am'nýer—a'
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MYTHOS: HOW TAM'NÝER—A' CAME TO BE
If you are looking for in-depth information about our Pantheon, please refer to the various pages that begin with "DEITIES:" in the Mythos & Beliefs dropdown menu.
THE FORMING OF THE LAND
Y'ljnöx are the Brothers born of Sea and Sky; Y'l the eldest, Jn, and Öx. As is the story with most siblings they loved and pranked each other equally, till Jn, intoxicated beyond reasoning, decided on a winter's eve to take from their parents a piece of heart. Doing this on the pretense that he would literally share a piece of their parents' love with his brothers, he brought it to Öx and Y'l telling them he found something for them to try.
On a whim, and eager for Öx & Y'l's reaction, Jn lit the piece of heart on fire for Öx and Y'l to smoke. Expecting the two to be filled with love, admiration, and gratitude, Jn kept offering it to his brothers, without realizing that it was slowly killing his beloved siblings. Eventually, Öx and Y'l collapsed, past all reasoning and hope of being brought back as the only thing that could kill the Brothers was being inundated; and with what more than their parents' love?
The issue was that they already possessed their parents' love and that their parent's heart was not something that they had rights to take and alter. Them extinguishing the piece of heart for their own pleasure and enjoyment that was not their own showed a fatal level of greed.
But all was not lost in the way that with the brothers' death, Jn had to approach his parents and tell them what happened. Out of anger and heartbreak Sea and Sky killed their only remaining son allowing his remains to fall to Tam'nýer—a'. Breaking apart on impact, Jn's physical body became the various land masses in Tam'nýer—a''s oceans. Losing everything apart from each other, Sea and Sky laid down side by side to remain forever. Still very much in love with one another they decided to lay like this to keep themselves from ever laying together again as it only produced pain in the end, but to always remain close.
*As a side note, thanks to the brothers dying in this way, what we call an Adam's Apple here on Earth (a bump in the throat that is naturally prominent in men) is known as 'A Parent's Heart'.
BIRTH OF ANIMALS
& VEGETATION
With Sea and Sky resigned to their grief, Uu'krieuvan eventually dared to visit his dearest friend, and sister, Q'Tam'šmă. Knowing she was ultimately inconsolable at not losing just one, but all three of her children, he asked if he could make something out of this senseless, agonizing chaos.
With her emotions, and her sadness, the oceans swelled, embracing the corpse of her middle child who now made the land masses. The waves began to wash the broken body of Jn as she contemplated her friend's offer. It was her one last goodbye to the boy she knew, and the boy she tried desperately to not hold herself responsible for, and not to be angry with.
For weeks, perhaps months that melded into years - no one knows, for the Gods, time is not linear - Jn's body absorbed some of his mother's sadness. From that, Uu'krieuvan nurtured this farewell and decided that he would take liberties in taking advantage of this moment, bringing forth life from death, as if to show Q'Tam'šmă that all was not in vain.
Uu'krieuvan's dogs were sent in every direction to spread living breath through day as it revolved into night, howling and trilling noises speaking to the sloughed off essence that was Q'Tam'šmă's waves. They told it that healing would come if it answered their masters' call; the light of Nýer—a', which would never abandon it and the vibrations of Uu'krieuvan's footsteps as he traveled the broken body of Jn. From this, out of the seeming uselessness of drowning depression and death, over eons, the plethora of flora and fauna came to be.
DAWN OF THE RACES
Out of the flora and fauna, it is said that the races of Tam'nýer—a' rose from them. Certain species of animals took to singing, dancing, and doing services for the Gods and Goddesses. They showed a lust for life, and these animals were not an entire species but 'individuals' of a species.
The Ãoni
It is said that the bird that gave rise to the Ãoni peoples gained favors from the Dancing Maidens (the seasons) by plucking them whatever fruits they asked for. Then the bird began gifting the Ladies trinkets for their hair, till the bird, one day offered to braid Spring's hair. However, the bird over time became overwhelmed by the sheer number of wavy tresses, and became lost. Saddened, Spring wrung her hair to bring rains of her season to the land and bring the richness that her season was known for early and thus the Ãoni were born from the guts of the bird, and rains of Spring. To the Ãoni, however, Spring is known as Ŧ'ţ'ra-'kii, their mother goddess. The rest of the races pay tribute to her merely as Spring, or in C'eröd as Lo'Qît.
