This category is reserved for stories featuring the following mythologies:

- East Asian Mythology (China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Mongolia, Taiwan)

- Southeast Asian Mythology (Brunei, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam)

- South Asian Mythology (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka)

- West Asian Mythology (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen)

1. You are a noble from a forgotten kingdom. When a beautiful woman claiming to be a descendant of the Naga begins to appear in your dreams, you are pulled into a race against time to hasten their awakening to save your people.

2. You are an orphan from a quiet village at the foot of a mountain said to be the home of the last dragon. The dragon's ember guards your village, but recently, the ember has gone cold, and with it, strange imbalances in the world begin to unfold—rivers dry up, seasons grow erratic, and celestial omens grow darker.

3. The phoenix and the dragon are two symbols of prosperity, courage, and regality. Serving as protectors of different parts of the realm, they can never meet. However, one battle and one fateful night draws them together for the first time.

4. While hiking in the mountains of Vietnam, you come across a beautiful woman at the foot of the mountain. You discover she is a mountain goddess bound to a mortal form and you're the reincarnation of the dragon king, who can break the spell. You must embark on a dangerous quest fraught with mythical monsters and treachery. Will your love be enough to break the curse?

5. When a historian uncovers a hidden chamber beneath the ancient temples of Angkor, they discover it holds the heart of a mythical creature said to be the protector of the Khmer Empire.

6. One villager of noble birth is cursed by a vengeful water goddess after their family disrespects the goddess' shrine. Every full moon transforms her into a mythical creature of the seas, forced to roam rivers. They encounter a merchant traveling on the seas who may just have the answer to their problem.

7. In ancient Sri Lanka, a series of mysterious deaths begin to occur amongst the firstborns of the royal family. You are tasked with investigating this strange disturbance, only to discover a white peacock feather has been left beside them. Can you uncover the mystery before the next royal heir is killed?

8. In the Ottoman Empire, a famous glassblower is found dead with only an unbroken glass butterfly as a clue. Upon closer inspection, you discover the butterfly contains secrets about an ancient artifact said to grant immortality, and the glassblower may have been part of a secret society to protect this artifact.

￮ The contest runs from January 1, 2025 to April 30, 2025. Any submissions received after 11:59 PM EST on April 30, 2025 will be disqualified and ineligible for judging.

￮ Your story must feature a myth, legend, or folktale. Werewolf and vampire fiction is not accepted unless it is directly tied to a cultural myth.

￮ The word count limit is no more than 10,000 words, excluding author notes, playlists, aesthetics/moodboards, and anything else non-literary. Prologues, epilogues, and bonus chapters will count towards the word count minimum.

￮ The story must be newly written, meaning we are not accepting republished or rewritten content. If it is part of a series, it must be read as a standalone (i.e., we don't need to read other books in the series in order to understand your story).

￮ Entries must be written in English.

￮ You can join all four games, but you can only win once.

￮ Mature content is accepted, but it must follow Wattpad Content Guidelines.

￮ Fanfiction is not accepted. See our FAQs for more details.

￮ You are welcome to share your entries in the comments, but please do not spam our contest book. Don't email us your entries and use the applicable submission form when you're ready to submit.

✧ OPTIONAL: tag your stories with #PHG25 and/or #PHG2025

￮ You are welcome to combine prompts from the same Game, but there must be one that we can easily identify as the main prompt. Do not combine prompts across different games, these entries will be disqualified.

￮ If you are not well-versed in myths and legends, you can check out APIFantasy's API Myth and Folklore Anthology or mythandlegend's Live Your Myths Anthology via the external link button at the end of this chapter.

￮ The submission form for the Pythian Games is available as an external link at the end of this chapter. Just scroll to the bottom of this chapter and select the external link button.