Qîélá's Many Wonders

Culturally and linguistically speaking the word “it” is completely acceptable and non-insulting for Ôrnês when referring to someone with undefined gender. And “it" is always used when referring to an unknown individual (so as not to make assumptions since names hold no gender in Ôrnêstán). Technically speaking all their pronouns are versions of “it” (cé, cú, cá) denoting what reproductive capability someone has and the choice can be made NOT to divulge that to others by using the neutral “it.” Additionally, Ôrnês do not technically have gender as we interpret it, since sexual capabilities are not connected to roles within society in any way. Gender’s only use is defining who you are capable of reproducing with and thus marrying. Outside of that absolutely no thought is given about gender.

“Beast” in this case refers to any sentient being that is not an Ôrnês or Trémtónť and is only considered acceptable when speaking to one of those two species. The polite term used in mixed company is “Voice,” basically “a being with a Voice.”

The First Children are worshiped in their own right as minor deities, viewed as the ancestors of the Ôrnês in a given area. It is believed that their power has now stabilized in the land and they are often asked to relay wishes and prayers to Kërbát.

The entire story should be taken with a grain of salt, while it is of course wholeheartedly believed by the adherents of the religion its main purpose besides religious history keeping is propaganda. It gives a reason for Ôrnês supremacy, for Trémtónť enslavement, and for the reason Ôrnês are compelled to war and dominate all other Voices. This history is consistently referenced when Ôrnês give a reason for their aggressions upon others. Its status as propaganda is not, of course, known to or believed by the Ôrnês or Trémtónť.

Now onto the story:

In the beginning Kërbát slept. It had no beginning and would have no end, It always was and always will be. When Kërbát woke time began. First Kërbát thought of words and language was born. Second, Kërbát thought of matter and the heavens were born. And third, Kërbát thought of life and the world was born.

However, the first life was imperfect, for Kërbát thought of too much at once so that there were pieces missing from the plants and beasts, or pieces mixed and mismatched. While this did not displease Kërbát, It had found this life inadequate as it gave no prayers or devotion, it had no purpose given the nature of its fractured being. So Kërbát thought of another being to be its servant. It put all concentration towards this servant, thought of the arms and legs ending in nimble fingers and toes, thought of the torso with heart, lungs, and all other organs, and finally thought of the head and the mind. With this effort the first Servant was born, Tál, the crafter of the mortal world.

Tál was thus the first to give reverence to Kërbát and bowed before It, so the first words were spoken: “Mighty Giver of Life, I hear and see your thoughts. With these hands I would see your will done on the world and in the heavens.”

Kërbát heard these words and was pleased, for language was even more beautiful spoken. Yet when Kërbát moved to reply Its words shook the world so violently that the beasts were killed and the earth was thrown into a fiery tumult and broken. Kërbát’s will was too strong to be put into the mortal world through active means, thus It learned and instead channeled the thought of Its appreciation towards Tál, and Tál felt it like a warmth through his body and a peace in his heart.

Then Kërbát saw the world It had broken and willed Tál to calm the chaos. With his hands Tál smoothed the jagged rocks and stilled the seas from roiling. The bones of the misshapen creatures were sown into the rock and soil where they turned to stone. When the world was again calm Kërbát then directed Tál to fill it with life once more. Tál was pleased to be the instrument of Kërbát’s will, to make the world perfect from the thoughts of Kërbát.

First Tál made plants, shaping them from the rocks and his own hair, taking careful effort to craft every detail. Then Tál made the lesser beasts from his skin and saliva, shaping them so they resembled his own body in many ways while still taking delight in their diversity. In some he added the whisper of his own words and gave them the ability to think and speak. These bests gave praise and reverence to Kërbát, Master of Thought and Root of All Things, and to Tál, the Sculptor of Life.

For a time the worship of the beasts was enough for Kërbát to be content. And when the world needed altering Tál would do so gently so that the beasts would barely notice. However, after some ages had passed the beasts slowly forgot their beginnings and the hands and will that had shaped them. They began to worship spirits that had grown in the Void of the skies from the stray thoughts of Kërbát, spirits which promised them more than their rightful due as mortal beings. While these spirits were powerful, they were not true gods and Kërbát became displeased as more and more beasts turned their hearts and minds elsewhere.

Kërbát now saw that there would be no ways to keep the beasts true as long as It remained separate, yet knew that Its true presence would be too great for mortals to comprehend or witness and would cause another devastating upheaval. It was then that Kërbát made from Its own body the First Children, manifestations of Its power made physical. However, because the combined power of male and female, as Kërbát was, would be too powerful in the mortal world to hold physical being, Kërbát split the two and made instead several pairs to together rule over parts of the mortal world.

These First Children were the closest approximation of gods to be found in the living world. They had might greater than any of the false spirits and swept the wisps of thought from existence with little effort. The beasts at first resisted but the First Children were radiant and carried in them the Light and Fire of Kërbát; built of Its flesh their power was like none witnessed before. The beasts soon bowed to them, either out of fear or renewed reverence in the power of Kërbát.

