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Description
Here's a revamp of an old project, Star Wars: Galactic Folklore and Mythology. As a friend of mine called it, basically Grimm's Fairy Tales: Star Wars Edition. A compilation of legends, fables, and fairy tales from a number of races across the Galaxy.

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1: On the jungle planet of Kashyyyk, there have long been whispers of a short, hairless creature said to stalk the fertile plains beyond the furthest trees, a being known to the Wookiee chieftains as Smallfoot.

2: On the desert world of Tatooine, several indigenous Jawa cultures believe that their small world rests upon the back of Great Ob'mud, an immense bantha who flaps his enormous ears like wings in order to fly through the cosmic void, and causes earthquakes any time he sneezes.

3: On the planet Gamorr, the Milky Way, that vast band of stars and dust stretching across the heavens, features prominently in local mythology. One culture of note, the ancient Ezanites, believed the galactic spiral arm to be the remnants of an ancient, towering structure built from shining stone, constructed with the intention of reaching the realm of the gods. Naturally, the Ezanite pantheon did not take kindly to this gesture, and reduced the wondrous tower to dust, which they scattered across the night sky, as an eternal reminder of the price of heresy.

4: Every Sullustan youngling knows and fears the Voice-Taker, a legendary boogeyman first described in T. Zyres Grophagrong's Of Myths and Monsters, one of the most reliable sources of traditional Sullustan fairy tales from the north Vundish region.

The Voice-Taker is generally described as a ghost or revenant, and is consistently depicted as a tall, decomposing figure, wearing a beard made from flies and larva, with a heavy sack slung over its shoulder. In life, the Voice-Taker is said to have been born with a mouth three sizes too big for his face (a deformity most renditions attribute to his gossiping mother), and as a result, his cries during infancy were so loud and frequent that they would regularly keep his family and their neighbors awake at all hours of the night.

The boy's father, exhausted and desperate, did as any good fairy tale protagonist would, and consulted his local alchemist, who provided him with a magic elixir, which he swore by the gods would silence his son's screams until his first birthday. Despite the priest's warning to give his son only three drops, the boy's father instead poured the entire elixir into his son's oversized mouth, which had the unfortunate side effect of leaving the boy permanently mute.

He was soon put to work on his family farm, until in his eighteenth year, he died after tripping and falling down an abandoned well. Although the boy's parents searched for weeks afterwards, because their son was unable to cry for help, he was never found, and having never been afforded his culture's traditional burial rites, his spirit is now forced to spend eternity wandering the mortal plain.

The Voice-Taker's experience has given him a strong appreciation for the value of speech, and an even stronger disdain for Sullustan younglings who take theirs for granted, by yelling, swearing, and speaking rudely to their elders. Unruly children are warned that if their behavior does not improve, the Voice-Taker will visit them in the night. Upon awakening to the pungent stench of decay, the child will inevitably upon their mouth to scream upon catching gory glimpse of the maggot-bearded monster looming above their bed. The creature will then strike by extending one bony arm down its victim's throat, stealing their voice away, and stuffing it into his old burlap sack.

5: On the planet of Cadomai Prime, homeworld of the humanoid Snivvians, there have been countless stories told of Pikabu Island, a legendary region lying off the western coast of the Lymish Isles. Pikabu Island is said to be surrounded by a thick, impenetrable mist, with the exception of during a leap day (which on Cadomai Prime, occurs once every five years), where it temporarily becomes accessible to outsiders. By far, the most detailed account of Pikabu Island and its legendary history is that provided in A History of the World, And Its Peoples by ancient author, Sir Yobarus Quagg. According to Quagg, Pikabu Island was once visible all year round, and was ruled over by a benevolent king named Sacul the Ageless. Sacul was born on a leap day, and as such, aged only one year for every five. Much of his life is described in detail, and it is claimed that the good king had seven brides, each of whom he married seven years apart, and all of whom met a tragic end.

Sacul's first wife was Ira, an elderly crone who was smitten with the king, and used a magical potion to appear young and beautiful in order to win his love. Unfortunately for Ira, one of her new husband's wedding gifts was a mirror made out of pure silver (something of a rarity on Cadomai Prime), which reflected her as she truly was - old, wrinkled, and to her husband's eyes, highly unattractive. Sacul demanded an immediate divorce, and poor Ira died of a broken heart, but not before placing a terrible curse upon the young king, causing any woman he wed to die within a year of marriage.

Sacul's second wife is said to have died from hysterical laughter at the sight of a courtroom jester's antics, while his third was accidentally beheaded by a bronze ball whilst watching a sports game (after which, her husband never picked up his playing stick again). Shortly after Sacul's fourth wedding, his new wife, Magri, learned that her beloved brother had fallen ill with the dreaded condition known as violet fever. Magri's love for her brother was matched with only with that for her husband - for when she was a child, and had tripped whilst playing into a lake infested with poisonous stingfish, her brother had been the only one brave enough to dive in and rescue her. Magri visited her brother, and rather unwisely planted a single kiss upon his forehead before his passing, and she herself died from the condition that very same night.

Sacul's fifth wife is said to have had the most beautiful voice in all the land, and one day, whilst singing near the woods, her enchanting song was heard by a hungry hound that had strayed from its pack. Catching a glimpse of the young queen's white dress, the hound was certain that such singing could not come from mortal lips, and believed her to be a snowbird (which, according to legend, sings only immediately prior to its death). The hound leapt at the queen, tearing deep into her leg, before realizing its fatal error, and leaping into a nearby river out of guilt. She was soon recovered, although her wounds were so severe that she died in her husband's arms.

Sacul's sixth wife, of fair, yet faint heart, had the shortest marriage of all, dying from shock upon seeing the size of her husband's genitals for the first time. Sacul's seventh and final wife is, Krandura, is perhaps the best remembered. Try as she and her husband might, Krandura was unable to conceive, and visited a nearby witch, and told her of their plight. The witch presented two magical pots, one red and one white, and asked the queen whether she would like a son or a daughter. The queen thought long and hard, and having come from a family of only boys, decided she desired a daughter, and so the witch gave her the white pot. The witch stated that if left outside during the next full moon, a magical flower would spring from the pot's dirt, and if Krandura consumed one of its petals, she would become pregnant with a baby girl, although warned the young queen to only eat one of the flower's petals.

