small, silver crown with inlaid sapphires, the ultimate symbol of her newly retrieved leadership of the Canda Clan...
It gives me shivers to know that there once was a piñata civilazation as politically developed as the Canda! And no, they were not the only one, but I don't want my rambling to get longer than it already is! You know, I could go on hours and hours about... Never mind!
What happened after the Welcome Ceremony is kind of vague. Both the storybook and official versions skipped quite a period of time after this...
Let's jump to the next major occasion.
I think this happened a month or five after Platia's coronation...
The Canda and Platia had set up a strategy to occupy the Moon Temple. The Mallowolves would encircle the building and force the Priestresses and Templars to come out - unarmed, their weapons would be taken immediately if detected.
After her guards had made sure everything was okay, Platia would clear her throat and speak to the Templars about the misery and oppression they caused, and try to persuade them to stop carrying out their dictature..
If the Templars refused to, the Mallowolves would attack, and a lovely night would turn into a bloody battle.
Of course, Platia failed. Or maybe the Templars failed, you can choose how you'd like to see it, if they just surrendered to Platia they'd spared their own asses a whole lot of future struggles too...
That one night... One of the bloodiest battles in the history of Piñata Island occured. Over twenty Templars got hurt and eight of them died of their injuries. We do not know how many Mallowolves fell in action, but most probably there were even more victims among the Canda...
Poor, little brave papery dogs. It's said that the surviving Priestresses prepaired meals of Mallowolf life candy for days and days!
Platia and the remaining Canda members had withdrawn themselves back up in their cave residence, high up in the mountains. Platia and her advisors agreed on one thing: Too many of their best men had fallen. The next battle had to be fought differently.
After nights and nights of bickering and debate about their new approach - Canda Wolves never backed down! - they finally came to an accord: Platia would turn to something she'd never really relied on, something she had absolutely no talent for and something that made her feel like a fish out of the water...
Magic.
The Canda were ingenious piñatas, pretty much ahead of their time, especially compared to those retarded humans from back then. Also when it came to magical arts...
The Canda pack had three shamans, two witch-doctors and several 'novices', who were still learning the craft of magic. The wolves didn't even call magic magic by the way, they called it 'The Force'.
And The Force wasn't seen as anything supernatural, no, it was nothing but a weapon the Dark Gods and their Priests had, and that they - the Canda - needed to practice it too, if they ever wanted a fair shot against them.
So. The Alpha became a novice. And learned. And learned, learned, and learned. She learned how to create those swirling, magic orbs of light, she learned how to compose a powerful scroll and she finally learned how to float, something that she'd been wanting to do for years!
Slowly but surely, Platia became more and more powerful. She promoted from a novice to a witch-doctor as soon as she learned to create posions and potions, and she eventually became a shaman, after attending training from the very best for more than one and a half year.
She was now powerful enough to open a window to Neragua and talk to the Gods directly. She'd asked the Mantlah - Upper Shaman of the Canda - if she could, but he made her clear that he'd rather go to the Moon Temple again, even if that meant that they'd lose more of their good men.
Opening a portal to Neragua is risky, who knows what creatures escape to our dimension when they get the chance? There are countless demons and entities that you truly wouldn't like walking around among the people, not only would they slaughter anything in their way, as soon as they were saturated they'd also take possession of their dead bodies and set up conspiracies to destroy or enslave mankind...
A terrifying idea. The problematic thing was, though...
Platia was not easily terrified. Normally a good quality in warfare, but in this one situation... Not really.
On day in the mid of noon, when all of her beloved Mallowolfs were asleep, Platia secretly gathered all the atributes together that she needed to open a portal. She would talk to the Gods. In broad daylight, in her very own bedroom, she would perform her very first Talk Ceremony.
That her advisors didn't support her in this, didn't mean anything at all. She was the Alpha, she had the right to make any decision for the pack she wanted... And she wanted to do THIS. This was more than just Business to her...
This was personal.
Platia shook all her fear off - not that she was one for dread much - and started humming. Only moments later, she was all caught up in the most deep trance... Mantlah had prepared her very well.
Shivers. The atmosphere in the room had changed, not only had the temperature dropped drastically, something... frigid had added to the ambience.
Suddenly, a dark purple, swirling sphere appeared out of thin air, only a few decimetres before Platia's face.
The Priestress opened her eyes and smirked. She'd done it. She'd accomplished to open a window to the world of the Gods. And now she'd finally speak to one.
A misshapen face appeared in the foggy, purple portal. Platia, overcome by a sense of triumph, crawled even closer to the portal and hissed: 'Let me speak to Bulan.'
The misshapen thing shook its disformed head. No one has ever written a detailed description of what it actually looked like, but I guess our imagination can fill in the absence of those scriptions... It must've looked horrible!
And its voice must've sounded even worse...
'Thhe Great missster Bulann can't ssspeak to thhou.'
'No? Doesn't he know who I am?'
Anger rushed through Platia's veins. That God... Didn't want to speak to HER? She was more powerful than any Priestress he'd ever encounter, she was the leader of the CANDA PACK!
The demon shook its head again. 'Bulan ithh busssy. Does thhou wantss to leave a message?'
Platia grimaced at the irony of the whole situation. Mr Bulan was away to some important meeting, so she had to deal with his secretary from hell. Ha.
Who was Bulan to not listen to his servants, equals and...
SUPERIOURS.
'Tell Bulan... that he's being replaced by a WORTHY Moon God...'
Before the demon even could react to that, Platia shattered the portal with only one single swipe of her mighty hand.''