Challenge 116: Mythology: The Cycle of Arawn
So often in fiction we have an angry god tormenting the land, usually the malevolent god of death wishing to cleanse the world of all life. In Edward W Robertson’s Cycle of Arawn the mythology of the realm takes a very different turn. Arawn is the god of death, and is banned from being worshipped by many sects of the Realm, for his worshippers are blessed with his gift, the magic of the nether. The nether is the magic of life and death itself, the magic of chaos but also of growth and change. Instead of wanting all his followers to die early deaths the God of Death waits patiently for all those who take breath. He has no care for how you live, for you are meant to explore life, and when the time comes, you will join him on his starry hill for eternity. He is glad you are free of strife and pain, but sad that you had to leave the physical behind. He is a god of great patience and of great burden.
In the mythology of the creation Arawn had a great mill that ground out the magic of order, the Ether, which rejuvenated and preserved everything perfect and pristine. It was a controlled world, an orderly and simple world. One day the gods conspired from Arawn and stole his mill, dropping from the heavens and cracking it upon the earth. Arawn repaired his mill and when he set to his task, found it ground only nether, causing the world to change, men to be born, and then to die. He in one motion created the spark of life that caused the torrent of change, and also the concept of death. As an exchange he created the starry hill where all those who lived could find rest at his side, watching the world continue to grow and change.
-Marc the Third
