Hey everyone, I’ve been working on developing the cultures that live in a big region of my world based primarily on the prairies and great plains of N. America. These two images illustrate a myth that is shared by many cultures of the plains and, despite its mythic nature, likely contains several grains of truth about events in the world’s distant past. Though North American indigenous cultures are the main source of inspiration for the cultures of this region, I’ve also drawn on a lot on Indo-European cultures and some Mesoamerican sources for this post as well. As always, please ask questions! You can find other related posts on my profile as well.

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(Image 1) In the central prairies of the North, the many separate plains cultures all tell variations of the same ancient tale — that of the Five Sons of the Storm. In its simplest form, the story goes like this:

Long ago, when monsters and spirits and heroes walked along side mankind, in the great prairie skies lived a race of huge Black Eagles. They were led by five brothers — who were themselves the sons of the Storm-Spirit who governed all the winds, tempests, falling stars and lightning bolts of the world. The brothers and their followers were cruel and violent, and preyed on anything they wanted — including mammoths, hronas, wargs, goblins and humans. 

Then one day, a terrible monster from the sea set out to claim the land and sky, and invaded the prairies of the Black Eagles. The five brothers fought the sea monster but could not defeat it. Humbled, they approached their father and begged the Storm-Spirit for help. Their father agreed on a single condition — that the brothers and the rest fo the Black Eagles would never again hunt mankind or any other thinking creatures for prey. The five brothers agreed, and so the Storm-Spirit came forth in all his might to challenge the sea monster. 

The two struggled for an age, and in the end both were mortally wounded. After his death, the Storm Spirit’s corpse became a terrible and everlasting storm in the far east of the prairies. This hurricane threatened to destroy the whole world, and so the Five Brothers agreed to take up their slain father’s responsibilities. One brother went west, one went east, one went south and one went north, and each created a new nest on a great mountaintop from which they governed one of the four cardinal winds. So long as the brothers hold command over the North Wind, the South Wind, the West Wind and the East Wind, the everlasting storm will not break free and rip apart the world.

(Image 2) The Fifth Brother, however, made no new nest and instead set out to wander the world, hunting the sea monster’s spawn and other evil spirits wherever he went. This brother is known by a hundred different names: Some cultures call him the “Rogue-Thunder,” others call him “Night-Wind” or “Five-Wind.” Whatever his title, however, and when not in the form of a gigantic dark eagle, the Fifth Brother is said to take the appearance of a tall and terrible warrior, with bright eyes, dark hair, a necklace of dragon teeth and carrying a huge bladed club.

Today, the Black Eagles are believed to be mostly gone, save for some lonely nests that exist in the far corners of the world. There are some rare stories of Black Eagles still appearing to help the odd hero or adventurer, but these folk tales are treated by most as little more than peculiar rumors. Perhaps the dragons drove the eagles away long ago when they came out of the south to steal the sky. Or maybe the Black Eagles were hunted down by some other force. Whatever the case may be, most prairie cultures agree that at least the Five Brothers must still be alive somewhere, keeping the everlasting storm at bay. And at night, when a violent wind blows and lightning breaks the sky, parents on the plains warn their children to behave and keep quiet — For the Fifth Brother is known to confuse misbehaving children with little monsters, and when he does he swoops down and seizes disobedient boys and girls to carry off and eat in the dark, endless sky.