Legends of Rhaplanca
The Legends of Rhaplanca (ラプランカ伝承, Rhaplanca Denshou?, lit. "Legends of Rhaplanca"), also called sometimes the Myths of Rhaplanca, or the Tale of Rhaplanca (ラプランカ物語, Rhaplanca Monogatari?, lit. "Stories of Rhaplanca"), are a series of myths describing the spiritual ideologies and utopia concepts that the people of Metafalss have had ever since they first settled on their land, around the -822 AD year, and which are known by everyone in this region.
The Legends of Rhaplanca are divided in several sub-stories or lines, each of which features a different iteration of the characters Rhaplanca and Maoh, who were stated to be reincarnations of each one in later periods in history. However, each line has also different feelings and themes contained within itself, as it will be explained below.
However, the final line of these myths, the Infelious Rhaplanca line, also serves as a partial retelling of the origin of Metafalss, and also shows how the ideologies and mentality of its people came to be.
Lines
varda rhaplanca
The varda rhaplanca line, also known by the name Record of Rhaplanca, Who Cultivates a Tree Despite a Life of Hardships (ラプランカ命堪う大樹の手記, Rhaplanca Inochi Tau Taiju no Shuki?), is the line that was used by Jaza and Infel for the creation of their respective parts of Metafalica (EXEC_METAFALICA/. and METHOD_METAFALICA/.), as well as their combined form, EXEC with METHOD METAFALICA/.. It's a tragic story that ended up being sublimated into a tale of cooperation and hope.
In this line, Rhaplanca was a girl that lived in a village located in the middle of a desert in which water and food were scarce, and rain never fell. A certain day, she found a seed among the sand, and then, she decided to begin raising it with the goal of allowing it to grow into a large tree, whose fruits would then nurture and save the people. For this purpose, she even sacrificed the little water she had in order to give it to the seed, which slowly began growing under her watchful gaze.
However, the other people saw these efforts as a waste of water and energy, and due to this, they continually attacked her and tried to destroy her seed. Despite this, Rhaplanca attempted to continue raising her seed and protect it from attacks. During these times, a young man called Maoh arrived at this barren land, and upon fixing his eyes on Rhaplanca, and hearing her pure wishes to help everyone he fell on love with her, and decided to help her with the raising of the seed.
During these times, the seed finally sprouted, and a small sapling began growing from it, overjoying both Rhaplanca and Maoh. However, both were dismayed when they noticed that the sapling would require even more water now, and Maoh suggested asking for a least a drop of water from everyone in the village. However, when they tried to do this, the people merely punched and kicked them, treating them as idiotic daydreamers, and chased them away. The people even went to the extent of stealing away the water that Rhaplanca and Maoh were going to give to the sapling!
Despite all their doubts, and the cruelty of the people, they continued protecting the sapling and giving it water. One day, they had the idea of helping the people by doing hard works or carrying luggage in exchange of receiving a few droplets of water, and thus, they did so. However, in other occasions, they had to donate their water to children that were on the verge of death, only to receive mere words of gratitude from their parents. Slowly, the eyes of Rhaplanca and Maoh lost their vigor and dreamy qualities, and were filled with despair. They continually asked themselves if they were doing the right thing, but at least Maoh felt at ease whenever he worked alongside Rhaplanca, and saw her doing her best.
However, this didn't last for much longer: on an especially bright day, Rhaplanca finally collapsed from the excess of work and the lack of water, due to not drinking anything for three straight days. Maoh embraced her and began crying while Rhaplanca felt that she was hit by the despair of the world, while asking herself why everyone had lost their hope to such an extent. Then both stared dazed at their sapling, and finally gave up, thinking that their feelings could only get so far, as their tears fell above it...
However, a second later they noticed that someone else had begun giving water to the sapling, and upon looking up, they saw the children they had saved from death irrigating the sapling. Day after day, the children came and gave a little water to the sapling, and later on their mothers came, and after that, their fathers came: in short, all of the people that both Rhaplanca and Maoh had helped were returning the favor now. All of them began giving water together to the sapling, no matter how small of an amount it was. Then, strangers began giving water to the tree as well. Combined, their efforts finally payed off, and the sapling slowly and slowly grew, until it finally became a large tree that reached the heavens, and it began bearing large and juicy fruits. Maoh and Rhaplanca were then declared as heroes, and everyone began living a more easy and peaceful life.
