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. . . | The Entreaty | . . .
. . . Beloved youth of Memoria; open your ears, that your eyes might begin to see, and your souls find the truth revealed to you. Hear well - but also listen, to this, the Legend of Creation. For this blessing and curse of Memoria was born long before any keen mortal eye gazed upon its rugged land, any sharp mortal hoof bent a blade of its prarie grass, or the thirsty fangs of any mortal wolf drew blood from the flesh of his brother.
. . . | The Beginning | . . .
. . . At the dawn of Memoria, before time knew the extent of its own power, there were only the Father and Mother of all - Aatu the Hearer and Kata the Seer - roaming the surface of this world: the realm of perfection they had created for themselves. The Spirits were of contrast and distinction; incomplete on their own, but together, completely whole in their unity.
. . . Together they fashioned a celestial globe; timeless and eternal, without death or change. Glistening seas of water, grass, and trees adorned the blue-green sphere, and it was wonderful. They relished in the home they had divined for themselves: the gleaming brilliance of the Great Loch, majestic heights of the Archaine, all the lush forests and vast plains. And yet, for all the beauty and balance achieved by their creation, and for all the completeness Aatu and Kata enjoyed as one - it was lacking something. And as is the nature of desire, they craved more.
. . . | The Birth of Twins | . . .
. . . In celebration of their newly created world, Aatu the Glorious Father and Kata the Magnificent Mother were mated. The empty glow of the unadorned sky blazed in heavenly confusion as Kata gave birth to twins: the incarnation of the great Spirits' union.
. . . As the first was born, the previously empty sky suddenly glowed with the light of a brilliant golden sun. The tawny male breathed his first air and cried out, breathing divine strength into the four winds. He was gifted with half the senses of his parents: he was blessed with the right Eye of Kata, and the right Ear of Aatu, his father. From his regal head sprouted golden horns in the form of his mother's. Proud Aatu decreed, "His name shall be Eurig; for he is the golden mantle of the heavens, and the champion of strength."
. . . The second came into the world with her fangs sunk deep into the ankle of Eurig. As her first breath was silently drawn, the sky darkened with ethereal mist, and a gleaming sphere shot back silvery light, competing with stars that glittered in the new blackness. She was gifted with half the senses of her parents: she was blessed with the left Ear of Aatu, and the left Eye of Kata, her mother. From her spine sprouted five flexible spines in the form of her father's. Proud Kata decreed, "Her name shall be Aeronwen; for she is the shadowed veil of light, and the warrior of passion."
. . . | Stalemate | . . .
. . . For countless revolutions of the Spirits' world, the four Great Spirits ruled this land. The quarreling Twins, forever at odds, competed; passion against determination, strength against philosophy. Day relented to night, and night to day, in endless cycles with perfect rhythm - for the two were equally matched. And yet, though they acted as enemies, a deep force bound Eurig and Aeronwen together. At the core of it, neither truly wished the other to be defeated. And so their empty quarrels continued. The Sun, Moon, and Stars endured in their opposing dances across time and space; for the Spirits keep secrets, and the Twins did not yet know the true nature of their conflicted unity.
. . . But not all secrets stay so for long, and desire would ensnare the hearts of the Spirits again.
. . . Aatu, the eyeless, dark-pelted lover of sound and silence turned to his ivory mate and spoke rare, deep-throated words: "This world is silent death. The green cries out to me in lament, saying; 'we live without purpose.' Even the stones bemoan, 'we lie untrodden and untouched by movement.' Kata, this globe has nothing to remember. It is lifeless. It knows only endless days and nights. Beginnings, and no ends."
. . . The spiraling horns of Kata shone in the empty light of the lifeless sun as she turned her great head and unblinking eyes to the sky. The ear-less lady saw her world. "The waters dance, and the grasses bend only to the wind. All is in constant motion, perpetual cycle; this celestial ball of our creation knows no change. Aatu, our world is constant, with nothing to remember. It knows only days and nights. Beginnings, and no ends. It is perfect."
