long, long ago when the world was new, there were no gods, only the spirits, who the shamans, the ones who had crossed the borders of the worlds could speak with. some of these were the spirits of trees and plants. some were the spirits of the animals who now walked, flew, swam, or crawled. some were the spirits of the animals who had walked thousands of years before men had, and still others were the spirits of our ancestors who had died, but the greatest and most powerful of these were known as "the people without bodies."

i am considering writing something based on the myth of persephone. i'd like to have her go with hades on purpose, because she wanted to, or to not have a hades at all. there are some older versions of the myth where she wasn't anyone's bride, she simply couldn't stay at home and be spoiled by her mother forever, and she saw that the people in the underworld were suffering and chose to stay there of her own free will to give comfort to the dead.