The Great Fall
Original Story by were--beast; rewritten by BirdAttitude
Note that reading this story is NOT mandatory to make a Mawmaw character, however, it is available to you if you would like to learn more about the Mawmaw species and how they came to be!
Thousands of years ago; Mesaya was home to two great races. The Humans who lived on the earth; cultivating the bounty of the land and building massive cities and roads that covered nearly all of the continents; and the Mawmaws who ruled the skies; living in great, floating cities among the clouds where they could show off their gifts to the world. It was known that the two races did not get along well, for the Mawmaws believed that with their superior anatomy, their great wings, and ability to wield elemental magics, they were better than humans and felt that they were given dominance in the sky to be closer to the gods. Their pride and arrogance made the Humans feel that they were unworthy to live in the same world, and that they did not deserve to worship the same gods as the blessed Mawmaws. Although there were a few places where both humans and Mawmaw could come to be in the presence of the Reverent; various temples and shrines where both races could pray, leave offerings, and gain blessings which were dotted all over Mesaya, there was great distance between the Humans and Mawmaws.
The rift between Humans and Mawmaws was caused by the Mawmaw's pride in their wings and magic which they believe was gifted to them during their creation to make them appear more similarly to the Gods, and to give them the ability to be closer to the heavens where the Reverent were said to watch over all life on Mesaya. Surely if the gods had blessed them with such abilities where the humans had none, it meant that they were far superior and more beloved by their creators, right? Being so blinded with their own abilities, the Mawmaws could not see that humans had also been blessed with their hardy bodies and ability to adapt, as well as the ability to make the most of the land and the bounty it provided to them, and instead saw the humans as lowly, petty beings that were undeserving of the adoration of the gods. The children of Mesaya fought and argued over who deserved the love and blessing of their creators and who did not.
For hundreds of years the Humans and Mawmaws were like this; one believing that the other was unworthy because they lacked the abilities of the gods, while the other believed that that the first was unworthy due to their pride and arrogance. This is the way that things were, and it simply grew to be a part of who these races were for a very long time.- That is until somethings started happening to the Mawmaws in the skies above.
Suddenly, Mawmaws were being born with strange defects which caused their wings to be small and useless, or nonexistent completely. It came as a shock to the species who's purpose was to rule the skies. Why had these Mawmaw been born different? What would their purpose be if it wasn't to fly and keep a place close to the gods? Perhaps, the Mawmaw thought, it was because these individuals were deemed unworthy by the gods themselves and had been denied their ability to fly. With this in mind, and fear of allowing such impurity into their great cities, one by one the flightless Mawmaw were outcasted from their own kind and sent down to earth below to fend for themselves.
While the Mawmaws in the skies continued to live their lavish lives without those they rejected as their own, those that were sent to the ground struggled to adapt to living without the ability to fly and without the love of their gods. The grounded Mawmaws were not only turned away by their own kind, but even by the humans as they believed Mawmaws to only be selfish and cruel. Here on the ground, the Mawmaws had no place, and no clue as to how they would survive. Never had any Mawmaw considered a life on the ground, and now that they had been given no choice, it left them lost and confused; unable to get a foundation on survival down here.
Many years passed while the number of outcasted Mawmaws steadily grew. They banded together to form social groups which helped to ease the pain of being kicked from the skies, and give the grounded Mawmaws a better chance for survival. Together they were able to build small shelters; or seize homes from humans unfortunate enough to be in numbers too small to fight against the Mawmaws, and provide the comfort of not being alone to others who had met the same fate; but there were many other struggles that plagued the outcasts. They were not built to move on land, and were fragile creatures. They did not know how to cultivate the land or what food could be eaten and what could not. They were hungry, suffered many illnesses and diseases, and felt hopeless.
The downcast Mawmaws dealt with these ailments for many years, giving them a feeling of hurt and longing for the things that they had been denied at birth. Many questioned why they had been born the way that they had, and some even felt angry towards the gods for deeming them unworthy and never giving them a chance to prove themselves. Why had this fate befallen them? Why had they been born without a purpose? For one individual, these thoughts and feelings were unacceptable, and for the sake of himself and all of the Mawmaw that had been wronged by the gods, he was going to fix them.
