Stories of the Five Beasts

One was a girl who never stopped eating. She ate everything she could find. She ate until she burst. Now she hungers forever.

One was a boy who always dragged his feet. He lazied about and never got any work done. He laid down so long he couldn't get back up. Now his feet drag him across the floor.

One was a girl who pushed pins into animals. When she bored of the pins she moved on to nails. When she moved on to knives she cut herself and didn't stop bleeding. Now she cuts herself on every sharp thing.

One was a boy who never listened to his parents. He didn't listen to any of the adults, or even his siblings. One day he couldn't hear anything anymore. If you listen in the night you can hear his screams as he tries to make himself heard.

And finally, there was the thing. It was every bad thought. It was every lie. It was all these children. We do not speak its name, for it must never remember what it once was.

Summary

The stories of the five beasts tell of five beings who all did one bad thing and grew into a monster because of it. Every story tells of one thing that one must not do to make sure one does not become like the beasts. The beasts are:
Hunger.
Toil.
Pain.
Scream.
The thing that has no name.

Historical Basis

Scholars argue over whether these stories were created because of real monsters, or if the monsters were created by the stories. No matter their origin it is a fact that the five beasts exist and travel the lands. They are old, powerful beasts that haunt the darkest nightmares of the civilized world.

Spread

Stories of the beasts can be found in every corner of the republic. Only the learned and the superstitious truly believe in their existence, however.

Variations & Mutation

Every culture has its own slight variation of the stories of the beast. They are usually changed so the children in the story do things that are contradictory to how a proper child is supposed to behave in that particular way of life. Some cultures only have stories about one, or just some, of the beasts.

In Literature

Many a word has been written about the beasts. Everything from poems and prose, to academic studies of their true nature. It is imperative, however, that no word ever be penned about the thing that has no name.

In Art

As almost every artist has grown up with stories about the beasts it has been the inspiration for a staggering amount of art. In Evergreen it is said that one has not started an artistic career before one has created an interpretation one of the beasts. I know that I might be repeating myself, but I must once again point out that it remains absolutely imperative that no rendition of the thing that has no name ever be created.