Tinels Myth

Making of the Keys

Tinel the Great has always held that

in exploring the

mind, the mortal spirit can be uplifted to great heights. He

believes that the individual is capable of wonders unachievable

by the many, and encourages his worshipers to explore

learning, science, and the study of magic over all else. Twice

in the history of the mortal races has this doctrine shown its

limitations, and twice has All-Knowing, All-Seeing Tinel

determined the best way to mend the damage done.

So long ago that it is recorded by few and remembered by

fewer, there came to be a council of fourteen wizards. These

men and women of tremendous power determined that all

knowledge had been laid bare before them and that there was

no crevice, no niche into which they had yet to peer—but

one. No living mortal had ever journeyed to Heaven for

the express purpose of learning its secrets. Certainly, some of

the faithful had been called before the throne of one god or

another, and returned in a babbling religious rapture, but the

wizards were people of knowledge, not faith, and were determined to make maps, surveys, and a full exploratory journal

of Heaven.

Mustering the length and breadth of their skill, knowledge,

and power, the mortals opened a series of portals, powerful

and terrible, and through their thresholds lay the kingdom of

Heaven. When the fourteen stepped into the holy home of the

gods, the Lords of Heaven were outraged. Shalimyr moved to

smite them for their pride, and few were prepared to gainsay

him, but Imperious Tinel spoke: “Hold thy hand, Sea Father,

for these are my folk, and they are precious to me. I have told

them to seek knowledge, and they have come seeking the greatest

knowledge: the faces of their gods.” For indeed, Tinel was overcome with the pride of a father for his children.

So it was that Magnificent Tinel came before these fourteen

in the very halls of Heaven and showed them his glory. His face

glowed with the light of one thousand fires. Each strand of his

hair was a burning river of gold. In his hands power coiled,

and on his brow shone the wisdom of all the ages. “Behold!” he

declared to the fourteen, “Ye have come of my bidding, and I

allow ye to walk in my halls, for I am Tinel, the Lord of Secrets!”

But the fourteen spoke among themselves and did not

respond to him. And Tinel saw then that they made notes and

drawings, and did not fall to their faces as he had expected.

In their pride, many of the mortals turned their backs and

walked from the presence of Tinel the Whisperer; these began

to map the vaulted halls of Heaven. When Tinel ordered the

celestials of his hall to gather these mortals together before his

majestic presence once more so that he might explain to them

their relative unimportance in Heaven, the celestials moved

to do so. But these mortals were as powerful as they were

arrogant, and working terrible magic they chained the celes

-

tials to the ground.

“How dare ye strike my anointed?” Tinel the Great bellowed, but the mortals ignored him and continued their

exploration. When he took one into hand, a wizard called

Mariliya the Red, and demanded an explanation for their

impudence, the enchantress noted in her book: “It is capable of

emotional response, raising its voice to demonstrate rage.”Chapter IV: The Gods of the Tree

77

It was then clear to Tinel that the unfettered quest for

knowledge hid the potential for his destruction within it. For

these wizards were so pleased with themselves and their conquest of all laws—natural, magical, and spiritual—that they

saw Magnificent Tinel and the other gods as mere creatures:

like ducks, men or fiery giants. Should they convince the rest of

the mortal world that this falsehood was true, it might become

so, for lies become true when the whole world believes them.

Such sorcerous power might defeat gods weakened by a faithless world. “I will not abide this,” the Lord of Secrets declared,

and prepared to expel these mortals from Heaven, for there

was still a father’s pride in him and he would not see them

destroyed utterly.

The mortals had prepared for this eventuality, however, and

with a shouted warning from Mariliya, they congregated in

the winking of an eye. Together they worked grim spells and

cast up mighty wards against Tinel, for their plan had been to

lay low one of the Lords of Heaven to bring back to their tower

and study. They intended to capture Anwyn, whom it was said

was weakest of the gods, but they were confident in their abilities and believed they could hold Tinel at bay.

