Heol-Bri Cycle

The Heol-Bri Cycle (from Cribic 'Eye of Bri') is a collection of Gladden  mythological works that concern themselves with the Heol-Bri, a supposed form of magic, though there is no known scientific basis for these stories.
The fact that these scriptures are listed as a cycle and hint towards the technological progression of mankind has lead many to believe that we will once again gain these powers in the future, when humans have become wise and mature enough to handle them.

Scripture

The myth is registered in the Royal Library under the codes GladM24 and GladM25.
The primary version of the first story registered there concerns itself with the rise of humanity and the creation of the Heol-Bri, and reads as follows:
Click to read the translated text

In the days when the Gods had but made man and woman newly, and humankind roamed still a small part of the ground, Beth, for she was motherly, viewed them with delight, for they were the most intelligent of creatures and reminded her of Bri.
She beckoned to Bri, and told him of this, and that she wanted to express this to their creatures.
Bri understood Beth, for he was empathetic, and suggested they make a gift to humankind, since humankind gifted them, for he was intelligent.
Beth was entered by the realm of Bri, and she decided she would give them a way to make use of her world, namely that of the ground and the sea and the sky, and they would shape it as she did, for she was practical.
Bri became overcome with passion and annoyance, for he was emotional and ridiculed himself for it not being his idea.
In these feelings, his wisdom failed him, and he decided to give them a way to make use of his world, namely that of all which cannot be seen, and his gift was greater then hers, for it was more powerful.
Beth did not mind, for she was calm, and together they inspired humankind with these gifts, namely the hair, the feet and the hands of Beth and the Eye of Bri.
The humans graciously accepted this gift, and thanked the Gods, and made use of them.
With the hair of Beth they wove new materials that had never existed before, with her feet they shifted the ground and the sea and with her hands they shaped the world according to their will.
But with the eye of Bri they could do all this and more, making the plants grow ever faster and stronger, making the water cold or hot, making the sky itself dim and shine at their will and many other great things.
And all was well, and all was good, and humankind spread and prospered for many times to come, and it was the First Age of Wonders.

The story continues with a telling of the loss of the Heol-Bri:
Click to read the translated text

In the days when man and woman lived in palaces of their own, and they had nothing of want, there a new facet of the realm of Bri began to emerge among humankind, and it was to bring much sadness to the world.
It came that Bri was visiting the combined and present world, and during his visit he saw what good humankind had done with this tool.
But Bri was not careful, and began to wonder whether it was certain that it was all good, for they had become dependent on his Eye, and not all could understand it.
But this thought brought a curse upon the world, for he had created Greed in his mind's Eye, and thus created it in the world.
The most open through intelligence but least protected through wisdom of the people of knowledge, the people who understood the Eye of Bri, became filled with this Greed, and understood they could use the Eye to satisfy their greed.
And so they would cause harm among humankind with the Eye, and many came to fear it.
But not all were filled with this Greed, and tried to stop the others.
But those of Greed were more intelligent, and found new and cruel ways of getting the others out of the way, and thus, piece by piece, humankind was controlled by Greed and Greed alone.
The Gods saw this and were frightened by it, for they did not want Greed to destroy their combined world and tear them asunder, but the Greed did not respond to them.
The world however, with its silent and calm wisdom, did find a way to solve it.
The people of power were so filled with Greed, that they closed themselves away, for fear of the Greed of others being stronger, and the knowledge of the Eye was no longer spread.
Still it was not enough for Greed, and so all the knowledge of it in writing and in drawings was destroyed, and only the Greed understood the Eye.
But what the Eye could not do was prevent the passing of time, and the Greed grew old and died, and such all the knowledge of the Eye was lost.
The Gods became wiser in that time, as did humankind, and though the First Age of Wonders had ended, they knew that humankind would make yet many more to come, though none like the First Age.
The Gods would never gift such power to humankind again, but out of this Age many new things would come, and humankind would use the gifts of Beth and make their own, until one day they may come so far as to be as great as the Gods in the way only a human could.

Summary

The Cycle Begins with a telling of how Beth, the Gladden goddess of the material, became fond of mankind, and decided to gift them with tools to manipulate the material world.
Bri, the god of the immaterial, found that a good idea and decided to gift them with tools to manipulate the immaterial world, known as the Heol-Bri, or Eye of Bri.
Humankind progresses into an age of wonder, and many incredible things are created with this tool, and that is where the first story ends.
The second part of the cycle tells of the discovery of social power in humankind, and how this dependence on these Heol-Bri causes an imbalance of power among mankind.
The powerful, to further increase their power, begin to murder each other and will not teach any new pupils the secrets of this technology, which leads to the extinction of its knowledge.

Historical Basis

Although there are archeological findings of civilisation, they are all of a much more primitive kind.
There is controversy among the scientific community concerning the validity of these texts, some believing it impossible according to our current understanding of the world, others believing that this occurred many millennia ago, and that any ruins of such a civilisation will have largely eroded.
It is however interesting to note that there are cultures that tell of a similar story, though this may simply be due to the spread of the myth and its adoption into other cultures coming from its popularity.

Spread

It is common knowledge among Oads and Bards, though most Oads do of course consider it reality while most Bards consider it fiction.
Due to this, it is a tale known throughout the Tightish Empire, often cited as a reminder that greed can be dangerous and will often lead to harm.
A greedy person may be mentioned 'to have lost Heol', especially if their greed is of a dangerous kind.

Related Ethnicities

• Cribic
• Tightish

Related Organizations

• Circle of Oads