Born from a Lotus

A Fahneska Cosmogony Myth

Lost in the valleys and hills of the Island of Kadara is a sacred place, a fresh spring from which life flows into the world. At the top rests a pond, where thousands of lotus flowers colour it pink and blue. They open for the sun, and sleep under the stars. It is from there that Argan created the world for us, and where ze made us and placed us across hir work.

At first, there was nothing but the primordial ocean, its still waters floating in the inky darkness of the world. From the waters emerged the first island, and at its heart laid a pond, a blooming lotus in its centre. Hidden within the petals lies Argan, asleep. Ze wakes for the first time, ze is the first to live and will be the last to die. The world around hir is empty, safe the ocean and the island, and as ze opens hir eyes for the first time the sky lights with stars so ze may see.

Argan stepped out of the lotus and into the pond, and life bloomed into creation. Plants grew behind hir every step, and soon the island was covered in lush trees, grass and flowers. As ze walked, ze made animals from clay and breathed life into them. But Argan grew cold, and so ze made a fire from the trees around. It grew and grew, and Argan placed it in the sky, and that is how the sun came to be.

Ze kept walking through hir domain, creating as ze went, and soon Argan grew tired. But ze could not sleep, for the light of the sun was too strong. So ze created the Moons, and told the Sun when it had to leave the sky to them. That is how the eternal cycle of day and night came to be.

The following morning, Argan reached the end of hir domain. Proud of hir work, ze wished for someone to admire it, and so ze made our ancestors. Ze taught them our ancestral ways, and how to live in communion with nature. They worshipped hir as a god, and for centuries ze ruled over them, mighty and fair.

Nights followed days, days followed nights, and as time passed Argan grew bored of hir routine. Ze wished to create once more. Argan gathered hir followers, and announced hir departure. They begged for hir to stay, but to calm their minds ze told them this:

"A time will come when the world will crumble back to obscurity. If you have not forgotten me, I will return to you. If in my absence you worshipped me well, and stayed true to our ways, I will save you from annihilation. I am your parent, your sibling, your child, I live in the memories of each and every one of you."

Then, Argan stepped into the sea, and left to create new places. Only ze knows how far ze travelled, but we stay true to hir words. We shall remember hir words, and wait for the day of Coming.

— Translated from the tale of a Keeper of Stories

by Ohara Koson

Analysis of the Myth

This story is a retelling of the Fahneska creation myth, chronicled by a Danatelian historian. A wide array of variations exist, as the Fahneska have a long history of oral transmission, but this particular telling seems to capture all the core elements of the myth itself.

Chosen People

Because the ancestors of the Fahneska were the first humans created according to the myth, and because they live on the very island on which their god was born, they consider themselves hir chosen people, and put great effort into respecting the ways ze taught them.