Shadow Shard's Inspiration?

No, this isn't about the Kora fruit, but instead what I think might have been the original inspiration for the Shadow Shard, or at least for some of the components.

I had just remembered about an old Choose Your Own Adventure™ book from my childhood. It was about going to Australia, specifically the area known at the time by westerners as Ayer's Rock, and doing some exploring in the many CAVES that were dug into the rock.

There was also some snippets about the local beliefs about "Dreamtime" which is essentially an aboriginal creation story. As I was reading about this stuff all over again 20 years later, it started to come to me.... and then it hit me... as soon as I found out what the natives actually call Ayer's Rock...

I think you're on to something here. Not a bad observation at all.

I've seen this very late, but yes in fact the Dreamtime is, according to the various tribal myths, before the start of time when the Wandjina (or 'Sky People') came to the land and made everything around them.

These beings in the stories were immense. I have a character based on the Rainbow Serpent of these mythologies, and the Serpent's movements across the land made the mountain ranges. They encompass most elements you find in mythology; there's the trickster demon often taking the form of dingoes.

There's some similarity to the Dreamtime (or Dreaming as the natives prefer to call it) with the shattered aspects of Rularuu, but it differs at the point that these being or beings went mad and broke their world, whereas the Wandjina essentially dreamed the world into being, and often took the form of animals, be they snakes, lizards, fish and so on. It's interesting to note that the stories often feature talking animals, as all the animals could speak to each other in the Dreaming. It wasn't until they did things in the stories (more often than not told to explain for example why the blue tongued lizard's tongue is blue) that they lost these abilities.

I'd be happy to answer to the best of my abilities any other questions you had.

S.

Thanks for the info, it's quite helpful.

You're just now figuring that out? psh...puh-lees

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so..ah...tell me more...

"Good authors borrow, great authors steal." - Mark Twain.