After the world had been reclaimed and the hearts of the beasts turned back to Kërbát Tál created a people from the clay of the earth to be their Servants. In these people he placed drops of his own blood so that they walked, spoke, and venerated Kërbát and the First Children as he did. The First Children and the Servants mimic the dynamic of the gods- the First Children willed grand cities built and the Servants worked the land to build them. The First Children needed to eat, though sparingly, and the Servants farmed the land and hunted at the Children’s side. The Servants dressed and bathed the First Children so their countenance never wavered.

With their male and female separation the Frist Children felt the stirring of mortal passions and their curiosity led to the births of many more Children beyond counting. Their children were further diluted in power as they continued to split and diverge across the land, though they never lost the power to summon magic and alter matter as Kërbát allowed the First Children. Yet the more they bred, with each generation the Children lost their radiance until they looked no different from the beasts. Yet the Children flourished even so and aided the First in ruling all the lands of the mortal world.

For ages longer than the beasts had lived alone the First ruled and guided the world on the proper lines to truly honor Kërbát. Yet as the ages passed the First grew complacent and trusting in the devotions of the beasts, and though they never diminished in power their direct influence seemed less and less necessary. In time some beasts began to hear the whispers of spirits once more, new wisps of thought which Kërbát had continued to unwittingly let forth. These spirits planted in the beasts’ minds that idea that they might rule themselves and abandon all worship of Kërbát to instead worship the spirits who once again offered power beyond their means. The powers offered would never match the power of the First, but it was tempting enough to turn many of the beasts, though not enough to challenge the numbers of the Children.

Then the spirits motivated the beasts they had turned in secret to befriend the Servants and work subtly to turn them as well. It took several generations but eventually the hearts of the Servants were swayed. The prospect of ruling on their own proved too tempting. The Servants could change their physical forms thanks to the clay of their bodies and when the beasts had readied their forces the servants changed into monstrous and powerful forms. Many Servants did remain loyal, however, and gave their own lives defending the retreat of the Children.

The slaughter of the Children was merciless. Though huge numbers fell back to the grand cities of the First still many lived too far from reach and were lost. The First could have easily retaliated and destroyed the beasts, but their own Children were too populous. Had the Children not been present the First would have unleashed their full power upon the beasts, but love of their Children kept them from their full might, for their power would destroy the Children as well.

Before the slaughter reached its apex the First cried out to Kërbát, their progenitor and protector, to save their Children before they were wiped out. Kërbát heard them and answered with quick action. It made the First into pure energy to charge the lands with power and expel the beasts from the strongholds where the Children hid. In many areas it was too late and the names of the First are lost. Yet the Children still lived in many more placed than could yet be saved, and though the First were no more their strength lived on in the surviving Children and their presence could still be felt in many parts of the land. The beasts were driven out to the far corner away from the Children and their strongholds. The Servants, for their heinous betrayal, were punished by Kërbát directly. Their bodies were taken from them and they were cursed to be as the spirits were, unable to act on the world, trapped in seeing but with no power of doing and no escape, not even through death.

Yet the punishment of the Servants also affected the Children. With the First, their parents, gone and direct communication with Kërbát cut off the Children could do little else but live as beasts. Their strongholds that once gave them refuge from the hordes crumbled in the absence of the Servants’ hands and the Children’s thoughts. As the ages once again passed, the progeny of the beasts filtered back into the lands their ancestors had been driven from, though they were now docile in the worship of their false gods. And with the passage of those long ages the servants began to feel the extent of the pain they could tolerate. They cried out to Tál, their father, to take pity on them and end their suffering, if not through the return of their bodies then through death. Tál heard his children and would have given what they asked if Kërbát had not been the one who had taken it; for Tál could not undo what Kërbát had willed. So Tál beseeched Kërbát to return the Servants to the physical world, promising that he would limit their power so they could never turn against the Children again.

Kërbát saw the use the Servants might yet have and had seen that the suffering they had endured had been enough. They would learn their lesson well or they would be destroyed. Kërbát returned to them their bodies but limited their ability to change form to only creatures of similar size to their own natural forms. Additionally, Tál cautioned them not to change their forms lightly, only under threat of death of to protect another from danger. And the change itself now was much more painful than it had been before their punishment, when their forms could be changed with ease and barely a thought.

With their bodies restored the Servants sought out the Children and returned to their service. Kërbát told Its children to take the Servants back in visions and dreams, carefully did Kërbát implant these lest the Children be destroyed by the radiance of Its mind. With the two together again they sought to restore the Old Empire of the First. The Children who had found the Servants again set out across the Old Empire and returned the Servants to the Children who were still alone. Slowly new cities were built, though they never again would have the luster and might of the Old Empire. And to further keep the Servants and Children of a single mind Tál, by Kërbát’s will, began to move the earth with less care and gentleness, so that they would never grow as complacent as they once did in the Light of the First.

It was once the Children had restored much of their lost power that Kërbát came to them again in visions. They were now instructed to reclaim the world slowly, cautiously, and reintroduce the beasts to the power of Kërbát. Whether through conversion or death, it no longer mattered to Kërbát whether the beasts gave their hearts forever to It so long as the Children and Servants did not repeat the errors of the past. The Children began this venture, but it was slow work with much resistance. The beasts had worshiped their false gods for so long that they believed those gods had always been with them and would not lightly give them up.