Krandura did as instructed, leaving the pot outside her husband's palace, and just as the witch had claimed, a magical white flower appeared the night of the next full moon. Krandura ate one of the flower's petals, although found them to be incredibly delicious, and unwisely ate all thirteen petals. Eight months passed, and Krandura, whose belly had grown so large that she was unable to leave her bedroom, died from exhaustion mere minutes after delivering thirteen healthy daughters. The king, having already gone through the heartbreak of losing seven spouses, did not marry again, and was highly protective of his daughters, refusing to marry them off to any of Pikabu's noblemen.

One day, Sacul went hunting alone (as he often did - chronologically almost a hundred, but physically still a man of twenty, many of dearest friends had since died of old age, and increasingly, the king was coming to see his supernatural longevity as not a blessing, but a curse). He came home to find his palace ransacked, the guards and servants slain, and his thirteen daughters missing. Pikabu Island was under attack from a race of giant invaders hailing from a fearsome northern land where the sun did not rise, the stars could not shine, and the Moon was too frightened to show her speckled face. Sacul headed for a nearby temple, where he prayed to the gods for the strength to defeat the island's attackers.

The Ageless King's prayers were answered, and immediately, Sacul underwent a transformation as glorious as it was horrendous to behold. He grew three sizes in height and five sizes in strength, and was single-handedly capable of destroying wave after wave of giant soldiers. With his enhanced vision, he spied his thirteen daughters being carried off as slaves on one of the giants' longships returning to Ultima Thule, and caused the ship to erupt into flames, turning his daughters into beautiful snowbirds, allowing for their escape.

However, the powers of a god are not meant to reside within a mortal framework, and Sacul soon grew weak. With the last of the giants dead, Sacul used what supernatural strength he had left to throw his cloak over the entirety of his kingdom, protecting it from all future invaders (giant or otherwise). Every five years, his thirteen daughters, still in the form of snowbirds, lift this great veil for a single day, allowing the light of the sun to shine upon the king's people. It is said that during each of the island's appearances, a type of magical plant known as the bloodblossom start to bloom. These are said to have been formed from King Sacul's blood, and create feelings of tremendous joy in those who consume them (unfortunately, they are highly toxic to outsiders).

Pikabu Island remains one of Cadomai Prime's most pervasive legendary locales, which can be seen in local languages. The poem is the source of the popular Snivvian expression, 'to be on Pikabu Island', meant to express feelings of euphoria, while the name 'King Sacul' has taken a similar meaning to 'casanova', describing a man with no shortage of lovers under his belt. One of the earliest Snivvian interstellar colonies (coincidentally, located in the 'beak' of the snowbird constellation) was named Pikabu, due to its heavy cloud coverage, and each of the planet's seven major landmasses was named for one of the Ageless King's wives.

6: The planet Kinyen, cradle of a three-eyed species known as the Gran, is also home to what are doubtlessly some of the more curious cryptids dreamt up by the denizens of the Galaxy. The cogcows, a strange race of machine-animal hybrids that seem to fly in the face of Floskian evolution[1], are described as being outwardly similar to ordinary Kinyen cattle, although are made not from flesh and bone, but from steel. Bestiaries state that the creatures possess a tough outer shell, with an interior said to consist of countless shifting cogs and gears, as well as a rudimentary system of organs made from galvanized rubber.

The cogcows possess three large, incandescent lightbulbs in place of eyes (which turn off when they're asleep), and have nails for teeth, with a small wheel attached at the base of each of their four legs, leaving thin tracks behind them as they traverse the endless plains of Kinyen's western continent (being wheeled creatures, they tend to struggle with more rugged terrain). As far as fearsome critters go, the cogcows are highly valuable - aside from being made primarily of iron (somewhat less common on Kinyen than on Earth or Coruscant), it is said that they excrete black coal, while female cogcows produce pure petroleum oil, which passes through rubber udders tp feed their mechanical young.

While countless hunters have sought after the cogcows, few have returned - they are fast creatures, and males are described as being capable of discharging rapid gunfire from their horns, which they use when hunting, when threatened, or when fighting over a mate. Both sexes have extendable tails that can fold outwards into an umbrella, which is deployed during stormy weather in order to protect their sensitive steel hides from rainfall. The legendary cogcows are most notable on modern Kinyen for having served as the mascot of several large oil, coal and electricity companies across the ages.

7: Barring a few notable exceptions, such as the fungoid inhabitants of Tsalal Prime in the Firefist Galaxy (that's the Small Magellanic Cloud to you Earthlings), the practice of cannibalism is seen as taboo across all races of the Galaxy, which tends to be reflected in mythology and folklore. One cheery fairy tale from the humid world of Cona tells the story of a figure known as Mima Myar ('mima' being one of Cona's most notable spices, similar to Earth ginger - best avoided if you're Rodian however, messes up the sex drive). Myar is described as a poor farmer who, growing tired of his diet of nothing more than bread and nuts, butchered, cooked and ate his own enfeebled son, claiming to his neighbors that the boy had run away to live with the thumbfolk (or fairies). Myar appeared to have gotten away with his crime, until the morning of the next nomoons[2], when everyone's favourite cannibal awoke to a sharp pain in his right hoof, and found that a small fang-rat had bitten off his toe.

To his mild surprise, Myar discovered that his entire body had been turned into delicious mimabread, and unfortunately for him, the sweet, sugary aroma had reached the snouts of everyone in the village, who would stop at nothing to have a bite. The cowardly cannibal escaped through a window, and was chased deep into the Cona woodlands. By the time Myar had finally lost the hungry townsfolk, he had already drawn the attention of a ravenous daggerlip, forcing him to take refuge atop the tallest tree he could find, where he fended off birds and large insects with a branch. With the daggerlip showing no signs of departing any time soon, and Myar growing hungrier by the hour, increasingly, the confectionary cannibal grew hypnotized by his own pleasing scent, and nibbled on one of his fingers.

Unable to resist his own delicious taste, Myar ate his whole hand, then his arms, his legs, his torso, and finally, his own head (don't think about it too hard). After Myar had finished consuming himself, it is said that an enormous belch was heard throughout the entire village, and the townsfolk knew that Myar had received his (literal) just desserts. Despite the somewhat gruesome legend, the Arcona-shaped cookies known as 'mima-myars' remain a popular treat across a variety of species to this day.

