The man who lead the beetles.

Or rise of the beetlemen.

Summary

Dont be greedy.
An armorsmith was obsessed with the perfect set of armor. Perfect to him was all function, no form. When people complained about his wares he would berate them and take back the armor, keeping the peoples money.
One day, he found and released a trapped effreti who was bound to grant the wish of the one who released him. I didnt take long for the self centered Smith to decide, and so he made a wish to have an appreciative customer for each suit of armor he had made, totalling more than fifty. The effreti, seeing the armor and calling it dung, called forth a man sized beetle for each suit of armor and turned the Smith into a beetle with a man's head, forced to live his days eating dung. The effreti left, laughing at the beetle-man.
The man, being furious, slew the village and burned it to the ground. He took a boat, his fifty new soldiers, and sailed east, toward the red lands. The red lands are, among other things, rumored to be controlled by anthropomorphic crabs. The story goes the crabs people stood no chance against the Smith and his beetleman army.

Historical Basis

Anthropomorphic insects live across the ocean to the east, including crabs, lobsters, slugs and snails, ants, wasps, and smaller populations of many other bugs.

Spread

This tale is told to children everywhere as a lesson. It was made into a popular stage play and is now performed in puppet theater most everywhere.

Variations & Mutation

There are slight variations on who the beetle-men fought when they landed on the eastern shores, mostly derived from popular pests in the local area.

Cultural Reception

The tale is one of the most common children's tales to currently circulate. "Don't be a beetle," is a common phrase to someone unkind or pig headed.

Date of Setting

-500 EE