What the Lanating told me

by Andrew Behan

Where did this world come from?

Come now, this is a foolish question, the world has always existed, though in the Gods Plane there were many strange races before our ancestors inherited the earth. Long before the pines and firs huddled along the river bottoms. Before the heather, juniper, and gorse buffeted on the windy hill tops. Before the wind, the sky or the earth were there were mountains. They were cold and hard, tall and dreadful; as they are now but they were neither slow nor silent. They were divided into two tribes the Dragons and the Giants.They were so big that they could not all fit into the world snd so they fought. As they fought the Sky and the Earth coupled and the winds found the ghosts of the Real People hidden under a tree stump where they had been all along. Some say the mountains still fight but that we are to small to see this properly. That's where the world came from.

Where did we come from?

One time the Oldest Mother and the Sky Father were bound together like the yoke and white of an egg. A little turtle dove hatched forth from this egg and they came to see each other as separate beings. But the dove showed them how they might overcome this seperation through love. This is where sex came from, and how people are born into bodies.

Why do we die?

When Oldest Mother and Sky Father joined together her belly grew full and in the blinking of an eye a mighhty yew tree grew out of her vagina. Sky Father became entangled in its branches. He broke his back and smashed his skull, for its explosive growth caught him completely unawares. This is how Jumat was born, bringing conflict and death into the world with him. Since then everyone has died and the Sky and the Earth have been held apart by the yew and the fir.

What happens when we die?

When you die your body is burnt and like a fish swimming with the current your breath flies south with the Old Man Who Knows the Way to Jumat's house beneath which lies the way to Dark Plenty. It traverses narrow crawlspaces and cavernous voids as it twists and turns along the river of the dead, until it comes to Brola's realm where it dwells in peace for ever. Until Wrothela made a pact with the goddess of Dark Plenty the spirits of the dead had no place to go so they lingered among the living like terrible shadows. Now only the souls of the wicked must roam the heath without a coat of flesh to protect them from the bitter winter winds and the burning heat of the summer sun.

Why am I here?

You are here because your mother wanted to share her love for her kin and the cycles of nature with you.

How do I do magic?

What you call magic is nothing more than knowing things for what they really are, not what they appear to be. We do magic by obeying the taboos and performing the right rituals, like those before us did. Magic is sometimes secret, because if every fool knew it, it would be cheapened and held in contempt. Never give your secrets away to strangers. With my second sight I see the spirits where the foolish see only rocks and trees. My power over them comes from my friendship with them and my knowledge of their secret habits. Mortal folk are not privy to all the secrets of the world and this is why we worship the gods. It would be wicked for them to reveal therir powers so that all and sundry might imitate them, but if we are their obedient children they can work wonders for us without any wrong doing.

I have heard of other powers can you tell me truly about...

...Aldrya?

Aldrya is the tula of the trackless forests in the valleys of Somarin. The Ladies of the Wild are her kin, and the Earth is her sister. The greedy squirrels moan her name as they toss and turn through sleepless nights waiting for the forest to send wooden warriors armed with sharpened staves to wreck vengeance on them for their cruelty and selfishness. They hate her and call her Brola's jealous sister but they are liars.

...Chaos?

Kedderat is the Bad God who said the world was to small for him. He renounced his kin and all that is good out of spite and self-loathing. We call him "Too Big" or "Biter and Breaker" because he gnawed cliffs in his anguish and crushed mountains in his fury. Red Sky Wound, the Crimson Bat and the broo are his children. You must kill the Bad God's spawn if they are not too big or too many.

...Kyger Litor?

A wicked monster! She mothered the Dark Tribe and nursed Xarkarsh, the first cannibal, when Wrothela banished him from her hearth, her kinsman Warkadda slew fair Brola. Though her tribe fought the Bad Gods they are little better than their foes. Fear and hate the dark men for what they have done to us.

...Lunar Goddess?

Daughter of the seven witches who were so lazy they had only their own shit to eat. One time Kedderat impregnated them. Then, when the came to term they got drunk and ate all their babies, except one. When they sobered up there was one mewling brat left, each claimed to be the bitch who sired the whelp so they quarreled over who would get to eat her. She said "My blood is poison. If you eat me you will surely die." Each claimed materrnity so they argued over who would get to make her their slave. As they couldn't decide she decided that they would all be her mothers and her slaves. That is how Shepelkirt, Poison Blood, the Red Sky Wound was born.

...Magasta?

Once a hunter told me a story he heard from some foreigner of a strange place where water, like in a river or a lake stretches in all directions further than the eye can see. Beware of foreigners and their fanciful tales!

...Monotheists?

One time Lanat went wandering in the north. He came across a golden palace there where a mighty king lived. This boasted that he had made the whole world with his own hands and that all the gods, including Lanat were his slaves. However Lanat bested him in many contests and shamed his proud face. He learnt his secrets that day, but he never used them because they were wicked lies... if you are wise you will follow his example.

