Ghyll:Creator

All of the cultures of Ghyll, current and historical, have had a tradition in one form or another of the Creator. Sometimes contradictory and usually indicative of deep rooted questions about the nature of the cosmos, the tales of Creation are as varied as the cultures themselves. The following is a partial list of some of the variety of creation myths of the different cultures.

Alezan

In the beginning there were only two: The Sun and the Queen. All the mysteries and power in the Above belonged to the Sun, while the Queen controlled the magic of the Below. In the Underworld, abode of the Gods, they dwelt and they were All. There was neither man nor woman, bird nor beast, no living thing until these Two willed it to be.

In time it came to them that there should be other Gods to share their labors. So the Sun touched the Queen and she laid her first clutch of five eggs. Of those five hatched Varlansk, Ul'o, Looly, Carsok, and RUE - the pentadeity Vulcrue. As time unrolled there followed the second clutch of eight, known as Shtreiml, the "Joyful Divine Octuplets".

And then it came about that these Two had one Thought and it was a mighty Thought - that they would make Ghyll to be between the Above and the Below where now lay shimmering only the Endless Waters. So they sat them side by side, swaying their beautiful bronze bodies to the pulsing music of their own great voices, making the First Magic Song, a song of rushing winds and flowing waters, a song of light and sound and life.

Avazian

In the beginning there was only water, a chaos of churning, bubbling water, this Avazians called Qes or Qest. It was out of Qes that everything began. As with the Qestarius, each year its retreat no doubt caused chaos to all creatures living on the land, so this represents Qes. Eventually the floods would recede and out of the chaos of water would emerge a hill of dry land, one at first, then more. On this first dry hilltop, on the first day came the first sunrise. So that is how the Avazians explain the beginning of all things.

Kebro-shepenor

People did not always live on the surface of Ghyll. At one time, people and animals lived underneath the earth with the Great Master and Lord of All Life. In this place people and animals lived together peacefully.

First the Master created a wondrous tree, with branches stretching over the entire country. At the base of the tree he dug a hole that reached all the way down into the world where the people and animals lived. After he had finished furnishing the world as he pleased, he led the first Ghyllian up the hole. Next, he began helping the animals climb out of the hole. In their eagerness, some of the animals found a way to climb up through the tree's roots and come out of the branches. They continued racing out of the world beneath until all of the animals were out.

The Master gathered all the people and animals about him. He instructed them to live together peacefully. Then he turned to the men and women and warned them not to build any fires or a great evil would befall them. As evening approached the sun began to sink beneath the horizon, but when the sun disappeared, fear entered the hearts of the people. They could no longer see each other as they lacked the eyes of the animals which were capable of seeing in the dark. In desperation, one of the Ghyllians suggested that they build a fire to keep warm. Forgetting the Master's warning, they disobeyed him. They soon grew warm and were once again able to see each other.

However, the fire frightened the animals. They fled to the caves and mountains and, ever since the people broke the Master's command, people have not been able to communicate with animals. Now, fear has replaced the seat friendship once held between the two groups.

Xuriental

In the beginning there were no people in the Xurient. Lumawig, the Great Spirit, came down from the sky and cut many reeds. He divided these into pairs which he placed in different parts of the world, and then he said to them, "You must speak." Immediately the reeds became people, and in each place was a man and a woman who could talk, but the language of each couple differed from that of the others.

Then Lumawig commanded each male and female to mate, which they did. By and by there were many hatchlings, all speaking the same language as their parents. These, in turn, mated and had many hatchlings. In this way there came to be many people in the Xurient.

Now Lumawig saw that there were several things which the people in the Xurient needed to use, so he set to work to supply them. He created salt, and told the inhabitants of one place to boil it down and sell it to their neighbors. But these people could not understand the directions of the Great Spirit, and the next time he visited them, they had not touched the salt.