A Mawmaw known as Malik the Fallen rose up from a group of the grounded Mawmaws, claiming that the gods had made a mistake in cursing them, and that he would be the one to seek out one of the Reverent to demand that justice be done for the plight of the outcasted Mawmaws. To do this he would need to travel a great distance in search of the Shrine of Mahanaim, a Reverent who had been lost to the world for thousands of years before then. Malik claimed to know where the shrine was and knew of an artifact inside of the shrine that would grant him an incredible blessing; one that he would use to restore the wings of all the Mawmaws who had fallen from the skies. Some saw a glimmer of hope in Malik's words, but others saw only a Maw who had gone mad from his yearning. Regardless of what the others thought of him, though, none of them stopped him from leaving the small community to search for this lost shrine, and for many years after he had gone, most of the Mawmaws assumed that Malik had been lost to the world, or perished on his journey.-
-But Malik did not perish. After years of searching, looking to ancient books and scripts for clues, and traveling all over Mesaya, He had finally found what he was looking for. Buried in the dense jungles of western Ilith stood an overgrown entrance to a shrine built in the Reverent Mahanaim's honor. Overwhelmed with excitement, Malik entered the shrine and approached a statue built to Mahanaim's image. Inwardly, Malik could feel something off about this place. Perhaps it was the way the statue watched over him, or just the crumbling structure of the shrine that threatened to collapse on top of him. It was there he saw what he was looking for; a glimmering stone embedded into a large medallion which held enough of the Reverent magic to give Malik everything he had ever wanted, and when he emerged from the shrine, on his body sat four beautiful wings unlike anything that even the sky Mawmaws had. Eager to return to his home and hear the praises for what he had done, Malik left the shrine with the medallion in hand; unthinking on what he had just done.
When Malik did return to his home; he did not go to the ground, but instead, turned towards the sky and made his appearance in Athel, the capital city of the Mawmaws to be praised for his new wings. For the first time in his life, he was welcomed by the other Mawmaws, and not only that, but idolized by them! He was beautiful, powerful, and held with a high regards by those who once looked down upon him and cast him out. It was everything he had ever wanted, and unfortunately Malik had become blinded by the fame and attention thanks to his wings, and had forgotten about those he had left behind down below. He was no better than the greedy Mawmaws in the sky, and once the grounded Mawmaw learned of his treachery, he had become the very thing that once sparked hatred and disgust in his own heart, but to those he promised justice to, and then forgot.
Though Malik had forgotten about the grounded Mawmaw after he had his wings, the dormant Mahanaim became aware of something that had gone missing from his shrine. It was not immediately known what had happened to the artifact that was once held safely within the shrine, but once Mahanaim had seen what had become of Malik it grew furious that a mortal dared to steal from it's shrine! It was then that the Reverent Mahanaim appeared before the Mawmaw and demanded to know what had happened to the medallion.
Eyes turned to Malik , who frantically tried to explain himself to the infuriated Reverent. He explained how the Mawmaw born without their wings had been cast down and treated as lesser beings by those who could fly. Malik had only ever wanted to have his rightful place in the sky, where he could be close to the gods as well, and claimed that it was his right to do so! He told Mahanaim that the gods had done the Mawmaw on the ground wrong by cursing them to a flightless life, and that they deserved better.
This saddened and angered Mahanaim even further. The humans and Mawmaws were created to aid one another. Where Mawmaw were blessed with their wings and powers so that they could protect the ground dwelling humans, the humans had been blessed with their ability to adapt and use the land and everything it gave them, so that they could help provide for their protectors. When Mawmaw were born without the use of their wings it was an effort to bridge the gap between the Mawmaws and humans; but the Mawmaws selfishness and pride was too great; and in the end it had caused the two races to bicker and fight over who was more worthy of the affection of the gods.
In it's rage, Mahanaim declared that none were worthy of the blessings that the gods had given them, and struck down Malik and the Mawmaws, sending their cities plummeting to the earth below! The clouds fell from the sky, oceans churned and battered the coasts, fire spilled from every mountain top... and on this day the world of Mesaya knew the fury of the Reverent!