8: On the chilly planet of Orto, a high-gravity world inhabited by the squat, blue-skinned Ortolans, there exists a legendary figure known as Big Bloqo. Mount Laghed, one of the tallest peaks on the planet's eastern continent, has long been described in local mythology as being inhabited by a race of cruel and bloodthirsty giants, who were banished there in antiquity by the heroic Grogu the Great. Bloqo is said to have been the smallest giant, and was regularly teased by his peers because of his short stature. One day, in an effort to end this mockery, Bloqo consumed all of the food in his parents' home, hoping to grow a few inches. When his father came home to find an empty pantry, he became enraged, and picked his son up by the trunk, before hurling him off the top of Mt. Laghed to the rocks below.

Bloqo landed hard on his head a few miles outside a small Ortolan settlement, and lost all memory of his time atop Mount Laghed after the fall. While the townsfolk were a little iffy about the prospect of housing and caring for a giant, Big Bloqo was taken in by a kindly old widow, who taught him to speak the language of the littlefolk, and is said to have named him Bloqo after her own son, who was killed fighting in the Eight Years' War. Years passed, and Big Bloqo soon grew too large to reside in his new mother's home, and headed up north to seek his fortune as a lumberjack.

Bloqo is said to have formed a number of natural landmarks: for instance, it is said that after clearing a vast expanse of woodland and forming the Great Green Plains, the littlest giant climbed atop Mount Vergat to admire his work, and was so exhausted from the effort that he fell asleep for six days, his drool forming the famous River of Nagmor. Similarly, it is said that when a wild smeerp (a small, rabbit-like animal) laughed at his clothes for being too small, Big Bloqo responded by kicking the insulent creature to Orto's small moon, where it can still be seen to this day[3].

As Big Bloqo was far too large to sit atop any beast of burden, he constructed his own, moose-like steed out of snow, using tree trunks for antlers, which he named Frostbite (for its icy breath was capable of freezing threatening animals in their tracks). While little has been written of the giant's later life, one Ortolan author claims that Big Bloqo ultimately died young, due to the air on Mount Laghed being different from that found closer to the ground. It is written that after Bloqo's death, the faithful Frostbite remained by his side, furiously freezing any scavenger animals that dared pick at her beloved master's remains. Eventually, Frostbite melted, still kneeling by Big Bloqo's side, and it is said that the resulting water became the Lake of Durvica. While excavations of Lake Durvica have failed to find any giant corpses, the legend of Big Bloqo, the littlest giant, nonetheless lives on.

9: The paddle-footed Brodo Asogians are, alongside the Snivvians, Duros and Sullustans, one of a dozen or so civilizations who are known with certainty to have developed hyperdrive independently from any outside sources. One of the best-known heraldic beasts from Asogian mythology is the mix-and-match creature known as the wahtefuq, which is described as possessing the head of an Asogian, the body of a sabrecat, the wings of a spinebat, and the tail of a poisonous scorpiod. It is also described as being capable of breathing fire, in a manner similar to an Earth dragon, or a Besalisk flameshark[4].

One legend recounts how the wahtefuq gained its fire-breath, claiming that when the Asogian deity Zuthoro (who, according to one culture, was king of the gods), was attempting to win the love the beautiful goddess Jura, she refused his advances, unless he revealed to her his true name (as with many galactic cultures, the ancient Asogians believed in the power of a name). Never one to miss an opportunity to bed the most beautiful goddess in the land, Zuthoro spoke his true name, and only afterwards did the deity notice a wild wahtefuq, spying on the divine couple from behind a tree. In order to prevent the patchwork beastie from ever speaking his true name, Zuthoro placed a curse on the wahtefuq, causing its every breath to turn to flame.

The wahtefuq also features in another Asogian legend of note, that of King Nevets, who is popularly known as the King Who Died A Hundred Deaths. While contemporary historians believe that King Nevets most likely died from fever, there are countless contradictory sources describing how the famous figure met his end. Some claim that King Nevets died from blood loss after being castrated by a jealous consort, others offering a more ironic demise, claiming that the famously egotistical Nevets died after being crushed by his own statue. One legend claims that the cause of Nevets' death was, in fact, being sneezed upon by a wahtefuq he had received as a gift.

10: On the Core World of Duro, one of the most notable legendary figures is the demonic entity known as Granny Rat Tail. She is described as a wrinkled old woman who has no eyes on her face, although has a long, rodent-like tail attached to her lower back, with a single, large eyeball at its tip. Granny Rat Tail is said to reside in a hut made from bones, and every New Year's Day, travels around the eastern nations on her magical flying spoon. She is said to extend her long tail down house chimneys, in search of young infants. Once her eye-tail has spotted a baby, the creature will wrap its tail around the child's mouth, silencing its screams and causing it to suffocate, before placing it in the dish of her flying spoon. While the legend of Granny Rat Tail is largely a historical footnote, at one point, the legend was so well-known that it started a Duros New Year tradition, whereby mothers construct a makeshift doll made from cloth and straw, which is left near the fireplace, in the hopes of tricking Granny Rat Tail into taking the doll instead.

11: The planet Devaron is home to Painted Caverns, a series of elaborate, unusually well-preserved cave paintings, which are believed to date back at least 70,000 before present. Of course, later generations of Devaronian adhered to the strict religious teaching that their world was only a few thousand years old, giving them little context for the countless cave paintings produced by their ancestors. One noted myth surrounding Painted Caverns is that of Otho of Bludge, who is described in classical text as one of the finest painters of the ancient world. Otho is said to have come from humble beginnings, although soon made it big in the world of portraiture. One day, the mythical King Clurab (also known as Clurab the One-Horned, who features in any number of Devaronian religious texts) viewed several works produced by Otho, an requested that the young artist paint his royal portrait.

Otho of Bludge did as Clurab asked, although when he unveiled his latest masterpiece, the king was appalled, for Otho's portrait accurately showed Clurab as overweight, and slightly shorter than was average for Devaronian men. King Clurab demanded that Otho produce a second portrait that would depict him closer to how he saw himself, although the artist refused. King Clurab soon showed his wrath, demanding that each and every one of the artist's great works be destroyed, and Otho of Bludge be jailed and beheaded. Otho managed to escape from Clurab's jail, although could never show his face in public, and at this point in history, Clurab's empire was so vast, that there was no country he could escape to. Instead, it is said, Otho took up residence in Painted Caverns, where he happily spent the rest of his days decorating its interior with beautiful pictures of the animals that passed by.