The Tree of Life, as some began calling it, became the main landmark of the village, and it was named Implanta. The feelings of hope that Rhaplanca had reached everyone in the village, and drove them to continue working together in the cultivation of this sacred tree, until the point in which it reached the skies above.
zodal rhaplanca
The zodal rhaplanca line, also known by the name of Record of Rhaplanca, Who Bestows Death Upon the Souls (ラプランカ死せる魂の手記, Rhaplanca Shiseru Tamashii no Shuki?), is the line that was used by Infel for the crafting of [[EXEC HIBERNATION]|EXEC_HIBERNATION/.]], and presumably it was used by her, Grammul, or the technicians from the People of Mio for the creation of METHOD_IMPLANTA/.. While it has parallels with the varda rhaplanca line in that it also chronicles Rhaplanca falling into despair and being disappointed with humanity, it also differs in that this time Maoh is introduced later and he is the one who helps Rhaplanca regain her hope for the world. There are some aspects to the story that are ambiguous though, such as the nature of the relationship between Rhaplanca and Maoh at the start of the story's second half, but they can be considered inaccuracies typical of myths and legends.
The story continues from the ending of the varda rhaplanca line, where the divine tree Implanta was successfully crafted by Rhaplanca and Maoh, alongside the cooperation and feelings of the people who lived in a desert. However, after several years, sand began blowing again into the land, a sign that the blessings given by Implanta were not going to last much longer.
It was then that Rhaplanca declared she had the power to communicate her feelings and heart to Implanta, and doing this, she would be able to get the sacred tree to produce magical seeds that had the power to grant a wish for a single person. Rhaplanca then told the people the following: "Use the powers of my seeds, and let this world be enshrouded in greenness, wish for the water to drift about it, and you all will not have to worry about food anymore, and you all will not be troubled whenever you wish to receive water. If you heed my words, this land will become joyful and prosperous, and it will remain this way until the time of the grandchildren of your grandchildren. To make this land prosperous, a thousand seeds are necessary. From now on, I will continue singing for a thousand days inside the temple, so I may create these seeds. Please, until the thousandth day comes, protect these seeds with your lives. I entrust them to all of you. Just for a thousand days, please do not use the power of the seeds, but cultivate them with your feelings."
Having said this, Rhaplanca secluded herself into the depths of the temple and used all her strength solely for the purpose of singing for a thousand days to have Implanta produce these magical seeds, one per each day. while wishing for the world's happiness. However, due to the nature of the crafting of the seeds, she had no knowledge or awareness of what was happening outside the temple's walls, much less of what the people could be doing.
After the thousand days had passed and the last of the thousand seeds had been crafted, Rhaplanca left the temple with it in had, but she could not believe what her eyes showed her. Unlike the warm, peaceful and kind world she had been imagining all this time, the outside of the temple had become a city filled with sin and vices due to the people wasting the wishes from the 999 seeds she had previously crafted to realize selfish and greedy desires.
And their greed knew no end: once they saw Rhaplanca had left the temple and had one last seed in her hand, they scrambled and tried to take the seed away from her, going as far as fighting over it between themselves and killing each other for it. They finally seized Rhaplanca, and after someone ordered her to craft a 1001st seed, the rest of the people started clamoring the same.
Although she had to spend her whole energy into it, Rhaplanca somehow managed to escape her captors and leave the city. She finally reached a hill that overloked the whole place, and fell to her knees while crying endlessly. She asked herself: "Did these beings called humans commit a mistake, or was I who committed it because of being so gullible...? Why... why do men betray each other like that...? Why... why do men fall into vice like that...?"
She then realized the answers to her own questions, which only increased her apprehension: "That is... because of only one reason. And that reason is... because men live fearing [death]..."
And upon reaching this answer, Rhaplanca decided there was only one way to create a true utopia, so she made a wish upon the only seed she had in her hands:
"Please, bestow eternal rest upon this land, in the form of a world without life or death..."
Some time after this happened and the city had become a ruined world locked in perpetual stasis, Maoh returned from a long journey, and was shocked and saddened to see what had happened to his homeland.
He discovered Rhaplanca was still alive though, and when he found her, he questioned her:
"Why did all the people in this city die?"