In the wake of the destruction caused by Mahanaim, the cities that the Mawmaw once called their homes had been destroyed; sent crashing into the ground- leaving nothing to be salvaged. The ground dwelling humans were unfortunate in that they did not manage to survive- either being crushed by debris, swept out to sea, or buried under thick blankets of ash. Many of the Mawmaw who lived on the ground had also perished with the humans- but it was those from the skies who had been punished. Their wings had been taken from them- all of them; aside from those of the Ascended who safely fled Mahanaim's fury, but they too wept for everything they had ever known was gone.
What would the Mawmaw do now? Like those they had cast down from the clouds, they did not understand how to live on the ground. Where would they go? What would they do? What was their purpose now that they had been cast down by their gods? Suddenly things started to make sense for the Mawmaws. It was their wings which had blinded them to their purpose, and had caused them to block out anyone who did not have them. In that, they had brought this upon themselves and caused the destruction of their world. This feeling of being unworthy and not knowing where to go... was this what the Mawmaws they had cast down had felt like?
It was decided among the surviving Mawmaws that they would learn to live life on the ground, and stick together in doing so. The Mawmaws who were cast down from the sky those many years ago banded with the very Maws who had outcasted them to rebuild and teach them how things worked on the ground. But... what became of Malik? He'd been outcasted by the Mawmaws; sent off to a remote part of today's badlands where Athel had fallen. He would live the rest of his days alone for the crimes he had committed- though today we know that had Malik not betrayed the Gods, the ending of this story would have been quite different.
Over the next centuries, Mawmaws became more adapted to life on the ground. Their bodies became heavier and more compact, their legs stronger and more suitable for walking. Their paws got bigger and they became hardy creatures more adapted to life on the ground. Mawmaws rebuilt cities and took over ones left behind from the humans who ruled the land before them. Though the appearance of the Mawmaws changed with time, there was one thing that did not- and that was that no matter what, Mawmaws would stick together. This is what would be the foundation for the species social nature and large social groups.
You might ask, what about the Ascended Mawmaws, or the Mawmaws today who have their wings? The Ascended Mawmaw live on to this day, although they live separate from those that live on the ground. Unlike the Mawmaw you know today, they are not as social or need to adapt to live on the ground. As the children of the gods, the Ascended never lost their wings or their powers- and their children have been blessed with the gift from the gods. These Mawmaw are born with their wings and have earned the name Royals. Royal Mawmaw do live among the Natural Mawmaw of the now times, but are highly revered for their blessings.
What comes in the future for the Mawmaws? Nobody can be too sure. Perhaps some day the gods will forgive them and the Mawmaws will once again return to the sky. Maybe they will stay where they are... only one thing is certain; Never again will the Mawmaws allow themselves to fall as they had before.
The rift between Humans and Mawmaws was caused by the Mawmaw's pride in their wings and magic which they believe was gifted to them during their creation to make them appear more similarly to the Gods, and to give them the ability to be closer to the heavens where the Reverent were said to watch over all life on Mesaya. Surely if the gods had blessed them with such abilities where the humans had none, it meant that they were far superior and more beloved by their creators, right? Being so blinded with their own abilities, the Mawmaws could not see that humans had also been blessed with their hardy bodies and ability to adapt, as well as the ability to make the most of the land and the bounty it provided to them, and instead saw the humans as lowly, petty beings that were undeserving of the adoration of the gods. The children of Mesaya fought and argued over who deserved the love and blessing of their creators and who did not.
For hundreds of years the Humans and Mawmaws were like this; one believing that the other was unworthy because they lacked the abilities of the gods, while the other believed that that the first was unworthy due to their pride and arrogance. This is the way that things were, and it simply grew to be a part of who these races were for a very long time.- That is until somethings started happening to the Mawmaws in the skies above.
Suddenly, Mawmaws were being born with strange defects which caused their wings to be small and useless, or nonexistent completely. It came as a shock to the species who's purpose was to rule the skies. Why had these Mawmaw been born different? What would their purpose be if it wasn't to fly and keep a place close to the gods? Perhaps, the Mawmaw thought, it was because these individuals were deemed unworthy by the gods themselves and had been denied their ability to fly. With this in mind, and fear of allowing such impurity into their great cities, one by one the flightless Mawmaw were outcasted from their own kind and sent down to earth below to fend for themselves.