. . . The Great Judge lifted his vicious muzzle. "For Spirits eternal, perhaps," the black brute nodded. "But Time's course is not ours to govern. We are beginning and end, inhabiting all; for us, there is no center. And it - we cannot create."
. . . Kata, the seer of all she wishes to see, spoke again in distaste: "Day and Night together, may create this beast you call Time, and only then - and they are powerlessly ignorant to it. Would you have us create life - a broken servant to pitiless Time - only for it to end in bitterness and failure? No!" The goddess' paws clutched tightly the glow of life. "I will not surrender life to the fickle whims of the monster, Time." Furious and adamant, Kata turned to the Great Loch. "From the living waters of the Loch, we may call forth more eternal lives. Let no beastly Time efface what we here perfect."
. . . | Kata Defied | . . .
. . . Aatu, wise and past weary of words, relented to the fury of his mate - but he knew more than she had let her eyes, blinded by desire, see - for hiding in the shadows of the forest, Aeronwen the cunning lay listening. "My bride, it will be as you say. Let us retire, as this Day dies and Night rises to meet in the middle. By the earliest light of Eurig's next dawn, new eternal Spirits will be born."
. . . Aeronwen had been slipped the very key to Time. Invisible to the clouded eyes of Kata, the Night Spirit flew with the silence of mist to her brother's stronghold of the Archaine.
. . . In the waning light of early evening, Eurig lay proudly; basking in the gold of the light of his Sun, when Aeronwen came, the mists of night creeping behind her - a full moon climbing slowly into the darkening sky. The brother growled deep in his chest, but his time for day was beginning to diminish, and the sister's power of night beginning to grow. "Sister, I have more sky yet."
. . . Wise Aeronwen, quiet in the present weakness of her night, approached her brother with supplication. "Brother, we are not yet evenly matched. Your dominion is yours still. But it could be greater."
. . . Eurig, whose wit is bested by his strength, rose to face his Twin. "Speak plain, puzzler," the Spirit of Day demanded. "My strength is matched only by Aatu. What do you suggest?"
. . . "Guileless brother," said the sister, "Even your light could not reveal the secrets and lies that have been veiled by our Spirit patrons." Aeronwen crossed to her brother's side, confident in the knowledge she had been given. "We have fought endlessly, with no decided victor. And yet we have power over even the greatness of Aatu and Kata."
. . . Intrigued, Eurig stared at his sister through his one great eye, bowing his horns her direction. "What is this you say? What have we, warring, over the unity of them?"
. . . "This world of Spirits is constant, my brilliant brother," Aeronwen said. "But there is a power Father named as 'Time,' that neither Beginning nor End can touch - and only Day and Night together can create." The sister Twin brushed the muzzle of the brother, night growing in the eastern sky. "Aatu revealed the truth in secret, beneath the eyes and deaf ears of Kata," Aeronwen whispered tenderly in the only ear of Eurig. "Day and Night are each half of Time; as we are, both of us, half of a whole. Both need only submit to each other, in the center of their power."
. . . | The Birth of Time | . . .
. . . The Sun's light diminished further, the great ball dipping nearly halfway beneath the horizon. Eurig's strength was waning, as Aeronwen's was beginning to grow. Curious desire grew deep in their bellies. At the precise moment that Day truly began its death, and Night began its rise - when both Sun and Moon hung precariously, the scales perfectly in balance - Day and Night each yielded to the power of the other in equal portion. The world was lost in violent confusion, no longer certain which light held dominion over the skies.
. . . And so the Spirit of Time was born in secret; the son of siblings. Born of passion and strength, body and soul, yielded each to the other. The undecided sky blazed with brilliance, then fell into darkness. Day relinquished his forcefulness, driven away by the intensifying power of Night. Eurig, the Father of Time, retreated in surprise, cowering beneath the snarl of Aeronwen, the Mother - and so must all fathers flee from she, the mother of their children. The small Spirit of Time shuddered beneath the breast of his mother, guarding over him through the course of her night. Time was hers, for now; and soon, he would mature - and could be owned no longer.