While the story of Otho of Bludge is almost certainly fictitious in nature, his name has become synonymous in future generations of Devaronian with someone of great artistic talent.

12: The small world of Yag'dhul is home to the tall, pale-faced Givins, and with the planet's low-gravity and abundant hydrium reserves, airships and dirigibles remained a more common method of transportation throughout the planet's pre-spaceflight era than on most other worlds (sea travel having been seen as somewhat riskier, thanks to such marine monstrosities as the electric kraken, and the carnivorous megashrimp). Over the decades, a unique aerial mythology has developed, not too dissimilar to the nautical folklore of Old Earth.

Some notably skyman's tales include that of the somber sully-gullies (a peculiar species of birds, whose female members abandon their partners after mating, with male sully-gullies subsequently becoming so depressed as to attempt suicide by flying into aircraft propellers, causing crashes), as well as the betentacled, gaseous monstrosities, which supposedly dwell in the alleged 'aether-jungles' of the upper atmosphere, preying on any ships travelling above 40,000 feet. There is also the story of Rainbow Cove, which is described as an afterlife for pilots who have served at least twelve years at sky, taking the form of a floating island inhabited by a race of beautiful bird-women, and boasting such luxuries as cigarette trees, whole lakes of alcohol, and livestock that are born already cooked, and sweat sweet barbecue sauce in the endless heat of Yag'dhul's twin suns.

Without a doubt however, the best-known sky-tale is the story of the Black Wyvern, the aviator's answer to the Flying Dutchman. Legend tells that during the intercontinental conflict known as the Four Kings' War, the Black Wyvern was renowned as the speediest zeppelin in the skies, until one day, it was attacked by a band of air-pirates, causing heavy casualties, and loss of fuel reserves. It is said that the Black Wyvern was then visited by the Devil (or rather, the nearest Givin equivalent), who promised the ship's captain that he could have them safely home in time for supper, and in exchange, the captain would sell the soul of the first crewmember to set foot on land. The wily captain agreed to this deal, and immediately, the Black Wyvern began flying in the direction of home at tremendous speed, seemingly of its own accord.

As the ship landed, the Devil returned, eagerly awaiting his prize. However, the ship's captain, refusing to sacrifice one of his crewmates, instead grabbed the ship's resident jonzi (a small, cat-like critter often kept aboard Givin dirigibles to keep rodents at bay), and threw it from the ship. As the small creature was technically a crewmember, the captain argued, all of his men were safe to return home. No sooner than the words had left the captain's mouth, the Wyvern was flung back up into the air. Infuriated at having been outwitted by a mere mortal, the Devil had placed a terrible curse on upon the ship and its crew, forcing it to sail the skies for all eternity.

Many skymen claim to have witnessed the Black Wyvern during their time amongst the clouds, sometimes attempting to land, other times attempting to hail other vessels. None have any real evidence however, aside from a few blurry pictures, but that hasn't dissuaded the believers. Notably, one of the more famous photographs supposedly showing the Black Wyvern drifting menacingly above the North Rolyetran Mountains is now believed to have been a misidentified alien scoutship, studying Givin civilization in the years leading up to first contact.

13: The Ryn are one of the Galaxy's most tragic cases of an orphan species, a race whose homeworld has been destroyed through natural or artificial means. In the Ryn's case, a Gamma-Ray Burst rendered their planet unsuitable for long-term existence, and thus, all that is known of their history and culture is derived from a single generation ship launched less than a year prior to their destruction. Before Rynea's last extinction event, there existed a species of seal-like pinnipeds known as the ambruls, which featured heavily in their mythology, where they were regarded were a peaceful race of water-dwellers who could remove their leathery skin at will, similar to the selkies of Terran legend.

One of the more unsettling of these legends is that of The Hunter and the Ambrul, a dark fairy tale dating back to the Ugoth Period[5], about four centuries before the planet's fall. As its name implies, the story concerns a hunter, who is said to have spotted a beautiful ambrul washing her long, violet hair by a riverside, leaving her thick, leathery skin behind her. The hunter fell instantly in love with the sea maiden, and stole her ambrul skin, without which, she was unable to return to her underwater home, and was instead forced to marry him. A year passed, and the ambrul lady became pregnant with the hunter's child, although after she gave birth, the hunter was appalled to find that his son is neither Ryn nor ambrul, but a hybrid, possessing whiskers, webbed fingers and cold, charcoal eyes.

So disgusted at his child's appearance, the hunter, despite his wife's cries and pleas to leave him be, drowned the boy in the lake outside his home, and returned his wife's ambrul skin, demanding she return to the sea, and never set foot on land again. The grieving maiden took her skin, and instead travelled deep into the woods, where she tied her own skin into a noose, attached it to a tree, and used it to hang herself. The following night, the hunter awoke to what sounded like a crying infant, seemingly coming from the lake. The hunter headed out to investigate, although found no source of the wailing. As the hunter turned around, he felt the cold, wet flipper of the son he had murdered, which dragged him down to the briny depths below.

Footnotes:

[1] Named after Phera Flosk, the first Snivvian to develop a theory of evolution. Widely regarded as one of Cadomai Prime's greatest scientists, many of her own culture saw her work as heresy, and she was ultimately executed, becoming something of a martyr.

[2] On Cona, a nomoons denotes the period of time when none of the planet's three moons are visible. This time is often associated with misfortune and the supernatural, and is said to be when the receased and the were-daggerlip roam.

[3] As many Ortolan astronomers have noted, the patterns on the planet's lone satellite are somewhat reminiscent of a smeerp. This has impacted other myths, in one culture for instance, it is believed that when a Prometheus-like figure gifted fire to the Ortolans, he was punished by being turned into a smeerp, and banished to Orto's moon.

[4] One of the Galaxy's more tongue-in-cheek legends, the flameshark is described as an aquatic species with the ability to breathe fire - underwater of course, this ability is entirely useless.

[5] Named for King Ugo, the Ugoth Period is widely seen in Ryn history as having been an unfortunate one, having seen the twin calamities of the Long Winter and the Great Drowning.

