How Obscure Mythologies Can Become Powerful Story Characters
While working out the story line for “The Stiamaq Emerald,” I had to figure out a good solid plot line without too much complexity.
First major point: Every story must have a villain.
I thought about it a while. Eventually, I decided upon the “ancient threat returns to modern day” kind of story. Fairly commonplace, true, but it makes a good “big conflict” easy to do, and everybody recognizes it.
Something that has high stakes, makes for a good challenge, and poses a realistic threat within the world.
So, what’s a good mega-scale villain to fit those criteria, in a realm where magic exists? Well, really, the only challenge in that case is a god, right?
I know a great deal of mythology from many different cultures. (It’s just a hobby, honest!) I briefly considered using Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, from Chinese folklore. But he’s not a villain, and I enjoy his legend too much to make him one. Go read it sometime; it’s awesome.
(Oh wait, I wrote a post talking about him!)
So I wanted something else. Something unusual. Not Greco-Roman, not British, not Norse. I know those legends…and while enjoyable, I wanted to go with something a little more obscure.
To find such a god, I consulted…
The ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODS!
…gods…
…gods…
Now, at this point I’d already decided to set the scene in the Pacific Northwest. What mythologies existed among the local history?
That brought to mind the native peoples here. Where I’m at, the local tribe is the Spokane. However, I checked, but I didn’t come across a god/spirit that seemed a good fit among their legends.
So I branched out. Across the whole Northwest, consulting what sources we do have for tribal legends. This further reading made me aware of a figure named Qamaits. She is a warrior goddess of the Nuxalk people.
Who are they? They’re a native people who live in the Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia, some miles north & west of me, near the Pacific coast. Not the biggest tribe in the region, nor the smallest.
Here’s a few sources for the Nuxalk:
Nuxalk.net
Nuxalk Nation.ca
Nuxalk – Wikipedia
Today about 1,400 Nuxalk people walk the Earth. Many still follow their traditional way of life – fishing and hunting for food, holding ceremonies for important events, and creating impressively-detailed art.
Their religious beliefs mirror other native peoples, with gods of creation, of the hunt, and of war.
We don’t have a lot of knowledge about those beliefs. What I could find discussed a creator god, Alhkw’ntam, and the war goddess, Qamayts/Qamaits.
A tribal depiction of Qamaits. She doesn’t look too happy. But according to the stories, she normally isn’t.
According to the legend, Qamaits is a war goddess who, at the beginning of time, fought against the giants dwelling in the Great Pacific Northwest. She defeated the giants, smashing them into the imposing mountain ranges and pleasant valleys of today.
Evidently the world didn’t have any other ‘worthy opponents’ in those days, so Qamaits left the world after the battle. Maybe they’d created a Planet Maui someplace else?
(I sent a message to the Nuxalk Nation asking for further insight. Sadly, I did not get a response.)
An AI-generated depiction of Qamaits. I didn’t expect anyone would make one of such an obscure legend, but they did, and it’s impressively detailed! Source.
So I had the name, a book reference, and its people of origin.
I found one additional source: A brief entry on Godchecker.com.
Take note of this paragraph:
“She doesn’t think much of humans, but pays the odd visit to take her pet snake Sisiutl for a crawl. And to smack a few humans about and cause disasters.”
Well now…that seemed to work pretty well to me!
With all these aspects, elements of character, I set to work.
Obviously I took a few creative liberties in the novel. A few elements gained strength, adding more to the threat. An altered history to generate dread. The myth’s tribal nature stayed intact; I didn’t want to make light, or write something disrespectful.
But as we all know, myths are stories. They shift, and move, and alter themselves among the shadows of Time.
It all turned out pretty well, I’d say…but you’d have to read the book to see them all.
“The tribes called her Stiamaq. She who Delights in Death. Mother of Corpses. None knew from where she came, only that she did come and brought murder with her. She knew not rest nor peace nor friend.”
Have you ever encountered an unusual/obscure/strange mythology or legend?