The Tèrre-vănș
The Tèrre-vănș are known to be the ancestor race that eventually split and became Khah' & Z'sa'Ză-'Bäa species that we know today. However, how did the Tèrre-vănș come to be in the first place? As all things, it has a touch of the divine, though the Tèrre-vănș don't exactly have the kind of 'touch' one would expect. When Uu'krieuvan walked the earth that was Jn's body, he sent his dogs to send word ahead of him to respond to their Master's call. Now, this is all well and good, and as we know now, as mythos tells us, Uu'krieuvan keeps making his way around the planet of Tam'nýer—a' be it on land or sea, and his dogs are his companions. With the first message that his beloved companions handed out and on their repetitive journeys abroad, there were a couple of the God's pets that paid particular attention to the fauna that erupted around them. In particular, a Çaigko', a curious creature that tended to venture on hind legs when approaching something it was insatiably curious about.
Now long romance story short, during a winter's monsoon Trótskarr, one of Uu'krieuvan's beloved dogs sacrificed his position to mate with a fated Çaigko' giving birth to the Tèrre-vănș. This unity of love however, costed both creatures their lives, as the creation of a new, and sentient being no less, Uu'krieuvan found he had to create balance in order for this new life to prosper. Thus while his companions still are with him, the Çaigko' eventually faded away from existence. Ah, but you may find yourself asking – how did the Tèrre-vănș come to be if there was only one sole offspring of this union? Why, with the blessing of Uu'krieuvan, of course. Although his 'blessing' may not sound as lovely as one might think. Through trial and error, like an old fisherman untangling a large net, Uu'krieuvan pulled the creature apart, and made two out of the one so that they may continue on.
The Nkhya'jra
After the spring & summer, Czek'athü goes round, diligently collecting the colour back from the trees, as well as the plants and animals that die to give it back to Praq-huykl'. In the meantime, whilst collecting the wide array of colours, Czek'athü, using the skills she learned from her father VüƑ, who is notoriously known as “The Weaver,”strings the colours together, attaching them to her hair, so as not to lose any.
However, while things appeared to be business as usual, there was one Autumn where things were different. Whilst gathering colours diligently Czek'athü’s hair actually became tangled in a scattering of fallen branches. Getting herself detached so that she could continue in her work, it so happened that not all the branches were indeed branches. Almost piercing her foot on a bone amongst the small pile, she frowned, and it wasn’t long till her curiosity got the better of her.
Branches cleared away, hair and colours carefully tucked away, Czek'athü dug deep into the ground following the path of the bone, which led to roots of a great tree that she had never seen before. In a strange turn of events, after days of contemplation, Czek'athü decided against stealing the colour of the tree since she had missed it for so many seasons before, it seemed strange to begin doing so now.
Though to remember the tree, she pruned its branches, and with the bone that had led her there, she crafted the horns of the first Monarch, breathing life into it, making the excess of the tree come to life. Thus, the Ṅkhya'jra were born, and why the True Monarch even to this day are two spirits becoming one as Czek'athü needed the tree and the tree needed Czek'athü. (This can also be argued to symbolize how W'daṅzî & Czek'athü need each other as well).
To mark the place of the beloved tree Czek'athü reorganized some trees of which she already drained the colour from. However, to make sure she never mistook the tree from which she crafted life from and took its colour by mistake, the trees she moved to mark the place were to forever remain devoid of colour. That is how the trees surrounding आउफछ · Auphacha, a temple in the center of Rīdhaūñaī were born as well. Though nowadays, the trees have given seedlings and the white trees can now be found all throughout Rīdhaūñaī. As for the great tree, it is housed in आउफछ · Auphacha.
