Arabianka

Arabianka is a paradise-like land and is part of of a very old myth, that myth "The myth of Arabianka" is well known throughout Grimgar and has had a huge influence on (at least) the human culture. Like most myths, it has numerous versions and is linked to some of the other myths in Grimgar.

## The Story

The following is a shorten version of the myth of Arabianka as told by Hiyomu, specifically it's the version of the story which became the official history of the kingdom of Arabakia.

*Long ago there was a paradisiac land name Arabankia, it was a plentiful land, the only place still at peace when the Gods laid waste to Grimgar during their great war.*

*One day a family came to Arabankia and started to live there a father George and his 3 sons: Theodor, Ishmahr, and Nahnanka. The mother had died not so long after they reach Arabianka and when they buried her she became a great tree. For some time the family lived an idyllic carefree life in that paradise. That is until the youngest son Nahnanka realized that he had no idea of how long it had been since they came here, yet they hadn't aged or gained weight. So, to resolve those mysteries he decided to leave Arabanka to report on the outside, only to never come back. Sometime later worried by his absence it was Ishmahr, the second son, turn to leave in search of his brother this time, only for him to also never come back. Having lost to of his sons, the father slowly loosed hope and ended up turning into a tree, like the mother.*

*Despite being left alone with his dead parents and no information on his brothers, Theodore stayed in Arabankia for quite some time, until he one day managed to bring himself to leave. At first, he only walked leisurely, only taking care not to look behind in fear of being tempted to go back. But when, thinking himself far enough, he looked behind him, it was to see a milky haze rushing toward him.*

*Thinking himself in danger he ran away for days, finally finding himself on the bank of a majestic lake, where, in admiration before the majesty of a land rivaling even Arabankia he decided to create a kingdom, which should be named "Arabianka". Having proclaiming his attention, people from the West, East, and North came to him to be accepted as his citizens.And that's how 660 years ago the Kingdom of Arabakia was created by Theodor George also called George I.*

### Variations

The version shown above is only one of the many versions of that myth, some of the known differences include:

* Sisters: In some versions of the myth the family isn't just made of 3 brothers and their father but also a number of younger sisters. However, because they never play much of a role in the story their names have been lost to time. They do play a bigger role in some versions, however, as like every good myth, the myth of Arabianka does have some incest versions where "things" happen between Theodore and his sister after their father's death.
* The father: While he seems like he always ends up turning into a tree the reason may vary, in some, he died then transform, and in others, he slowly takes root after gorging himself on food after Ishmahr failed to come back.
* Then end: It's not explicitly said, but it's likely that the end where Theodore create the Kingdom of Arabakia was an addition made by either Enad when first declared himself King or by the House of the Founder when they made the myth into the official history of the Arabakia.

## Influences

### Humans

The myth of Arabianka has had a massive influence on the human culture as it's the now the official history of what use to be the most powerful and now last human kingdom. It also seems like the 3 most powerful kingdom took their their names from that myth:

* Arabakia : Arabianka, the legendary paradise-like land.
* Ishmal : Ishmahr, the second son.
* Nananka : Nahnanka, the third son.

Moreover because of its age that myth is known throughout the land, as many versions, and is linked to other myths: for example some legend say that the great tree that sprout from the mother grave ended up falling creating the Kuaron Mountains.

## Link with real locations

### Parano

From the properties it had in the story, Arabianka seems really similar to Parano:

* Both are said to be dream-like
* The father turned into a tree when he stops moving/died is really similar to Sleeping Man turning into the Scarlet Forest when he fell asleep in Parano. So while the timeline doesn't match and Sleeping Man is most likely not the father, it does show that such transformation is completely possible.
* In both people don't age, nor do they need food or water, and the flow of time is strange and hard to perceive.
* When Theodore leaves Arabianka he is chased after by a white fog which seems quite similar to the white fog in which both Alice and the King lose themself on earth before ending up in Parano.

As such it seems highly possible that the myth was created by people from Parano or people who had seen it. And while the current Parano doesn't really fits the "paradise-like" description of Arabianka with its tricksters and dream monsters, we do know that it used to be more habitable and peaceful before the 7 cities destroyed each other.

### Earth's legends

According to Hiyomu, Arabianka as been described as many thing through the ages:, and each of the 4 example she gave seem to reference a legend from earth:

* "an island floating in a vast lake": could be a reference to the floating man made island of lake Titi caca
* "a continent sunk beneath a great flood": seems like an obvious reference to the myth of Atlantis
* "a place far to the west , beyond the red sea" : it could be the promised land or the eden garden from the biblical myth, although the "far to the west" doesn't fit that well (especially for the promised land).
* "a green paradise, spreading out on the other side of the frozen lands of the north": seems to be referencing the way Greenland was seen by the vikings for a time after Eric the Red named it that way.

### Darunggar

The myth speaks of a great war between the Gods laying waste to all of Grimgar, however Grimgar doesn't really shows the marks that such war would have left. Especially when compared to Darunggar where the day/night cycle was broken and the land is now covered by gravewards and ancient battlefields because of the fight between Skullhell and Lumiaris. As such it's possible that that myth either originated from Darunggar or was influenced by the people who had fled it after the war.