. . . | Time's Destiny | . . .
. . . Time loved the strange beauty of his mother; and as he looked beyond the horizon - as only Time itself can - he loved the dedicated strength of his father. Time wandered in his mind, observing all that was, is, and could be; inhabiting one space, but all events past and future. He discovered himself. Became his own master. In that moment of realization, he left Aeronwen's side with a laugh and wild smile.
. . . Aeronwen the Perceptive called after her offspring, knowing him too well - but not well enough yet. "Time, my son - where do you go to? What power is it you know?"
. . . "You knew it, know it - will know it - Mother," the diminutive, black-furred wolf cried back, his grin wide. "In the name of Grandmother Kata, I did give, do give - will give - life a place to begin. In the name of my Father, Eurig, I will lend strength to the brave and the honorable. And in your name, my Mother Aeronwen, I will make minds grow strong and souls passionate. And I will make all precious, and give all meaning - for in the name of Grandfather Aatu the righteous judge, all things did have, do have - will have - an end." The pup called Time, who in his mind was already aged beyond all, swung his tail and tossed his head. "Curse me, scorn me, hate me, despise me - but I am blessed, desired, loved, and worshiped. I did make, do make - will make - change."
. . . | The Moon's Benediction | . . .
. . . The child of Night and Day fled, strange history - and plans - urging him. Aeronwen did not give chase, as she looked to the brightening horizon, where Eurig's Sun was already beginning its slow approach. Instead the Spirit of Night, of Stars and Moon, of Philosophy and Perception - the veiled one-eyed goddess gazed deep into the forest, and whispered into its emptiness: "Go, eternal flesh of mine; that no Spirit but you alone may know what is to come. The eternal present shall remain the abode of the Spirits. The future was, is, and forever shall be for Time alone. The past best becomes the living yet to be. Go, in the blessing of your sibling parents."
. . . But the Spirit of Night knew all too well that no great usurpation, no great change or divine alteration could be performed without consequence; regardless of Aatu's desire. Wise Aeronwen cried out in a mighty howl of lament, intermingled with pride. "Gaagii, my dark son of Time - Wisdom and Strength! My son, born to be a living sacrifice! I will remember you, when all others have forgotten your gifts, and remember only what you have stolen!"
. . . | The Sun's Blessing | . . .
. . . The Son of Siblings heard his mother's cry and felt her tears, even as his flight brought him to his father's paws. He stared into the grand face of Eurig, his nightly diminished strength already beginning to return. "Father - Aatu will call, calls - has called - my name Time; by Mother's blessing, I am Gaagii. I have vowed, will vow - do vow - to bring change to this creation of the Blind and Deaf. To make trivial and make precious, build strength and weaken, by ending."
. . . Eurig regarded his son carefully. "Though I will be remembered for my strength and not my wit, Gaagii - blood of my blood; there is a wisdom in strength and loyalty that no words of the Night can capture, though she may feel them. Where she would have meaning, I would have strength in the sinews and hearts of the living - and this you have also promised, strange creature called Time. Go, and do as you intend." Eurig growled deep in his throat, an affirming snarl that grew into a howl as Gaagii turned away. "May all regard you as terrible, my son - fear your power, and revere you. My son - born to be outcast! I will remember you, when all others have forgotten your strength, and remember only your tyranny!"
. . . | The Calling of Spirits | . . .
. . . The light of Eurig's dawn crept up the sky, and beckoned Aatu and Kata to the banks of the Great Loch, where destiny had promised them both. The antipodal pair turned their faces toward the lapping waters. Aatu and Kata: the Hearer and Seer - Blind and Deaf. The first, with knowledge and a prayer on his heart; the latter, with unwitting ignorance and pride on her mind.
. . . The Twins, Sun and Moon, gathered to their patrons' sides: Father with daughter, Mother with son. The siblings dipped their heads in reverence to the greater Spirits - and in knowing apprehension to each other.