Description
Here's a revamp of an old project, Star Wars: Galactic Folklore and Mythology. As a friend of mine called it, basically Grimm's Fairy Tales: Star Wars Edition. A compilation of legends, fables, and fairy tales from a number of races across the Galaxy.

Text:

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1: On the jungle planet of Kashyyyk, there have long been whispers of a short, hairless creature said to stalk the fertile plains beyond the furthest trees, a being known to the Wookiee chieftains as Smallfoot.

2: On the desert world of Tatooine, several indigenous Jawa cultures believe that their small world rests upon the back of Great Ob'mud, an immense bantha who flaps his enormous ears like wings in order to fly through the cosmic void, and causes earthquakes any time he sneezes.

3: On the planet Gamorr, the Milky Way, that vast band of stars and dust stretching across the heavens, features prominently in local mythology. One culture of note, the ancient Ezanites, believed the galactic spiral arm to be the remnants of an ancient, towering structure built from shining stone, constructed with the intention of reaching the realm of the gods. Naturally, the Ezanite pantheon did not take kindly to this gesture, and reduced the wondrous tower to dust, which they scattered across the night sky, as an eternal reminder of the price of heresy.

4: Every Sullustan youngling knows and fears the Voice-Taker, a legendary boogeyman first described in T. Zyres Grophagrong's Of Myths and Monsters, one of the most reliable sources of traditional Sullustan fairy tales from the north Vundish region.

The Voice-Taker is generally described as a ghost or revenant, and is consistently depicted as a tall, decomposing figure, wearing a beard made from flies and larva, with a heavy sack slung over its shoulder. In life, the Voice-Taker is said to have been born with a mouth three sizes too big for his face (a deformity most renditions attribute to his gossiping mother), and as a result, his cries during infancy were so loud and frequent that they would regularly keep his family and their neighbors awake at all hours of the night.

The boy's father, exhausted and desperate, did as any good fairy tale protagonist would, and consulted his local alchemist, who provided him with a magic elixir, which he swore by the gods would silence his son's screams until his first birthday. Despite the priest's warning to give his son only three drops, the boy's father instead poured the entire elixir into his son's oversized mouth, which had the unfortunate side effect of leaving the boy permanently mute.

He was soon put to work on his family farm, until in his eighteenth year, he died after tripping and falling down an abandoned well. Although the boy's parents searched for weeks afterwards, because their son was unable to cry for help, he was never found, and having never been afforded his culture's traditional burial rites, his spirit is now forced to spend eternity wandering the mortal plain.

The Voice-Taker's experience has given him a strong appreciation for the value of speech, and an even stronger disdain for Sullustan younglings who take theirs for granted, by yelling, swearing, and speaking rudely to their elders. Unruly children are warned that if their behavior does not improve, the Voice-Taker will visit them in the night. Upon awakening to the pungent stench of decay, the child will inevitably upon their mouth to scream upon catching gory glimpse of the maggot-bearded monster looming above their bed. The creature will then strike by extending one bony arm down its victim's throat, stealing their voice away, and stuffing it into his old burlap sack.

5: On the planet of Cadomai Prime, homeworld of the humanoid Snivvians, there have been countless stories told of Pikabu Island, a legendary region lying off the western coast of the Lymish Isles. Pikabu Island is said to be surrounded by a thick, impenetrable mist, with the exception of during a leap day (which on Cadomai Prime, occurs once every five years), where it temporarily becomes accessible to outsiders. By far, the most detailed account of Pikabu Island and its legendary history is that provided in A History of the World, And Its Peoples by ancient author, Sir Yobarus Quagg. According to Quagg, Pikabu Island was once visible all year round, and was ruled over by a benevolent king named Sacul the Ageless. Sacul was born on a leap day, and as such, aged only one year for every five. Much of his life is described in detail, and it is claimed that the good king had seven brides, each of whom he married seven years apart, and all of whom met a tragic end.

Sacul's first wife was Ira, an elderly crone who was smitten with the king, and used a magical potion to appear young and beautiful in order to win his love. Unfortunately for Ira, one of her new husband's wedding gifts was a mirror made out of pure silver (something of a rarity on Cadomai Prime), which reflected her as she truly was - old, wrinkled, and to her husband's eyes, highly unattractive. Sacul demanded an immediate divorce, and poor Ira died of a broken heart, but not before placing a terrible curse upon the young king, causing any woman he wed to die within a year of marriage.

Sacul's second wife is said to have died from hysterical laughter at the sight of a courtroom jester's antics, while his third was accidentally beheaded by a bronze ball whilst watching a sports game (after which, her husband never picked up his playing stick again). Shortly after Sacul's fourth wedding, his new wife, Magri, learned that her beloved brother had fallen ill with the dreaded condition known as violet fever. Magri's love for her brother was matched with only with that for her husband - for when she was a child, and had tripped whilst playing into a lake infested with poisonous stingfish, her brother had been the only one brave enough to dive in and rescue her. Magri visited her brother, and rather unwisely planted a single kiss upon his forehead before his passing, and she herself died from the condition that very same night.

Sacul's fifth wife is said to have had the most beautiful voice in all the land, and one day, whilst singing near the woods, her enchanting song was heard by a hungry hound that had strayed from its pack. Catching a glimpse of the young queen's white dress, the hound was certain that such singing could not come from mortal lips, and believed her to be a snowbird (which, according to legend, sings only immediately prior to its death). The hound leapt at the queen, tearing deep into her leg, before realizing its fatal error, and leaping into a nearby river out of guilt. She was soon recovered, although her wounds were so severe that she died in her husband's arms.

Sacul's sixth wife, of fair, yet faint heart, had the shortest marriage of all, dying from shock upon seeing the size of her husband's genitals for the first time. Sacul's seventh and final wife is, Krandura, is perhaps the best remembered. Try as she and her husband might, Krandura was unable to conceive, and visited a nearby witch, and told her of their plight. The witch presented two magical pots, one red and one white, and asked the queen whether she would like a son or a daughter. The queen thought long and hard, and having come from a family of only boys, decided she desired a daughter, and so the witch gave her the white pot. The witch stated that if left outside during the next full moon, a magical flower would spring from the pot's dirt, and if Krandura consumed one of its petals, she would become pregnant with a baby girl, although warned the young queen to only eat one of the flower's petals.

