The Story of Mulligan's Map
Thus I have heard of the wondrous map belonging to a young Kovac Mulligan. A map that never ran out of space stretching to every border of the world.
Kovac Mulligan was a simpleton of his small village. Told repeatedly that there was nothing to be found anymore than three miles from his village. Because of this Young Mulligan stayed close to home and did simple work of feeding the farm animals and picking grapes from the family vines. One day. Mulligan’s friend, Uriah showed him a map that he found in the study of his father. It showed the wide swaths of land and the many features that dotted it. Mulligan was amazed by the beauty that could be shown in just a few lines and names on a piece of parchment. Kovac asked if he could have it and Uriah said no, that simpletons could not have such nice things as a map and they must stay at the family farm where they ought to be. Young Kovac grew sad from this but knew he would prove Uriah wrong.
In the middle of the night, Kovac snuck into Uriah’s room through his window and snatched the map from his desk. Once he could orient himself, he started walking north. After walking for three miles, Mulligan got nervous. What would find at the end of the map? Would the world just drop off? Maybe there were terrible monsters waiting for anyone who got that far! While all these ideas scared poor Mulligan, he knew he had to be brave; the desire to see more and venture into the unknown overcame his fear of what lay ahead. At the end of his walk he found the beginnings of a great mountain range. With high jagged peaks that seemed to scratch the sky. To remember this place, Mulligan broke off a chunk of slate from the mountain and kept it in his pack, telling himself it would help to remember for later. Mulligan walked back to the village and then three miles to the east, once he reached the end of the 3 miles he found his feet settled in sand dunes and could see the lapping of waves from a great ocean. Mulligan wanted to remember this end too and so he collected seaweed. Back he went to the village and again walked three miles to the south only to find a deep and wild savannah, to remember this part of the map, Mulligan grabbed three leaves from a nearby banyan tree. Finally Mulligan traveled back to the village and another 3 miles to the west and found a lush and beautiful meadow. Mulligan picked three daisies to remember this part of the map.
At the end of the day Mulligan was weary from all his walking and laid down at home to rest. He placed each of the things he collected at the ends of the map from which he found them and slept deep into the night. When he awoke, the items he placed had vanished and the map had miraculously grown by three miles in each direction, showing so much more of the world ahead.
From that day on, Mulligan set out to fill the map completely, to explore every nook and cranny the world had to offer. For decades Mulligan explored, filling the map more and more, until eventually he died running right into an ambush by bandits on the road. The map was stolen and has never been seen since. Some say the entire world has been written into that map. Some say there are still corners that even Mulligan had not been able to fill, tempting more emboldened few to fill in the gaps in Mulligan’s map.
Kovac Mulligan was a simpleton of his small village. Told repeatedly that there was nothing to be found anymore than three miles from his village. Because of this Young Mulligan stayed close to home and did simple work of feeding the farm animals and picking grapes from the family vines. One day. Mulligan’s friend, Uriah showed him a map that he found in the study of his father. It showed the wide swaths of land and the many features that dotted it. Mulligan was amazed by the beauty that could be shown in just a few lines and names on a piece of parchment. Kovac asked if he could have it and Uriah said no, that simpletons could not have such nice things as a map and they must stay at the family farm where they ought to be. Young Kovac grew sad from this but knew he would prove Uriah wrong.
In the middle of the night, Kovac snuck into Uriah’s room through his window and snatched the map from his desk. Once he could orient himself, he started walking north. After walking for three miles, Mulligan got nervous. What would find at the end of the map? Would the world just drop off? Maybe there were terrible monsters waiting for anyone who got that far! While all these ideas scared poor Mulligan, he knew he had to be brave; the desire to see more and venture into the unknown overcame his fear of what lay ahead. At the end of his walk he found the beginnings of a great mountain range. With high jagged peaks that seemed to scratch the sky. To remember this place, Mulligan broke off a chunk of slate from the mountain and kept it in his pack, telling himself it would help to remember for later. Mulligan walked back to the village and then three miles to the east, once he reached the end of the 3 miles he found his feet settled in sand dunes and could see the lapping of waves from a great ocean. Mulligan wanted to remember this end too and so he collected seaweed. Back he went to the village and again walked three miles to the south only to find a deep and wild savannah, to remember this part of the map, Mulligan grabbed three leaves from a nearby banyan tree. Finally Mulligan traveled back to the village and another 3 miles to the west and found a lush and beautiful meadow. Mulligan picked three daisies to remember this part of the map.
At the end of the day Mulligan was weary from all his walking and laid down at home to rest. He placed each of the things he collected at the ends of the map from which he found them and slept deep into the night. When he awoke, the items he placed had vanished and the map had miraculously grown by three miles in each direction, showing so much more of the world ahead.
From that day on, Mulligan set out to fill the map completely, to explore every nook and cranny the world had to offer. For decades Mulligan explored, filling the map more and more, until eventually he died running right into an ambush by bandits on the road. The map was stolen and has never been seen since. Some say the entire world has been written into that map. Some say there are still corners that even Mulligan had not been able to fill, tempting more emboldened few to fill in the gaps in Mulligan’s map.
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