The Creation
The creation of the world, the old gods, the geshtai, and the nine tahminen.
In the beginning, there was nothingness. The spirits were formless in the void and all was chaos. Eons passed. In time, the spirits of the many stars began to sing themselves into being, creating islands of light in the darkness. Eons passed. The stars decided to have children, birthing planets, comets, and moons, each with a spirit of its own. Eons passed. In time the planet Ancathra was born from its mother star, and bore in her turn three children -- the moons Hinshira, Tiwaz, and ringed Matija.
Matija was the most beautiful and the most powerful moon, the largest and the only one with rings. One day, Matija said to her sister-moons, “We should have children of our own, like Ancathra before us, and the stars before that.” So the sisters looked down on Ancathra, and seeing the land, the sea, and the sky, chose to divide the world between them. Hinshira chose the air, and gave birth to all that flies, all the birds and the insects and flying beasts. Tiwaz chose the sea, and she gave birth to all that lives beneath the waters, all the rivers and streams, all the lakes and oceans of the world were the domain of her children. Matija, the oldest and most powerful, chose the land, giving birth to all that walks or crawls or burrows, whether on the surface or underground. And so life began on Ancathra.
The sister-moons then called out to the void and the chaos, inviting divine spirits without form to join them. Spirits great and small responded, inhabiting the earth, the seas, and the skies. The greatest among these were the Old Gods, protecting and guiding the life that the sister-moons had given birth to. Lesser spirits became geshtai, gods of small things - of groves, streams, trees, streets, and cities.
The Old Gods, who were more numerous then, gathered together and decided to create protectors of Ancathra who would live among the mortal races. They created nine immortals called the taminasa to help them guide and protect the life of the world. Each tamina is different in form and temperament from the others, and many have never made themselves known.
One of the taminasa was Harrukan the Brave, immortal king of the yesreni giants, who was destroyed defending the continent of Jehaan from the dragons’ first invasion two hundred thousand years ago. Another tamina was Balador the Just, a half-bear druid. Tamina Balador served as guardian and advisor to the ausrani for thousands of years after they had won their freedom from the dragons fifteen thousand years ago. Falsely accused of treason by elven supremacists when the caisheni first appeared in the world, he was turned to stone seven thousand years ago at the Massacre of the Crossroads. His worn statue of a form is still there, marking his own grave. The magic that turned him to stone has been lost, and all attempts to reverse it have failed.
Two taminen are known from legends: Tamina Nereal the Mad is a beautiful, blonde, green eyed gnome seer who lives in a cavern deep in the Carentan Forest, refusing all visitors. Tamina Bhaarun is an earth elemental who can be found in the Underdark, never visiting the surface.
The other five taminen are unknown.
Comments