Krandura did as instructed, leaving the pot outside her husband's palace, and just as the witch had claimed, a magical white flower appeared the night of the next full moon. Krandura ate one of the flower's petals, although found them to be incredibly delicious, and unwisely ate all thirteen petals. Eight months passed, and Krandura, whose belly had grown so large that she was unable to leave her bedroom, died from exhaustion mere minutes after delivering thirteen healthy daughters. The king, having already gone through the heartbreak of losing seven spouses, did not marry again, and was highly protective of his daughters, refusing to marry them off to any of Pikabu's noblemen.

One day, Sacul went hunting alone (as he often did - chronologically almost a hundred, but physically still a man of twenty, many of dearest friends had since died of old age, and increasingly, the king was coming to see his supernatural longevity as not a blessing, but a curse). He came home to find his palace ransacked, the guards and servants slain, and his thirteen daughters missing. Pikabu Island was under attack from a race of giant invaders hailing from a fearsome northern land where the sun did not rise, the stars could not shine, and the Moon was too frightened to show her speckled face. Sacul headed for a nearby temple, where he prayed to the gods for the strength to defeat the island's attackers.

The Ageless King's prayers were answered, and immediately, Sacul underwent a transformation as glorious as it was horrendous to behold. He grew three sizes in height and five sizes in strength, and was single-handedly capable of destroying wave after wave of giant soldiers. With his enhanced vision, he spied his thirteen daughters being carried off as slaves on one of the giants' longships returning to Ultima Thule, and caused the ship to erupt into flames, turning his daughters into beautiful snowbirds, allowing for their escape.

However, the powers of a god are not meant to reside within a mortal framework, and Sacul soon grew weak. With the last of the giants dead, Sacul used what supernatural strength he had left to throw his cloak over the entirety of his kingdom, protecting it from all future invaders (giant or otherwise). Every five years, his thirteen daughters, still in the form of snowbirds, lift this great veil for a single day, allowing the light of the sun to shine upon the king's people. It is said that during each of the island's appearances, a type of magical plant known as the bloodblossom start to bloom. These are said to have been formed from King Sacul's blood, and create feelings of tremendous joy in those who consume them (unfortunately, they are highly toxic to outsiders).

Pikabu Island remains one of Cadomai Prime's most pervasive legendary locales, which can be seen in local languages. The poem is the source of the popular Snivvian expression, 'to be on Pikabu Island', meant to express feelings of euphoria, while the name 'King Sacul' has taken a similar meaning to 'casanova', describing a man with no shortage of lovers under his belt. One of the earliest Snivvian interstellar colonies (coincidentally, located in the 'beak' of the snowbird constellation) was named Pikabu, due to its heavy cloud coverage, and each of the planet's seven major landmasses was named for one of the Ageless King's wives.

6: The planet Kinyen, cradle of a three-eyed species known as the Gran, is also home to what are doubtlessly some of the more curious cryptids dreamt up by the denizens of the Galaxy. The cogcows, a strange race of machine-animal hybrids that seem to fly in the face of Floskian evolution[1], are described as being outwardly similar to ordinary Kinyen cattle, although are made not from flesh and bone, but from steel. Bestiaries state that the creatures possess a tough outer shell, with an interior said to consist of countless shifting cogs and gears, as well as a rudimentary system of organs made from galvanized rubber.

The cogcows possess three large, incandescent lightbulbs in place of eyes (which turn off when they're asleep), and have nails for teeth, with a small wheel attached at the base of each of their four legs, leaving thin tracks behind them as they traverse the endless plains of Kinyen's western continent (being wheeled creatures, they tend to struggle with more rugged terrain). As far as fearsome critters go, the cogcows are highly valuable - aside from being made primarily of iron (somewhat less common on Kinyen than on Earth or Coruscant), it is said that they excrete black coal, while female cogcows produce pure petroleum oil, which passes through rubber udders tp feed their mechanical young.

While countless hunters have sought after the cogcows, few have returned - they are fast creatures, and males are described as being capable of discharging rapid gunfire from their horns, which they use when hunting, when threatened, or when fighting over a mate. Both sexes have extendable tails that can fold outwards into an umbrella, which is deployed during stormy weather in order to protect their sensitive steel hides from rainfall. The legendary cogcows are most notable on modern Kinyen for having served as the mascot of several large oil, coal and electricity companies across the ages.

7: Barring a few notable exceptions, such as the fungoid inhabitants of Tsalal Prime in the Firefist Galaxy (that's the Small Magellanic Cloud to you Earthlings), the practice of cannibalism is seen as taboo across all races of the Galaxy, which tends to be reflected in mythology and folklore. One cheery fairy tale from the humid world of Cona tells the story of a figure known as Mima Myar ('mima' being one of Cona's most notable spices, similar to Earth ginger - best avoided if you're Rodian however, messes up the sex drive). Myar is described as a poor farmer who, growing tired of his diet of nothing more than bread and nuts, butchered, cooked and ate his own enfeebled son, claiming to his neighbors that the boy had run away to live with the thumbfolk (or fairies). Myar appeared to have gotten away with his crime, until the morning of the next nomoons[2], when everyone's favourite cannibal awoke to a sharp pain in his right hoof, and found that a small fang-rat had bitten off his toe.

To his mild surprise, Myar discovered that his entire body had been turned into delicious mimabread, and unfortunately for him, the sweet, sugary aroma had reached the snouts of everyone in the village, who would stop at nothing to have a bite. The cowardly cannibal escaped through a window, and was chased deep into the Cona woodlands. By the time Myar had finally lost the hungry townsfolk, he had already drawn the attention of a ravenous daggerlip, forcing him to take refuge atop the tallest tree he could find, where he fended off birds and large insects with a branch. With the daggerlip showing no signs of departing any time soon, and Myar growing hungrier by the hour, increasingly, the confectionary cannibal grew hypnotized by his own pleasing scent, and nibbled on one of his fingers.

Unable to resist his own delicious taste, Myar ate his whole hand, then his arms, his legs, his torso, and finally, his own head (don't think about it too hard). After Myar had finished consuming himself, it is said that an enormous belch was heard throughout the entire village, and the townsfolk knew that Myar had received his (literal) just desserts. Despite the somewhat gruesome legend, the Arcona-shaped cookies known as 'mima-myars' remain a popular treat across a variety of species to this day.