. . . "Let us create, do as we were destined" - unexpectedly fateful words, the goddess spoke. The brilliant Spirit of Life, the Giver of greatness - fate, and destiny - Kata eagerly stepped forward and whispered wolfsong over the rippling surface of the Loch. Each of the three remaining Spirits joined the low chorus in turn, until the sound rose like a symphony over the emptiness of the lifeless globe - rising and falling in incomprehensible cacophony.
. . . The first Guardian to rise from those glistening tides was Bidziil: a hulking creature of strength and force - a great, dark bison with horns of ivory, and stars in his thick ruff. Kata cried out as he bucked in the waves of the Loch, "He shall be a beast of the plains, a Guardian of strength worthy of the might of this realm."
. . . The second cut through the waves like claws, a Guardian clothed in white: Chuchip. Its hooves cut through the water as it pranced in an elegant circle, and tossed its great rack of antlers. Aatu gazed upon the strange creature, and decreed: "For the nobility and pride of the deer, a Guardian worthy of serving and strengthening this world."
. . . The third Guardian burst out of the Loch with brute force and violence, roaring and bellowing like a wounded, enraged beast. Karuk the bear slapped the Loch with massive paws, and his voice startled the snowy Kata, who flinched and looked to her mate in confusion. Eurig straightened and said of the Guardian he had sung from the Loch: "He shall bar the way."
. . . The fourth Guardian made its presence known before Kata could react. The unholy scream that broke through the waves sent a wave of unexpected fear through the Spirits. The tawny-pelted lion thrashed its way to the surface, screaming with every spiteful, infuriated stroke. Aeronwen, it's creator, turned to the Mother solemnly. "For the lie, and the forbidden - Nahuel shall lie, lead them astray, and destroy."
. . . | Time's Intervention | . . .
. . . The wrath of Kata boiled in her veins at the strange treachery of her offspring. "What is this you create - stumbling block and destroyer? What right have you to defile this world so? What gain is there in eternal struggle, immortal against immortal? Speak, traitors!"
. . . "They did not, do not - will not - war against you, Grandmother. Lives will call to them with far more enticing a song." Gaagii, the grinning master of Time, stood in the shallows of the Loch. Past, future, and present all in his entire view, the diminutive Spirit challenged the fury of Kata. "I came - come - for the Life you hold so covetously in your claws; to give it strength in the light of its Day, and meaning in the darkness of its Night. I was, will be - am - he whom Aatu once called Time, and my Mother named Gaagii."
. . . In rage, Kata clutched Life all the tighter in her carrying paws. Then with a snarl of rage charged for the small body of Gaagii - her great, pointed horns bowed toward him. A great tumult arose - the cries of the Guardians clamoring for the shore, the howl of Aatu detesting the clash, the fury of Eurig and scream of Aeronwen as the Sibling Parents dashed to the aid of their offspring. But dark little Gaagii stood, unwavering. Kata swept with her horns, skewering the Spirit of Time through the neck.
. . . The ensuing fray disguised the events Gaagii would see, sees - had seen. Precious Life was knocked from the grip of Kata's blood and water-soaked paws and fell into the Loch. Gaagii's spray of red caught each Guardian. To Bidziil and Chuchip were given thick lifelines on their flanks, necks and shoulders: from the stretched corners of their gaping mouths to their muscled rumps, they were marked. To Kuruk and Nahuel were given the painted marks of claws on their faces, and the promise of scars for scars given.
. . . Kata cried out in panic at the loss of Life from her desperate claws - but the Loch had swallowed it.
. . . | Distilled Tears | . . .
. . . Aeronwen and Eurig, Sibling Parents of Time, rushed to their son, whose body lay motionless in the water. But this too, had Gaagii seen. Even as the grieving tears of the parents, stunned tears of Kata, and pure tears of Aatu fell to the Loch, the tiny Spirit had seen it. Life coursed through the Loch, and returned the strength and passion to Gaagii's veins. The pup rose from his wet and bloody bed of sodden sand.