While the Mawmaws in the skies continued to live their lavish lives without those they rejected as their own, those that were sent to the ground struggled to adapt to living without the ability to fly and without the love of their gods. The grounded Mawmaws were not only turned away by their own kind, but even by the humans as they believed Mawmaws to only be selfish and cruel. Here on the ground, the Mawmaws had no place, and no clue as to how they would survive. Never had any Mawmaw considered a life on the ground, and now that they had been given no choice, it left them lost and confused; unable to get a foundation on survival down here.
Many years passed while the number of outcasted Mawmaws steadily grew. They banded together to form social groups which helped to ease the pain of being kicked from the skies, and give the grounded Mawmaws a better chance for survival. Together they were able to build small shelters; or seize homes from humans unfortunate enough to be in numbers too small to fight against the Mawmaws, and provide the comfort of not being alone to others who had met the same fate; but there were many other struggles that plagued the outcasts. They were not built to move on land, and were fragile creatures. They did not know how to cultivate the land or what food could be eaten and what could not. They were hungry, suffered many illnesses and diseases, and felt hopeless.
The downcast Mawmaws dealt with these ailments for many years, giving them a feeling of hurt and longing for the things that they had been denied at birth. Many questioned why they had been born the way that they had, and some even felt angry towards the gods for deeming them unworthy and never giving them a chance to prove themselves. Why had this fate befallen them? Why had they been born without a purpose? For one individual, these thoughts and feelings were unacceptable, and for the sake of himself and all of the Mawmaw that had been wronged by the gods, he was going to fix them.
A Mawmaw known as Malik the Fallen rose up from a group of the grounded Mawmaws, claiming that the gods had made a mistake in cursing them, and that he would be the one to seek out one of the Reverent to demand that justice be done for the plight of the outcasted Mawmaws. To do this he would need to travel a great distance in search of the Shrine of Mahanaim, a Reverent who had been lost to the world for thousands of years before then. Malik claimed to know where the shrine was and knew of an artifact inside of the shrine that would grant him an incredible blessing; one that he would use to restore the wings of all the Mawmaws who had fallen from the skies. Some saw a glimmer of hope in Malik's words, but others saw only a Maw who had gone mad from his yearning. Regardless of what the others thought of him, though, none of them stopped him from leaving the small community to search for this lost shrine, and for many years after he had gone, most of the Mawmaws assumed that Malik had been lost to the world, or perished on his journey.-
-But Malik did not perish. After years of searching, looking to ancient books and scripts for clues, and traveling all over Mesaya, He had finally found what he was looking for. Buried in the dense jungles of western Ilith stood an overgrown entrance to a shrine built in the Reverent Mahanaim's honor. Overwhelmed with excitement, Malik entered the shrine and approached a statue built to Mahanaim's image. Inwardly, Malik could feel something off about this place. Perhaps it was the way the statue watched over him, or just the crumbling structure of the shrine that threatened to collapse on top of him. It was there he saw what he was looking for; a glimmering stone embedded into a large medallion which held enough of the Reverent magic to give Malik everything he had ever wanted, and when he emerged from the shrine, on his body sat four beautiful wings unlike anything that even the sky Mawmaws had. Eager to return to his home and hear the praises for what he had done, Malik left the shrine with the medallion in hand; unthinking on what he had just done.
When Malik did return to his home; he did not go to the ground, but instead, turned towards the sky and made his appearance in Athel, the capital city of the Mawmaws to be praised for his new wings. For the first time in his life, he was welcomed by the other Mawmaws, and not only that, but idolized by them! He was beautiful, powerful, and held with a high regards by those who once looked down upon him and cast him out. It was everything he had ever wanted, and unfortunately Malik had become blinded by the fame and attention thanks to his wings, and had forgotten about those he had left behind down below. He was no better than the greedy Mawmaws in the sky, and once the grounded Mawmaw learned of his treachery, he had become the very thing that once sparked hatred and disgust in his own heart, but to those he promised justice to, and then forgot.