8: On the chilly planet of Orto, a high-gravity world inhabited by the squat, blue-skinned Ortolans, there exists a legendary figure known as Big Bloqo. Mount Laghed, one of the tallest peaks on the planet's eastern continent, has long been described in local mythology as being inhabited by a race of cruel and bloodthirsty giants, who were banished there in antiquity by the heroic Grogu the Great. Bloqo is said to have been the smallest giant, and was regularly teased by his peers because of his short stature. One day, in an effort to end this mockery, Bloqo consumed all of the food in his parents' home, hoping to grow a few inches. When his father came home to find an empty pantry, he became enraged, and picked his son up by the trunk, before hurling him off the top of Mt. Laghed to the rocks below.

Bloqo landed hard on his head a few miles outside a small Ortolan settlement, and lost all memory of his time atop Mount Laghed after the fall. While the townsfolk were a little iffy about the prospect of housing and caring for a giant, Big Bloqo was taken in by a kindly old widow, who taught him to speak the language of the littlefolk, and is said to have named him Bloqo after her own son, who was killed fighting in the Eight Years' War. Years passed, and Big Bloqo soon grew too large to reside in his new mother's home, and headed up north to seek his fortune as a lumberjack.

Bloqo is said to have formed a number of natural landmarks: for instance, it is said that after clearing a vast expanse of woodland and forming the Great Green Plains, the littlest giant climbed atop Mount Vergat to admire his work, and was so exhausted from the effort that he fell asleep for six days, his drool forming the famous River of Nagmor. Similarly, it is said that when a wild smeerp (a small, rabbit-like animal) laughed at his clothes for being too small, Big Bloqo responded by kicking the insulent creature to Orto's small moon, where it can still be seen to this day[3].

As Big Bloqo was far too large to sit atop any beast of burden, he constructed his own, moose-like steed out of snow, using tree trunks for antlers, which he named Frostbite (for its icy breath was capable of freezing threatening animals in their tracks). While little has been written of the giant's later life, one Ortolan author claims that Big Bloqo ultimately died young, due to the air on Mount Laghed being different from that found closer to the ground. It is written that after Bloqo's death, the faithful Frostbite remained by his side, furiously freezing any scavenger animals that dared pick at her beloved master's remains. Eventually, Frostbite melted, still kneeling by Big Bloqo's side, and it is said that the resulting water became the Lake of Durvica. While excavations of Lake Durvica have failed to find any giant corpses, the legend of Big Bloqo, the littlest giant, nonetheless lives on.

9: The paddle-footed Brodo Asogians are, alongside the Snivvians, Duros and Sullustans, one of a dozen or so civilizations who are known with certainty to have developed hyperdrive independently from any outside sources. One of the best-known heraldic beasts from Asogian mythology is the mix-and-match creature known as the wahtefuq, which is described as possessing the head of an Asogian, the body of a sabrecat, the wings of a spinebat, and the tail of a poisonous scorpiod. It is also described as being capable of breathing fire, in a manner similar to an Earth dragon, or a Besalisk flameshark[4].

One legend recounts how the wahtefuq gained its fire-breath, claiming that when the Asogian deity Zuthoro (who, according to one culture, was king of the gods), was attempting to win the love the beautiful goddess Jura, she refused his advances, unless he revealed to her his true name (as with many galactic cultures, the ancient Asogians believed in the power of a name). Never one to miss an opportunity to bed the most beautiful goddess in the land, Zuthoro spoke his true name, and only afterwards did the deity notice a wild wahtefuq, spying on the divine couple from behind a tree. In order to prevent the patchwork beastie from ever speaking his true name, Zuthoro placed a curse on the wahtefuq, causing its every breath to turn to flame.

The wahtefuq also features in another Asogian legend of note, that of King Nevets, who is popularly known as the King Who Died A Hundred Deaths. While contemporary historians believe that King Nevets most likely died from fever, there are countless contradictory sources describing how the famous figure met his end. Some claim that King Nevets died from blood loss after being castrated by a jealous consort, others offering a more ironic demise, claiming that the famously egotistical Nevets died after being crushed by his own statue. One legend claims that the cause of Nevets' death was, in fact, being sneezed upon by a wahtefuq he had received as a gift.

10: On the Core World of Duro, one of the most notable legendary figures is the demonic entity known as Granny Rat Tail. She is described as a wrinkled old woman who has no eyes on her face, although has a long, rodent-like tail attached to her lower back, with a single, large eyeball at its tip. Granny Rat Tail is said to reside in a hut made from bones, and every New Year's Day, travels around the eastern nations on her magical flying spoon. She is said to extend her long tail down house chimneys, in search of young infants. Once her eye-tail has spotted a baby, the creature will wrap its tail around the child's mouth, silencing its screams and causing it to suffocate, before placing it in the dish of her flying spoon. While the legend of Granny Rat Tail is largely a historical footnote, at one point, the legend was so well-known that it started a Duros New Year tradition, whereby mothers construct a makeshift doll made from cloth and straw, which is left near the fireplace, in the hopes of tricking Granny Rat Tail into taking the doll instead.

11: The planet Devaron is home to Painted Caverns, a series of elaborate, unusually well-preserved cave paintings, which are believed to date back at least 70,000 before present. Of course, later generations of Devaronian adhered to the strict religious teaching that their world was only a few thousand years old, giving them little context for the countless cave paintings produced by their ancestors. One noted myth surrounding Painted Caverns is that of Otho of Bludge, who is described in classical text as one of the finest painters of the ancient world. Otho is said to have come from humble beginnings, although soon made it big in the world of portraiture. One day, the mythical King Clurab (also known as Clurab the One-Horned, who features in any number of Devaronian religious texts) viewed several works produced by Otho, an requested that the young artist paint his royal portrait.

Otho of Bludge did as Clurab asked, although when he unveiled his latest masterpiece, the king was appalled, for Otho's portrait accurately showed Clurab as overweight, and slightly shorter than was average for Devaronian men. King Clurab demanded that Otho produce a second portrait that would depict him closer to how he saw himself, although the artist refused. King Clurab soon showed his wrath, demanding that each and every one of the artist's great works be destroyed, and Otho of Bludge be jailed and beheaded. Otho managed to escape from Clurab's jail, although could never show his face in public, and at this point in history, Clurab's empire was so vast, that there was no country he could escape to. Instead, it is said, Otho took up residence in Painted Caverns, where he happily spent the rest of his days decorating its interior with beautiful pictures of the animals that passed by.