Rhaplanca just smiled and replied back:
"Because they wanted to live without struggles... because they wanted to live without suffering..."
"Didn't they suffer when they died?"
"They are living in happiness though?"
"Living? Where?"
"Even if their bodies cannot move anymore, their souls are still alive"
"I don't think they're happy to live in such a state though"
Rhaplanca finally told Maoh this:
"Humans have cowardly and traitorous souls. That cowardice and treachery is what makes them unhappy, so I made for them a world where both fear and unhappiness don't exist."
But Maoh replied to her:
"Humans also have souls that believe in tomorrow and which are generous, and their feelings and prayers are what will lead this world to happiness. Therefore, the humans have to live upon this land."
He then extended his hand to her:
"Come with me, Rhaplanca. Since you have already witnessed the thousand karmas, I want to show the thousand-and-one loves."
They both then left into a journey to learn about the world. Most of the experiences in this journey were new to Rhaplanca, since she was finally learning to actually experience the world and to interact with people. While they had quarrels every now and then, they also came to understand each other, and to experience many different feelings. There were also times where they couldn't manage to understand each other, where she got angry, but they also shared many other things such as cultivating fields together, or falling sick together.
While many of the new experiences Rhaplanca was taught by Maoh were things she had initially considered dirty or shameless, she finally relented and allowed herself to experience them. At time suffering or crying, they both continued their journey while supporting each other.
Once their journey reached its end and they returned to the hill overlooking the ruined city, Rhaplanca was hit by an unbearable sadness upon seeing there was no hope or light to be found in this dead place. She started crying, and continued doing so until her tears dried, all while Maoh tightly hugged her.
It was then that Maoh asked her to craft the thousand-first seed from Implanta, and Rhaplanca promptly started doing so while still crying, under the glow of the full moon. The new seed would contain her feelings of hope and atonement, and once she completed it, it immediately granted her wish: the night gave way to the brightest morning sun ever to rise upon the world, which brought back life to the dead city. Once they saw the smoke rising from the bakeries' chimneys, they realized life had returned to the city, and Rhaplanca greeted the coming of the new morning while in the embrace of Maoh.
salavec rhaplanca
The salavec rhaplanca line, also known by the name of Legend of Rhaplanca~ Record of the Demon That Rules in Silence ~ (ラプランカ伝承～ 静寂（しじま）司る魔神の手記 ～, rapuranka denshou ~shijima tsukasadoru majin no shuki~?), is the story told in the song Singing Hill - Salavec rhaplanca -. In this one, Maoh and Rhaplanca were a knight and a princess, respectively.
Maoh had lost his parents in a war several years prior, while Rhaplanca's mother abandoned her when she was still very young. Both children came to live together, and grew together. Several years later, Maoh was recruited as a knight in the city of Lelentas, while Rhaplanca went on to become a popular singer in one of the city's bars.
One day, Maoh proposed marriage to Rhaplanca, but she refused his feelings, saying that she would only cause him pain and sadness. The next day, Rhaplanca was kidnapped by the priests of Lelentas, and tried to sacrifice her in order to fulfill the ancient oath that was made many years prior: that a Demon would provide them with power and prosperity as long as they sacrificed to him a girl per year. Maoh immediately understood the situation when he saw Rhaplanca's crying face, and rushed to save her.
When the sacrifice ritual was nearing its climax, the Demon appeared, and Maoh fought against him to protect Rhaplanca. However, none of his attacks seemed to make effect, until a certain sword fell in the ground before him. This was the sword that was used to make the oath with the Demon, and using it, Maoh was able to defeat the Demon. The priests were killed in the chaos that ensued during the Demon's agony, while Rhaplanca and Maoh retreated further into the forest.
When Rhaplanca awakened, Maoh explained to her everything that had happened, and while she insisted on giving up her life in order to fulfill the oath, despite the Demon's death, Maoh calmed her down, and convinced her to keep on living at his side. Thus, Rhaplanca cried long and hard in Maoh's chest, while he consoled her. However, his actions doomed Lelentas, which was filled with famine and plague shortly after, and it fell under the attacks of the neighboring cities shortly after.
No one can say for certain if Maoh's actions were correct or incorrect, as well there being many ways to interpret the ending according to each person's moral compass and values.
