Creation

Before the beginning of all creation, there were two beings in the world. These beings, 'worldmothers', were known as Amyrah and Thyieni. They existed in solace for a long time, but with only each other's company, they grew lonely. So, they decided to create First Daughter, Etharai. Etharai was young and wanted to see the stars, but she was not well-suited for living in space like her worldmothers were. She grew sickly as time progressed, and Amyrah and Thyieni could do nothing but watch as her health slowly deteriorated, and the wonder in her eyes faded. It soon became clear that she was not going to be able to survive, and so the worldmothers encased Etharai in a giant, lifeless, rock to shield her from the space that was harming her. They though they were giving her a burial and creating for her a tomb, but instead, this world that Etharai had come to inhabit changed, and grew, reflecting Etharai's hopeful spirit. She manifested plants, then animals, then people, and Etharai began to thrive.

Historical Basis

There are many possible origins for the Etharyan's creation myth. The most likely one is that when the world underwent an apocalypse centuries ago, methods of record-keeping were no longer available, and stories of what had happened were passed down orally. This then became a story of the world slowly dying and then being nurtured back to life, and eventually morphed into the creation story of today.

Variations & Mutation

There are a few different variations of this story, though some aspects stay the same universally. In every retelling of this story, Etharai is created by two otherworldly beings, begins to die, and is encased in the world and instead thrives. The causes of Etharai's sickness varies greatly between different versions of this story. In some, her parents begin to fight and their negative energy overwhelms her. In others, she is simply lonely and has nowhere to go.

In Literature

Many children's books have told and illustrated this story, as it is very popular among the children of Etharai. For adults, the story is more like a fact of the world - it is widely accepted as the way that the world came about, and any literature talking about early Etharyan history will often reference this creation story.

In Art

There are countless pieces of art depicting the chronicle of Etharai's creation story. Popular imagery referencing the story includes a person curled up in a fetal position surrounded by a circle, or eyes and a joyful smile on a depiction of the planet's surface.

In the name of the worldmothers...

— Common phrase of exasperation

The Worldmothers

The worldmothers make an appearance in every known iteration of this story, despite no historical or modern evidence pointing to their existence. The clue to the origins of this aspect of the story, then, lie in the magic of Etharai. The Etharyan words for their two overarching categories of magic are stikingly similar to the names of the worldmothers - Amyth and Thyic. This seems to point to a belief within the pre-apocalypse culture of Etharai that somehow, these forms of magic were responsible for the dawn of life on the planet.

Gender: The Worldmothers & the Planet

It is notable within the Etharyan tongue that the worldmothers themselves, as well as the planet of Etharai, are all denoted as animate and feminine. This belief makes sense for the planet, as there is something resembling a beating heart at its core. However, the understanding of magic as animate makes less sense. From all known records, the previous civilisations inhabiting Etharai had no such beliefs, and instead thought of magic as a tool or a weapon.