It Goes Like This

In the beginning, all the universe was contained within a small sphere. It was all life, all energy, and all things that ever were and ever will be.

Within this sphere grew the God Hunras, but She could not be contained forever, and so from Her shell She burst forth. The universe spread rapidly from its center and Her soul was shattered.

Quickly now, most of Her pieces found each other again, and Her soul was reformed as the sun at the universe’ core.

But not all pieces have yet found their way back to Her. These pieces today are the humans. In an attempt for each piece to feel complete, those that still wander the universe seek each other in shallow community and romance. But all such efforts are ultimately futile.

Hear, fragmented souls! There is no desire in your body and soul that cannot be satisfied by rejoining with Hunras. Every thing we seek is only Her, painted in different shades. And so, until all the universe is reunited in Her, let us understand each other, and through that, understand Her.

As the rains that fall upon the mountains take a meandering path to the sea, so all that was once part of Hunras will one day find their place again as a droplet within Her waters.

~~~

Now in the first days of man, he still had much to learn about the world, but the gods had given him friends in all the animals, so that he could learn to survive.

From the crow he learned to build homes, from the otter he learned to fish, and from the wolf he learned to hunt. The fox taught him to dig for metal, and the sheep gave man his coat of wool, so that his furless body would be warm.

Now there was a goddess in the early days called Nisas, and she was very beautiful, but she was proud. She thought to herself: “I will help this man to a secret not yet known, so that him and his children will worship me for all posterity, and I will live forever.”

So Nisas sent her emissary, the cormorant, to steal fire from the Sun. Gladly her emissary went, but he was greedy and tried to take too much, and the fire lodged in his throat. His feathers became charred all around the edges, and he fell to the earth with his mouth still aflame.

In this way man learned the secret of fire. But Hunras punished the cormorant for his greed and Nisas for her pride. Thus to this day the cormorant serves man with his throat tied, so that he cannot swallow the fish he has caught. Thus also Nisas became the Goddess of fire, but fire was made uncontrollable, so that she was equally feared and revered, and she had all her wondrous beauty taken away.

~~~

In the early days, when man was still learning the ways of the world, he lived as the animals lived. He wandered to and fro like sheep, eating what fell into his hands, never knowing when he might go hungry, and when the Earth would provide.

Now the Goddess of Fertility looked upon the Earth, and she saw that the children of man went often hungry, and she was filled with sorrow. She thought to herself: "Why, I have given them soil that abounds with life, and the Earth provides in plenty, but man does not know how to cultivate it, so he and his children sufffer." So the goddess pleaded with her sister, Pernaman, the Goddess of Cattle, that she should let her beloved oxen serve man, so that he would have the strength to plow fields and plant grain.

In those days Pernaman took the form of a cow, pure white, with three horns, which set her apart from all others. But Pernaman was stubborn, and she held her head high. She said "I have no desire to serve man," and she sent her cattle to destroy the homes that man had built. The Goddess of Fertility was enraged by her sister's actions, and in retribution for the deed, made it so that all cattle born henceforth in Pernaman's herd were born with no loyalty to her, but instead longed to serve man. When forcibly kept away from his hand, they, without fail, languished and fell ill.

Pernaman fell into despair and her coat became drab. But Hunras said to her: "Your sister has taught you the gift of humility. Your rule over cattle has come to an end, as they have now become man's domain, but they will not forget that their prosperity in industry came first from you. Until the end of time, you will be remembered as ‘She who Gave Man the Power to Forge Futures,’" and that is why Pernaman today is worshipped as the Goddess of Industry.

Now the rival Hanakar kings many centuries ago fought and vied for dominance within what is now the single kingdom of Hanakand at the Center of the World. It is said that one of them, ancestor of the current king, was blessed with wisdom beyond his years and given divine power to victory. It is said that the Gods sent him to resolve the petty squabbles of their chosen people, confused by borders and corrupt rulers.

He defeated all the other kings and their armies, and in bringing together the disparate nations, made an empire that has yet to fall in its 230 year long history. The descendants of those defeated kings live on, stripped of certain titles, as lesser-kings who answer to the victor. Each one of them, however, still bears in his heart a distant memory of those ancient days. Each maintains his own militia and primary home far outside the capital city in his ancestral land. There, he rules on as a provincial governor with his own ministers, tax collectors, and courts of law.

Three generations ago, the lesser-king of Andanumix sent his youngest son to the capital city of Feurumix to serve as the king’s foreign ambassador. He was a bright young man, and with the residential complex the king had so graciously gifted him, he built a small empire of his own. He had one son, whom he raised to replace him, and in time that son too married, and his wife bore him three daughters and a son. The eldest daughter, born in 1232, married a wealthy merchant’s son. The second, born in 1236, married the son of the minister of finance, and the last, born in 1238 by the name of Sanera, married a nobody. The son never made it past adolescence.

As for their cousins in Andanumix, the affairs of the offshoot Feurumixian branch of their family were worth little concern.

~~~

Elsewhere, in the far reaches of the World, lives a much different people and a much different nation. Their people are fair, stocky, and they live on islands, never far from the sea. From their capital city of Sekva, the Prophet writes an entry in her journal.

1st of Summer, day 14, yr 1252.

Father has taken me with him again, to visit the Queen of the Island Nation. It is something about trade or another, and he would surely reprimand me for not knowing, but I agreed to go with him, enthused, for it meant I could see dear Dreva again. I have been scarce at the meetings he bid me attend, and I hope he shall forgive me!

Dreva taught me some advanced Kuamapi’e the last time I was here (I studied up to the intermediate level at home under Father’s guidance), but I have been occupied with so many other matters since; I’ve forgotten it all. But if Father’s hopes remain firm, that I should one day take his place as a diplomat to this nation, he really ought to give me less of other studies, so I could learn this language properly. Its lyrical sound is just divine.

Dear Dreva is the princess of the Kuamapi. She will inherit rule of the islands when her mother sees fit. She tells me I ought to hurry up and replace my father, for the Queen is not so fond of him. I do not know why, and even if I did, I would not have the heart to tell. No matter. “One day,” I tell her, “I am but 14; you may have to wait a while.”

She laughs. She is 16. I forget that often.

She will teach me more terms for governance today, then perhaps she will laugh at me as I take in the wonder of the snow capped mountains around her city and run my hand through the luxurious furs that adorn every corner of her room. Yesterday went much the same. I am not yet accustomed to the food served in these halls, so Dreva took me to the royal kitchen, where I did do my best to explain to the (certainly belabored) cooks what sort of things I might have back home. If any of it was unsuccessful (and we shall see tonight), I will not blame my poor explanation, but rather Dreva’s continuous punctuation of my dialogue with giggling. In that way she reminds me of Hana.

Father frowns upon it, but I have spent the past three nights curled up with Dreva in her bed. I am very happy to have a friend in her, and we confess all manner of things to each other far into the small hours of the morning. When I awake midday and see her soft golden hair and the rise and fall of her covers as she dreams, I am overjoyed. Oh Dreva! I am comforted by your presence and your warm embrace. When the time comes and it becomes my duty, I am sure I will visit the Islands often, if not for diplomacy, at the very least to see you.