While the story of Otho of Bludge is almost certainly fictitious in nature, his name has become synonymous in future generations of Devaronian with someone of great artistic talent.

12: The small world of Yag'dhul is home to the tall, pale-faced Givins, and with the planet's low-gravity and abundant hydrium reserves, airships and dirigibles remained a more common method of transportation throughout the planet's pre-spaceflight era than on most other worlds (sea travel having been seen as somewhat riskier, thanks to such marine monstrosities as the electric kraken, and the carnivorous megashrimp). Over the decades, a unique aerial mythology has developed, not too dissimilar to the nautical folklore of Old Earth.

Some notably skyman's tales include that of the somber sully-gullies (a peculiar species of birds, whose female members abandon their partners after mating, with male sully-gullies subsequently becoming so depressed as to attempt suicide by flying into aircraft propellers, causing crashes), as well as the betentacled, gaseous monstrosities, which supposedly dwell in the alleged 'aether-jungles' of the upper atmosphere, preying on any ships travelling above 40,000 feet. There is also the story of Rainbow Cove, which is described as an afterlife for pilots who have served at least twelve years at sky, taking the form of a floating island inhabited by a race of beautiful bird-women, and boasting such luxuries as cigarette trees, whole lakes of alcohol, and livestock that are born already cooked, and sweat sweet barbecue sauce in the endless heat of Yag'dhul's twin suns.

Without a doubt however, the best-known sky-tale is the story of the Black Wyvern, the aviator's answer to the Flying Dutchman. Legend tells that during the intercontinental conflict known as the Four Kings' War, the Black Wyvern was renowned as the speediest zeppelin in the skies, until one day, it was attacked by a band of air-pirates, causing heavy casualties, and loss of fuel reserves. It is said that the Black Wyvern was then visited by the Devil (or rather, the nearest Givin equivalent), who promised the ship's captain that he could have them safely home in time for supper, and in exchange, the captain would sell the soul of the first crewmember to set foot on land. The wily captain agreed to this deal, and immediately, the Black Wyvern began flying in the direction of home at tremendous speed, seemingly of its own accord.

As the ship landed, the Devil returned, eagerly awaiting his prize. However, the ship's captain, refusing to sacrifice one of his crewmates, instead grabbed the ship's resident jonzi (a small, cat-like critter often kept aboard Givin dirigibles to keep rodents at bay), and threw it from the ship. As the small creature was technically a crewmember, the captain argued, all of his men were safe to return home. No sooner than the words had left the captain's mouth, the Wyvern was flung back up into the air. Infuriated at having been outwitted by a mere mortal, the Devil had placed a terrible curse on upon the ship and its crew, forcing it to sail the skies for all eternity.

Many skymen claim to have witnessed the Black Wyvern during their time amongst the clouds, sometimes attempting to land, other times attempting to hail other vessels. None have any real evidence however, aside from a few blurry pictures, but that hasn't dissuaded the believers. Notably, one of the more famous photographs supposedly showing the Black Wyvern drifting menacingly above the North Rolyetran Mountains is now believed to have been a misidentified alien scoutship, studying Givin civilization in the years leading up to first contact.

13: The Ryn are one of the Galaxy's most tragic cases of an orphan species, a race whose homeworld has been destroyed through natural or artificial means. In the Ryn's case, a Gamma-Ray Burst rendered their planet unsuitable for long-term existence, and thus, all that is known of their history and culture is derived from a single generation ship launched less than a year prior to their destruction. Before Rynea's last extinction event, there existed a species of seal-like pinnipeds known as the ambruls, which featured heavily in their mythology, where they were regarded were a peaceful race of water-dwellers who could remove their leathery skin at will, similar to the selkies of Terran legend.

One of the more unsettling of these legends is that of The Hunter and the Ambrul, a dark fairy tale dating back to the Ugoth Period[5], about four centuries before the planet's fall. As its name implies, the story concerns a hunter, who is said to have spotted a beautiful ambrul washing her long, violet hair by a riverside, leaving her thick, leathery skin behind her. The hunter fell instantly in love with the sea maiden, and stole her ambrul skin, without which, she was unable to return to her underwater home, and was instead forced to marry him. A year passed, and the ambrul lady became pregnant with the hunter's child, although after she gave birth, the hunter was appalled to find that his son is neither Ryn nor ambrul, but a hybrid, possessing whiskers, webbed fingers and cold, charcoal eyes.

So disgusted at his child's appearance, the hunter, despite his wife's cries and pleas to leave him be, drowned the boy in the lake outside his home, and returned his wife's ambrul skin, demanding she return to the sea, and never set foot on land again. The grieving maiden took her skin, and instead travelled deep into the woods, where she tied her own skin into a noose, attached it to a tree, and used it to hang herself. The following night, the hunter awoke to what sounded like a crying infant, seemingly coming from the lake. The hunter headed out to investigate, although found no source of the wailing. As the hunter turned around, he felt the cold, wet flipper of the son he had murdered, which dragged him down to the briny depths below.

Footnotes:

[1] Named after Phera Flosk, the first Snivvian to develop a theory of evolution. Widely regarded as one of Cadomai Prime's greatest scientists, many of her own culture saw her work as heresy, and she was ultimately executed, becoming something of a martyr.

[2] On Cona, a nomoons denotes the period of time when none of the planet's three moons are visible. This time is often associated with misfortune and the supernatural, and is said to be when the receased and the were-daggerlip roam.

[3] As many Ortolan astronomers have noted, the patterns on the planet's lone satellite are somewhat reminiscent of a smeerp. This has impacted other myths, in one culture for instance, it is believed that when a Prometheus-like figure gifted fire to the Ortolans, he was punished by being turned into a smeerp, and banished to Orto's moon.

[4] One of the Galaxy's more tongue-in-cheek legends, the flameshark is described as an aquatic species with the ability to breathe fire - underwater of course, this ability is entirely useless.

[5] Named for King Ugo, the Ugoth Period is widely seen in Ryn history as having been an unfortunate one, having seen the twin calamities of the Long Winter and the Great Drowning.