Week 6 Story: Nus' Five Wives
Author's Notes
I have based this story off of the Mahabharata reading Draupadi's Swayamwara 1. In this story there is a contest for which suitor will be able to take Draupadi as their wife. In this challenge the suitors had to "bend the bow and shoot an arrow through the wheel which will strike and bring down the golden fish shall obtain" the right to marry Draupadi. I decided to make the setting a different planet in order to give me more freedom in the difficulty of the Swayamwara. Also I swapped the gender roles to make things more interesting.Nus' Five Wives
On the planet of Zognar there lived a civilization of warriors. There was a city named Taht, where the sovereign leader Traeh ruled. Traeh has reached the age where he is becoming old and senile, and he desired for his lonely son Nus to take over the kingdom. However, there is a prerequisite that Nus must be married prior to becoming the new leader. In order for this to be accomplished, Traeh sent out a decree that all worthy brides should come forward in order to take Nus as their own.A competition was setup in order to find the strongest bride. Each worthy suitor would have to venture out into the wild untamed forest of Esor. Here they would have to find and tame a Drognot, a viscous horse-like creature native to the forest. Once each suitor has tamed the foul beast, or died trying, they must pit themselves and their steads in combat in the arena of Naidin, the largest and cruelest colosseum on Zognar.
The day had come for the competition to take place. Kings and Queens from around Zognar brought their daughters in to compete for the right to marry Nus. The crowds gathered in great size around the house of Traeh in order to see the start of what would be a most violent and enjoyable bridal ceremony. The grand total of available brides reached an astonishing 1,000 warriors. However, fate would not bestow most so fairly.
The competition started and the suitors set of into the forest of Esor. The crowd waited eagerly at the entrance to see who would return victorious, and who would never be seen again. Screams echoed from the forest each sounding more tortured than the last, a sure sign of fatal encounters with the Drognots. As the day went on the forest became silent. Slowly there emerged brides from the forest one-by-one the rode their claimed Drognots out of the forest. Spectacularly 100 in total made it out of the Esor forest.
Now came the next section of the competition, combat in the arena of Naidin. The brides were given one days rest in order to prepare themselves for the deathmatch to follow. The battle started the next day and the carnage was fierce. Fifty of the brides had fallen, the stench of blood wafted through the air, to the wasteland of Serwot Delit, the home of the demonic Anrak, a dragon with seven talons on each of his six arms. He had two heads, one capable of spraying its opponents with a flammable oil, and the other containing the power of shooting lightning. Drawn to the smell of blood the Anrak began its assault on the arena.
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| Arnak's Dwelling. Source. |
No one was prepared for the arrival of the Arnak. Swiftly it had destroyed half of the arena. The brides rushed in attempt to save Nus. However, amidst the chaos many of them died. Only five remained to fend of the Anrak. In a valiant effort, they fought the Anrak endlessly, their attacks doing little to pierce its impenetrable hide. Realizing that normal combat would not slay this beast they must turn its own strengths against itself. They gathered, each holding their shields in front of them. They prayed for the blessing of the lightning Dindus to protect them from the Arnak, and their prayers were answered.
The dragon noticing them hiding under their shields and shot a vicious lightning bolt at them. The bolt circled around them, and the brides yelled gathering the strength required to hold the sheer amount of energy and they pushed the lightning back. It stuck the gaseous head of the Arnak causing it to implode. Nus was impressed by this spectacular feat and agreed to marry the five remaining brides.
Bibliography
Draupadi's SwayamwaraWive of Five
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Logan I really like the story that you chose! That part where Draupadi has to be won over is one of my favorite parts of the Ramayana and I love that you chose that to write about! One word that I liked that you chose to describe the horse is ‘viscous.’ That is a very interesting term that you used and I appreciate that! Thanks once again for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLogan, what a creative story! By creating your own planet and telling about the names of the cities and areas, I really feel like you created a world that draws the reader in. I really like this story in the Mahabharata and I'm glad you decided to rework it with gender swaps. I look forward to reading more of your stories.
ReplyDeleteHey Logan!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story “Nus’ Five Wives.” I liked how you changed the setting of the original story and you went with a very futuristic vibe. The idea of having your tournament take place on another planet was also really creative. Overall, I think you did a great job on your story and I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
Logan,
ReplyDeleteI like how you include the author's notes before the story. That made it very easy to figure out what the story was going to be a bout generally. I enjoyed the story taking place on another planet from the original. This helps make the story feel brand new. The swapping of gender roles made this a modern story, with still a crazy task to accomplish for someone's love.
Hey Logan! I really liked this story. I also really liked the way you put the author's note before the story on this one and your others. It does a good job of getting the reader prepared for what the story is going to be like without spoiling what is going to happen. I really enjoyed the way you changed up the setting for this story from the original. It did a great job of making it feel different, but at the same time feeling connected.
ReplyDelete