Then he took it away from them and gave it to the people of a place called Mayinit. These did as he directed, and because of this he told them that they should always be owners of the salt, and that the other peoples must buy of them.

Then Lumawig went to the people of Bontoc and told them to get clay and make pots. They got the clay, but they did not understand the molding, and the jars were not well shaped. Because of their failure, Lumawig told them that they would always have to buy their jars, and he removed the pottery to Samoki. When he told the people there what to do, they did just as he said, and their jars were well shaped and beautiful. Then the Great Spirit saw that they were fit owners of the pottery, and he told them that they should always make many jars to sell. In this way, Lumawig taught the people and brought to them all the things which they now have.

Looliers

The first living thing was Pankuu. He evolved inside a gigantic cosmic egg, which contained all the elements of the universe totally intermixed together. Pankuu grew by about 1 unanit each day. As he grew, he separated the Land and the Sky within the egg. At the same time, he gradually separated the many opposites in nature male and female, wet and dry, light and dark, good and evil. These were all originally totally commingled in the egg. While he grew he also created the first Looliers. After 18,000 years, the egg hatched and Pankuu died from the effort of creation. From his eyes Pinky and Perky appeared, from his sweat, rain and dew, from his voice, thunder, and from his body all the natural features of Ghyll arose.

Nitenmangrey

From what we can determine, there is only a single deity in the Nitenmangrey pantheon - Izrâ´îl Tâwûs Malâk. The bulk of their religion is attributed to rituals prescribed by this deity. After the Nitenmangrey age passed, it was Izrâ´îl Tâwûs Malâk, renamed The Beast, that has became most often portrayed as evil or, more accurately, the moral opposite of the Creator, by other cultures.

This may be in part because, according to Nitenmangrey myth, the Creator created seven servants, the greatest of which was Izrâ´îl Tâwûs Malâk who was the chief of the Creator's servants. The other six are Dardâ´îl, Ishrâfâ´îl, Mikail abû Bakr, Sajâdin, Samnâ´îl and Nûrâ´îl. The Creator placed a pure white pearl made from his soul onto the back of Izrâ´îl Tâwûs Malâk to mark his honor.

But Izrâ´îl Tâwûs Malâk took the pearl and created his own people. So the Creator replaced Izrâ´îl Tâwûs Malâk with Nûrâ´îl (whom he named Malâk Tâwûs). The people created by Izrâ´îl Tâwûs Malâk became the Nitenmangrey.

Down There

Aliens Everywhere editor Bobby Shwarmph depicts the cultures of Down There as being a huge "monotheistic culture that seems to have several variations of worshipping the same deity in diverse ways that all seem to be at war with each other." He portrays some of their myths including the absurd notion that their world was created in six days by the divine words of their deity. This god then rests on the seventh day and implores his creation to do the same.

York of Brahang

York of Brahang theorized that all of Ghyll was, in fact, a fiction created in the collective minds of another race as yet unknown. This fiction was mutable and evolved as it was created by many minds often leading to some of the unique aspects of Ghyllian life we accept as commonplace.

This theory was adapted in a Mother Mutton's Golden Book (and Coloring Fun) that was retracted and later re-issued under more generic concepts as Mother Mutton's Golden Book of Linear and Dynamic Historical Projection Techniques and Coloring Fun. All known copies of York of Brahang's heretical documents are currently held by the Unquisition.

Folktown

According to local tradition, when the Creator wiped Ghyll from its finger, there was a small place where the land was lifted as it adhered to His receding digit. The town that formed at this central feature became known as Folktown and the hill was named Folktown Hill.

Modern Thought

It is believed that the gods are all (or mostly) dead and that their carcasses now form the various mountains, valleys, rivers, and other geographical features of Ghyll. How - or even if - this happened is still being hotly debated by the academic community.

Citations: Shtreiml, The Beast, Vulcrue.

--Dr. H. L. Ackroyd 11:28, 3 Jun 2005 (EDT)