Infelious Rhaplanca
The final part of Rhaplanca's tale is called Infelious Rhaplanca ~Record of the Eternal Earth and Heavens~ (インフェリオウス・ラプランカ「永劫なる天地の手記」, inferiousu rapuranka [eikounaru amatsuchi no shuki]?), is the story told in the song Infelious Rhaplanca. Heavenly Prayers ~Rhaplanca~/Earthly Atonement ~Maoh~, and tells how the world ended to give birth to the region we now know as Metafalss.
This time, Rhaplanca was born as a priestess, while Maoh was born as the son of the Elm City leader. Maoh acted pretty much like an spoiled prince, and spent all the time trying to gain Rhaplanca's favour, even going as far as forcing her to marry him. On the other hand, Rhaplanca had dedicated herself to help the poor and needed, which the city had in surplus due to the terrible ways in which the people lived back then.
However, all of this soon came to an end: a certain day, Rhaplanca received an oracle of the God Juklizda, who told her that the world would be destroyed together with the people living in it. Only a few would be chosen and taken to the next world: a paradisaical land called Metel Filios. Rhaplanca appealed to Juklizda in an attempt to make him change his mind, but it was fruitless, and even he mocked saying that if she couldn't change her egotistical husband's mind, she didn't have any possibility of doing the same to the rest of the people. Then, he rose his hand, causing a horrible sound to resound throughout the world.
Then next moment, the skies lit up in red, the city was covered in rubble and corpses, and the land split asunder. A part of it, sustained by the divine tree Implanta, continued floating in the skies while the rest of it fell into eternal oblivion. The people then ran and tried to climb Implanta in an attempt to save their lives.
Maoh ran to Rhaplanca, and grabbing her hand he led her to Implanta. Once there, he began pulling the people that were climbing the tree to make a way for himself and Rhaplanca. However, Rhaplanca didn't move and instead, she gave her place to the people that tried to climb the tree. She at first believed she had helped them to save their lives.
However, a loud rumble was heard, indicating that the tree wouldn't be able to support the weight for much longer, and that it would eventually fall down and crash into the ground. Rhaplanca didn't want this to happen and appealed to the Gods to allow her to use a single miracle. They responded to this humble plea, and transformed her into a large rock, so she would be able to keep supporting Implanta eternally.
Upon seeing this, Maoh screamed and jumped off the tree. When he reached Rhaplanca, she had almost completely turned into stone. Even in this state, Rhaplanca told him her last wishes: to help everyone to reach salvation, and once the new land was created, he should make a new country based in the principles of trust, love, and gratitude. Then she turned into rock completely.
Maoh stood in front of his petrified wife for a a moment, and then, he wiped the tears from his eyes, and with a newfound determination he rushed back into the city in order to not leave even a single person behind. He helped the old, the children, and the sick, and led them to Implanta, up to the last moment in which the lava began flowing around the tree's floating island. Once the last person had safely climbed into the tree, the lava poured all around them.
During this time, the island floated in the lava while the people, squeezed in such an small space, prayed. Maoh did the same, but not for himself: his prayers were for Rhaplanca and for this world. Then Juklizda spoke directly to his heart. He told him that now his sins were forgiven, but in order to atone for them, he would have to raise the new world into a beautiful land and keep the promise he made to Rhaplanca until the end of his days.
Thus, Maoh became a fair and kind ruler, and led the people to the promised land of Metel Filios, which was later on renamed as Metafalss. The rugged plateau that was created by the lava served to them as a reminder of the rage of the Gods and the promise that was made with them.
Trivia
Although not a part of the Tale of Rhaplanca, the feelings contained in METHOD HYMMELI/. are a sequel of sorts to the varda rhaplanca line. Said feelings were created out of Sasha's admiration for Cloche when the latter sang METHOD_METAFALICA/. before an angry crowd, and managed to appease them. She then used these same feelings so Cocona would be able to request the power of the IPDs for their journey in the Tower of Harvestasha.
Additionally, the feelings contained in the Song METHOD_ALTERNATION/. seem to be a line that serves as the definitive conclusion to the Rhaplanca legends, as it chronicles Rhaplanca's ascension into a goddess after having gone many times through the cycle of death and rebirth. However, this line isn't added to the main article because of not having a proper title yet.