The Lungs of Granthea

In the first times, when Galney forged the Granthea’s land from the fires of its burning heart, the world was a living and breathing being whose life was its heat. And so it was that the great beast that was Granthea began to cool and began to die, leaving its great lungs, frozen. These became the greatest caves of our world, and because the breath of Granthea came through these great caves, every cave open to the surface must have an entry to the great lungs of the world.

As the great beast Granthea drew what was to be its final breath, Mordo breathed a deadly chill into its lungs to try to take its soul for his own. The ice of his breath melted and became the waters of the caves. The freezing skin of the world cracked and heaved, becoming the canyons and mountains of the world. The tears of the great beast flowed deep and became its salty oceans as it struggled against death. But the great beast Granthea’s lungs were frozen solid and it could no longer breathe out. And so the great lungs of the world remained filled with air and water, even as its thousands of throats closed up and shrank and collapsed. Now Galney (who loved the perfection of Granthea), Channa (who loved the life of Granthea), and Nienne (who loved roil of nature) wanted to preserve the heart of the world so that it would not die and would beat life up to the surface. So they made the Dwarves and Gnomes, to carve paths for the world’s pumping blood to flow and reap the riches of its soil. However breath of Mordo brought with it vile parasites which fed off the life and souls of the living, and they came to live in the frozen lungs of the world.

These parasites took many forms, but the most cunning was the Dark Elf, who disguised themselves as living men and women so as to enjoy a hideous parody of mortal life. So as the dwarves arose from the depths, building a great city as they carved upwards, they heard the cries of the deceptive Dark Elf and delved deep to rescue them. Despite their noble intentions, as the Dwarves cracked ope the lungs of the world, and set the evils of Mordo’s breath upon the surface and all the caves of the world.

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Summary

This Dwarven myth is the origin story of Granthea’s caves and underground waters, as well as context for the creation of Dwarves, Gnomes, and Dark Elves. It holds that Granthea was once alive and active but Mordo attacked it with his breath, and unleashed evil creatures and the powers of Necromancy on the planet.

Historical Basis

The myth does chronicle the myths and struggle of the Dwarves early in their existence. The Dark Elves, who also lived deep in the earth, are natural enemies of the Dwarves and many believe the races could indeed have had first contact underground.
However if the story is to be taken seriously, there must be giant caves miles below the ground, caves that could cover insane amounts of territory and hold untold riches. Of course, they would also have monsters and undead trapped inside. Searching for the Lungs of the World is to this day a metaphor that gives a higher purpose to the materialistic digging of Dwarven society. Many Dwarves claim that the purpose of Dwarven Civilization is to keep digging until they can find the Lungs of the World again and put creation right by destroying those evil creatures who live inside.

Variations & Mutation

• Some myths also have Wodin making volcanoes as part of the events that led to the Dwarves’ rising.
• Some myths say that the Dwarves entered “the lungs of the world” and took the fight to the Dark Elves and evil creatures back down into their home, blowing the chambers and filling them with magma. 

Date of Setting

Before 6000 years PE