And Tinel looked at these wards with confusion, for though

he is All-Knowing and All-Seeing, Lord of Secrets, and

possesses many other names of might, it is possible for him

to be surprised from time to time, and he could not discern

what these mortals intended. They had prepared this assault

in secret, weaving great spells to keep the Lords of Heaven

from observing their work, and believed they would prevail. Seeing the Heavenly Archmage so amazed, the fourteen

pressed their advantage and brought forth their mighty

staves. Crafted in solitude over long years with the most

powerful runes ever etched by mortal hands, forged in fires

of pure magic and cooled in the blood of titans, each was, in

its own right, one of the greatest wizards’ staves ever made.

Together they shaped awesome power, and their light was

seen in Heaven, on earth, and even in Hell, as they attacked

Tinel the Great.

It was not until the magic from their mighty wizard’s lances

crashed down upon him that Tinel at last understood what it

was that these mortals meant to do. In that terrible moment,

he reckoned the fullness of their plan, though he still could not

believe it. For one terrible moment, the mortals believed they

had conquered a god. For one terrible moment, the hosts of

Hell cheered at the light they believed signaled the downfall of

Heaven, whose hosts quailed.

But it was only a moment. With the wave of the Heavenly

Archmage’s great hand, the fourteen staves were sundered.

With one utterance that sounded like one word but also every

word ever spoken by mortal tongues, the wizards were reduced

to ash, and their spirits were caught in his palm. He placed

them in a jewel, and this jewel he placed on his brow, so that

for all eternity they could observe what he observed, and know

they were fools. However, their folly stayed with him in more

than the jewel, for he had seen that mortals might believe

themselves his equal. It did not sit well with him. Since that

time many mortals have called him aloof, for he has never

again shown a father’s pride in their seeking of secrets. It is

whispered in dark places that one of the demons of the Abyss

now shows that pride in Tinel’s place, encouraging mortals to

seek out forbidden knowledge. This wicked prince of the Abyss,

called Astaroth by his followers, has thus won many weak

hearts from Heaven.

Having seen that the quest for knowledge must lead all mortals powerful enough to walk the planes to seek out Heaven,

Tinel grew grave and despondent. First, with a wave of his

mighty hand, he stripped magic from the mortal races. For

some years, there was no arcane magic to be worked by even the

mightiest wizard. That done, the Heavenly Archmage called

upon his nephew, Korak. Together, Tinel and the King of the

Crucible forged the locks of Heaven and their countless keys.

These locks they scattered about the great sphere in a pattern,

powerful in its weaving, known only to Tinel of the Countless

Locks. No one who is not summoned by the gods may enter

Heaven without coming to one of the locks and presenting unto

it one of the true keys. And should one open one of these locks

and seek entrance into the holy realm, he would encounter Uriel

the Archangel, guardian of Heaven. Tinel is the Keeper of the

Keys, and he has not once surrendered them to any mortal;

none but those summoned have come to Heaven since the forging of the locks and keys.

From that day forward, the realm of the gods was locked

away from uninvited mortals, even those powerful enough to

walk the planes. It is said to this very day that any mortal who

believes his knowledge makes him equal to the gods is visited by

Tinel the Whisperer, and the Lord of Secrets speaks to the proud

fool, warning him from the path he walks. Should the mortal

persist in his beliefs, he is placed in the jewel on Tinel’s brow,

and heard from nevermore.

The Name Unspeakable

The Making of the Keys is the tale of the first of two times that Tinel of the Countless Locks had to intercede against a mortal quest for knowledge. Of the second, little is known and less is said. There came a time a people arose who sought to piece together the name of the Nameless One, utter it, and end all things. How much of the name they gathered is not known, or if it is, those who know will not say. Yet, it is known that Tinel the Great, Keeper of the Keys of Heaven, discovered their plan with the aid of his mortal servants. Descending upon this unholy cadre, the Heavenly Archmage destroyed them utterly and made this declaration: “This is the greatest crime any may commit, and the torment they shall know for eternity will be shared by any who would follow.” So it is that little is spoken of this, for to even ponder this thing is to flirt with pain and torture unending.