. . . "Life will be, is - was - your gift to give, Grandmother Kata; you would have squandered it on eternity for yourself. You now will give it to the living; protecting it in them. Though you may bless or curse it, you will be powerless to steal it - though you may try," Gaagii proclaimed, standing between his stunned parents. The four Guardians fled the waters of the Loch, which began to teem with life - broiling and churning with light and darkness intermingled. Time turned to his father: "My Father Eurig, you will give, gave - are giving - the gift of strength and loyalty to the living. It will grow and wane, in some greater than others." Facing his veiled mother, Gaagii said: "My Mother Aeronwen, you will give, gave - are giving - the gift of intuition and passion to the living. It will blossom and wilt, in some more than others." And to Aatu the Judge, Gaagii cried out over the waves: "My Grandfather Aatu, you gave, are giving - will give - the gift of an end, of repose, to the living. Yours is a gift of solace. To you, the just, I entrust the Dead; because for you they will live, and toward you they will all blindly run. You will be the guardian of the Endworlds - of Havilah and Erebos."
. . . In a blaze of sound and motion, mortal beasts burst from the shores of the Great Loch, leaping and dashing for the forests and the plains - scattering to the four winds as the dawning sun blazed on the horizon a brilliant red. Deer, bison, rams, elk, moose, and all manner of hoofed creatures of prey; mice, rabbits, lemmings, squirrels, and all manner of rodents; hawks, eagles, owls, bats, ravens, crows, and all manner of flying beasts; snakes, lizards, frogs, and all manner of smooth and scaly-skinned creatures; mighty bears and snarling cougars alike rushed from the waves.
. . . "And from your honest tears, the essences of your eternal spirits, I will, am - have - distilled creatures in our image. They will call themselves 'Wolf,' and this, their home, 'Memoria' - for it is the memory of what is past that will shape who they will become."
. . . | Time is Cursed | . . .
. . . "Cursed are you, the traitor who would have Life end, and make all things temporal!" Kata roared, her horn still dripping with his dark blood. "For what you have done you will be marked for all eternity, trapped in feeble form. My the children of the Wolves - this choicest creation - grow in ignorance of your treachery, and the elderly curse your name and vile thievery! You are cast out from among we Spirits, we Unforgotten, in the eyes of all!"
. . . "For this rift you have made, rending eternity in three, you must live as a powerless observer," boomed the judging voice of Aatu. "For as you have condemned Life to grow, struggle, and die - so you will be condemned to watch in your agelessness, inhabiting all of your strange element - you will suffer their pains and triumphs alike. You will be a dumb and mute omen to them, and nothing more - Gaagii, son of Siblings. You are henceforth cursed to know - to see - but never to tell. They will be deaf to you, and you will share in their plight."
. . . Time knew the price he would pay. He looked to the faces of his Sibling Parents; the passion that would spark hearts to love, and to war - and the strength that would protect and murder in the name of each. In the eyes of Kata was much confusion still, the lives of countless new creations beginning to fill her unblinking sight. The dark form of Aatu was strange and still, curiously at ease. "I have not been, will not be - am not - forgotten, though I be less than a memory." The pup called Time was bound by Aatu into the form of a coal-black raven, small even among those ominous birds; his back flecked with a blemish of grayish feathers. Shrieking incoherently, the bird took flight, and disappeared amidst the flocks rising from the Loch.
. . . | Gifts of the Unforgotten | . . .
. . . Kata drew the essence of Life back from the Loch, and clutched it tightly in her strange paws once more. The myriad of creatures pouring fourth from the banks ceased to a trickle, and finally halted altogether.
. . . "What are we to do?" the strong Eurig asked, watching the waning flood of life stream away from the Great Loch, his one great eye searching warily by the growing light of day.
. . . Perceptive Aeronwen, her heart heavy but proud, turned her one-eyed face to the west. A gathering of Wolves was amassing on the far bank of the Loch; creatures foreign but familiar to the Spirit. "They have been given Life, but it is frail in their spines, empty in their bellies, lost to their minds, and unfeeling in their hearts. We are to give to them as Time decreed."