The Sk'älik
From the depths of the ocean, understood to be Q'Tam'šma's domain, the fable of the Sk'älik's birth is an odd one. There are in fact many different tales concerning their coming to be, some that even contradict each other heavily, but in order to give a clearer understanding we will give the most accepted tale here.
Once the land of Jn's broken frame had begun to sprout life, the mother goddess Q'Tam'šma, retreated. It was particularly difficult for her to watch her son's body transform into something else, as it only solidified that what had come to pass was indeed reality, and a reality she had to live with. In the depths, hiding from what was happening on the surface, unable to face anyone, even her lover Nýer—a, she began to find solace, not only in her solitude, but the movement of the waves. Every breath she took, she exhaled gold, light, and upon the whimsical idea, she gave birth to life born from the soft trickle of joy that she was finally permitting herself to feel. Inherently, despite their less than appealing appearance, the Sk'älik are a mark of Q'Tam'šma's joy.
The fact that the Sk'älik homeland of Sk'ïenaik is located in the absolute depths of the oceans, under such extreme pressure and darkness only further solidifies how precious and rare this sliver of mirth that gave birth to them was. It should be said however, that the ultimate reason for their appearance being considered somewhat terrifying, as well as 'ugly' is due to the fact that once Q'Tam'šma had giving way for this new life to be, she was filled with regret and sorrow, as if she had tried to replace her original children, Jn especially.
The Giyu
While Q'Tam'šmă has deposed Llunon in almost every way, there is one thing Q'Tam'šmă cannot take away from her and that is being the fabled mother of the Giyu. However, in the glory of hindsight it seems that Sẙg—stà', the Red Sands War, and the victor had been tied to the fate of how Q'Tam'šmă has overthrown Llunon as the true Goddess of Water.
How the Giyu came to be from Llunon though is made even more tragic, as it is understood by scholars adamant of her existence, importance, as well as the belief that the two goddesses were lovers. That Llunon made the Giyu of herself to show Q'Tam'šmă the beauty that life still had to offer, as the Mother of All remained insistent on remaining in the crushing depths of the oceans.
Llunon, a Goddess of Water, Will and Strength was bound and determined to show her sister that life could prevail in multiple ways, and that while one life may have been gone did not mean that life was no longer worth living for others, that beauty could still be found, that will and strength from within was still there even in the absolute depths of despair, much like their brother Uu'krieuvan’s message.
It may be lost to time that Llunon’s bottom half is actually tentacles. She looks like a Giyu, hence the Giyu were made in her image, literally. Her tentacles conforms to the waves of the ocean in which she dwells, while her top half seems Human and that is her presentation so that she does no scare off mortals, at least that is how that story goes. That means that her physical goddess-like quality is her tentacles.
Giyu, in their infancy, used to bring the wonders being created on the surface of Jn’s body, made by Uu'krieuvan down to the depths of the oceans to show Q'Tam'šmă that all was not lost. They were created to be messengers of goodness. In that sliver of mirth it created within the Mother of All, she birthed the Sk'älik. But then regret overcame her and marred the Sk'älik’s beauty, and banishing the Giyu from being able to tolerate the pressures of the deep.
The Zdjętzami
The Zdjętzami are a strange folk to be sure. Though they are completely secluded on the Feet continent, they are a relatively new race, as they have only been around for roughly 15 Tam'nýer—a''n years. This is extremely young, especially for an entire separate race as 15 Tam'nýer—a''n years equates to a mere 450 earth years.
However, by now you might be thinking 15 years lines up rather nicely with the death of the Gods, and you wouldn't be wrong. The Zdjętzami are actually alive merely because they're the evolved, made sentient race that were born from Mirzum who feasted upon a God's deceased flesh. Although, it would be odd not to find Zdjętzami in other places on Tam'nýer—a' considering this circumstance, and that's what makes this myth and speculation, rather than fact. Or is it?
Nonetheless, this mythos-conspiracy of the Zdjętzami species infancy also explains as to why they do not know of any of the Gods that the rest of Tam'nýer—a' does, and have a completely foreign belief system.