Though Malik had forgotten about the grounded Mawmaw after he had his wings, the dormant Mahanaim became aware of something that had gone missing from his shrine. It was not immediately known what had happened to the artifact that was once held safely within the shrine, but once Mahanaim had seen what had become of Malik it grew furious that a mortal dared to steal from it's shrine! It was then that the Reverent Mahanaim appeared before the Mawmaw and demanded to know what had happened to the medallion.
Eyes turned to Malik , who frantically tried to explain himself to the infuriated Reverent. He explained how the Mawmaw born without their wings had been cast down and treated as lesser beings by those who could fly. Malik had only ever wanted to have his rightful place in the sky, where he could be close to the gods as well, and claimed that it was his right to do so! He told Mahanaim that the gods had done the Mawmaw on the ground wrong by cursing them to a flightless life, and that they deserved better.
This saddened and angered Mahanaim even further. The humans and Mawmaws were created to aid one another. Where Mawmaw were blessed with their wings and powers so that they could protect the ground dwelling humans, the humans had been blessed with their ability to adapt and use the land and everything it gave them, so that they could help provide for their protectors. When Mawmaw were born without the use of their wings it was an effort to bridge the gap between the Mawmaws and humans; but the Mawmaws selfishness and pride was too great; and in the end it had caused the two races to bicker and fight over who was more worthy of the affection of the gods.
In it's rage, Mahanaim declared that none were worthy of the blessings that the gods had given them, and struck down Malik and the Mawmaws, sending their cities plummeting to the earth below! The clouds fell from the sky, oceans churned and battered the coasts, fire spilled from every mountain top... and on this day the world of Mesaya knew the fury of the Reverent!
In the wake of the destruction caused by Mahanaim, the cities that the Mawmaw once called their homes had been destroyed; sent crashing into the ground- leaving nothing to be salvaged. The ground dwelling humans were unfortunate in that they did not manage to survive- either being crushed by debris, swept out to sea, or buried under thick blankets of ash. Many of the Mawmaw who lived on the ground had also perished with the humans- but it was those from the skies who had been punished. Their wings had been taken from them- all of them; aside from those of the Ascended who safely fled Mahanaim's fury, but they too wept for everything they had ever known was gone.
What would the Mawmaw do now? Like those they had cast down from the clouds, they did not understand how to live on the ground. Where would they go? What would they do? What was their purpose now that they had been cast down by their gods? Suddenly things started to make sense for the Mawmaws. It was their wings which had blinded them to their purpose, and had caused them to block out anyone who did not have them. In that, they had brought this upon themselves and caused the destruction of their world. This feeling of being unworthy and not knowing where to go... was this what the Mawmaws they had cast down had felt like?
It was decided among the surviving Mawmaws that they would learn to live life on the ground, and stick together in doing so. The Mawmaws who were cast down from the sky those many years ago banded with the very Maws who had outcasted them to rebuild and teach them how things worked on the ground. But... what became of Malik? He'd been outcasted by the Mawmaws; sent off to a remote part of today's badlands where Athel had fallen. He would live the rest of his days alone for the crimes he had committed- though today we know that had Malik not betrayed the Gods, the ending of this story would have been quite different.
Over the next centuries, Mawmaws became more adapted to life on the ground. Their bodies became heavier and more compact, their legs stronger and more suitable for walking. Their paws got bigger and they became hardy creatures more adapted to life on the ground. Mawmaws rebuilt cities and took over ones left behind from the humans who ruled the land before them. Though the appearance of the Mawmaws changed with time, there was one thing that did not- and that was that no matter what, Mawmaws would stick together. This is what would be the foundation for the species social nature and large social groups.
You might ask, what about the Ascended Mawmaws, or the Mawmaws today who have their wings? The Ascended Mawmaw live on to this day, although they live separate from those that live on the ground. Unlike the Mawmaw you know today, they are not as social or need to adapt to live on the ground. As the children of the gods, the Ascended never lost their wings or their powers- and their children have been blessed with the gift from the gods. These Mawmaw are born with their wings and have earned the name Royals. Royal Mawmaw do live among the Natural Mawmaw of the now times, but are highly revered for their blessings.
What comes in the future for the Mawmaws? Nobody can be too sure. Perhaps some day the gods will forgive them and the Mawmaws will once again return to the sky. Maybe they will stay where they are... only one thing is certain; Never again will the Mawmaws allow themselves to fall as they had before.