. . . "What you say, my daughter," Aatu growled, "Is just." The eyeless Judge turned his ears toward the Wolves. "To these children of ours, I will lend my Hearing, Judgment, Ferocity, and Knowing. May these gifts serve them well in peace and war."
. . . Kata the Seer clutched Life tightly in her paws, and gazed out on the Wolves with an unlikely fondness. "Then I shall give of my Sight, Leadership, Luck, and Understanding, that such gifts may serve them better than they have served me."
. . . Eurig, the Spirit of the Strength of the Sun, tipped his nose to the Wolves. "I will lend to them my Strength, my Confidence, and my Vigilance in their battles of Life and Death."
. . . "To these temporary wonders," said Aeronwen, "I give my Intuition, Persistence, and Foresight. May these feeble things see more than their eyes, and feel more than their skin."
. . . | The Endworlds | . . .
. . . "And one last gift I would give," Thundered Aatu. "As Time, and Life's end, demand. Let each live as they so choose; to spend, or save, or waste, as they should desire. But when end comes to them, they shall come to me, and account for their deeds in full. For the Dead I create two worlds - unseen by the living and unknown by Spirits and Guardians; and I shall guard the path to each.
. . . "For the just, the innocent, and the justified - I promise Havilah. A realm of the Dead from which there is no return. A place of desires, of secrets, and of memories.
. . . "For the unjust, the undecided, and the cruel - I promise Erebos. A realm of the Dead from which there is no return. A place of wants, of lies, and of the forgotten.
. . . "Let each soul choose the path they should take," Aatu declared. "For each their is a consequence, and a reward."
. . . | Howl of Beginning | . . .
. . . The Unforgotten Spirits raised their proud snouts to the sky streaked red with dawn, and into the four winds they cast a mighty song. A complex chorus of conflict and contradiction; melancholy, but hopeful. The first great howl struck the hearts of the mortal Wolves, for this was their beginning. Gifts imparted, ends promised. Memoria inherited into the claws of mortals.
This is part of the same "mythology" project mentioned [here].
In reality though, I suppose I should admit a few things. Firstly, all this "Memoria" stuff is actually a sort of "way overkill role playing concept" that I've been toying around with for well over a year at this point (anyone who knows me very well at all knows that I adore a very literate role play, I love wolves, and I start zillions of over-ambitious, absurdly detailed contexts/worlds/role play ideas that never seem to pan out) - and yeah, honestly, I am hoping it will "be something" eventually.
But for now, it's just a really, really amusing project for me to work on off and on. :]
That said, please know that I would really, really, really love some comments on this. Whether you love it, hate it, or can barely tolerate it.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE COMMENTING... This is not my usual narrative writing style. The character of this piece is essentially that of a "creation myth" - the foundational mythology of a "wolf culture." When I started writing this, I was reading The Epic of Gilgamesh - and stylistically, the translation reminded me of some of my favorite Native American myths (especially creation myths), which I love. I tried to capture just a little of that rather foreign flavor - the flavor of the oral history - because that's what this is, in a way, meant to be: an oral history. I am aware that I kind of let that style slip as I went on (and yet it kind of comes in and out) - so yes, consider this a draft. But a nearly final draft. In other words, chances are I'm already aware of some of the issues, but feel free to point out specific places or issues you notice. I do like critique. :]
SOME THINGS I'D LIKE TO KNOW... I know it's long, so I'd like to hear your opinion on whatever amount you read - just let me know how much you got through in your comment! This "mythology" is divided into titled sections, to that end. Also - although I probably already know the answer to this question, and this mythology is little to go on for you - if you're a literate/advanced role player (especially a "lupine" role player), is this something you are, or would ever be, interested in? This is pure curiosity at this point.
And lastly, THANK YOU. For reading, commenting, glancing, whatever you find the time to do!!
Concept, story, names, etc. © Erynn "Draco" Wiggins, 2010
© 2010 - 2024 Dracowulf
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