...Mostal?

When the mountains fought they smashed each other into rubble out of which crawled the stone men. Once there were very many of these stupid, heartless creatures. But then they fought a great battle with the Dark Tribe and they were all killed. Why did they do that? It was to get Falangian Diamonds, like this here. What does it do? Nothing, absolutely nothing! Stupid and heartless, you hear me?

...Orlanth?

Wrolat is bellicose, selfish, devious, arrogant, over-civilized and above all stupid. For all his big talk and his schemes he could not protect Brola when Warkadda the black giant ripped her guts out. Only stupid foreigners and irreligious women worship him.

...Spirits?

Spirits are everywhere. In you, in me, the sky, the earth, the air, the rocks and the trees. Some bodies, such as corpses or those of dreamers, have no spirit and some spirits have no bodies. Sometimes they have lost their bodies and they may want to steal yours, so beware! Often they have no need of flesh and go about naked like a man who discards his cloak on a sunny day. If, like me, you have the second sight you can see these spirits though they are invisible to normal folk.

...Yelm?

Yelm is the Bad Sun. Lanat stole his secrets for Elmela who deserved them. The Bad Sun's people built cities, rode horse and had kings. They never laughed or had sex and they were filled with jealousy and hatred for everyone who was not as miserable as they were.

The Gods of Brolia

Brola

Mother of our people, goddess of the land: she held us in her bosom until Sarius foolishly gave her hand to Wrolat, through whose clumsy deceptions she fell foul of Warkadda, the terrible giant who destroyed the forces of chaos and life alike. Now she protects the spirits of the good dead in Dark Plenty.

Elmela

Elmela was brought back from Dark Plenty by Lanat. He is the warm wind who blows the Sun across the sky. In Summer when he comes close to the earth heis warm breath consoles us as he rests close by in the darkness of the night. His mother is Mornana CalmSky.

Enjeem

The Alynx totem is the goddess of the lesbians, a strange clan of women who hunt like men. Some girls are too restless for marriage so they join the secret society of the Alynx. The Enjeemi are uncomfortable to be around and many men say they aren't real hunters because they use bows. Still they are civil and respect custom like proper Wrothelli so we hold them to be our sisters.

Jumat

The Red God, Old Splitter Yew, slew his father the Sky to lie with his mother the Earth. His sister is Love and he is Death and Change. His most famous children are Lanat, Bisos, Badrudda and Wrolat.

Lanat

Last son of Jumat he sought to fix the world and he found Elmela SkySon. He invented custom, the Lightbringers' Greeting and potlatch. The spirits of the air are at his beck and call, for he was the first Spiral Walker. Indeed his mortal kin are still preternaturally wise in the ways of the Otherworld.

Mornana

The good goddess, mother of the Heavenly Host, of Elmela Goodson and Swellbelly Badson. You have seen the bright points of light that shine in the night sky beyond the baleful influence of the Red Sky Wound. Those are the campfires of the Bright People who are her kin and ours to. She is the benevolent calm where the winds do not rage and all is peaceful.

Rial

Custom holds the world together and stops Chaos from seeping into our hearts. Lanat discovered her on his travels and brought her back so that we might know what honourable behaviour was and who was related to whom.

Sarius

The Old Man Who Knew the Way made Jumat whole at Lanat's pleading and helped to subdue the greedy Salamander by marshalling Jarnan's torrential flow.

Swellbelly

This wicked spirit sneaks into your belly when there is no food to keep him out and makes you feeble, sickly and emaciated. From the time of Brola's death until Wrothela came he ruled the world. He is greedy and vengeful so beware!

The Tulae

The Ladies of the Wilds are Brola's daughters. They are the loving mothers of everything that moves and grows upon the surface of the earth. Wrothela courted them and we are the children of their union. Our women give the Tulae special reverence and obey their commandments dilligently.

Walinat

The ram god sends forth snow and winter from his icy northern camp. His children are frost demons and his penis is a huge, chilly icicle. He is a special foe of the Moon Tribe. However, like his father Badrudda he has no love for the Real People and we fear his kin.

Wrothela

Wrothela is Lanat's foster son. He is the good god who taught us how to hunt and so saved us from starvation when everything was dead. He is as kind and gentle as his uncles are cruel and stupid. He had many sons with the ladies of the Wild and we are his descendants. He is buried at Gervain, named after his most famous son, though the cursed Moon Tribe refuse to let us worship him with freedom or dignity.

Zotulla

The great healer lives in her mountain meadow far away where only Spiral Walkers can reach her. She tends her wounded lover, the elfin god Arroin, there. We love her because she gives comfort to the mortally wounded hunter and the labouring mother-to-be alike.


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