The Koffu, like all races, have their creation myth. According to Koffu legend, the world was once a great big mass. Instead of the Void, there was only substance. There was crystal, so dense that nothing could move. This was the time of perfect order, when the universe despised movement and all was solid. There were no bodies. There was only thought, captured and constantly refracted within the ubiquitous crystal before time began.
Then came a great darkness. It fled from a place so far that even the stars seem close. When the darkness arrived it was weak from fighting an ancient foe, and it hid within the cracks in the crystal, trapping thoughts and feeding on them to regain its strength. It sank its fangs into the crystal and drank from its power. The crystal was very tough, though, and in order to soften it up the darkness injected its venom. The venom digested much of the crystal, which the darkness then drank up. The darkness moved from place to place, consuming only the tastiest morsels of crystal with the most delicious thoughts.
It is said that this darkness was the root of all evil, and that if left alone it would eventually have consumed all of the crystal and a great void would have replaced the all encompassing crystal. But it is also said that the great darkness itself gave birth to that which saved the world. As the darkness ate, it spawned many deformed things. Most were consumed by the darkness immediately, but one of the progeny was so crafty that it eluded the darkness and hid for many eons until it grew stronger. But this child grew very lonely, for it revelled in craft and trickery. So it approached its mother, hiding in the darkness, and spoke to her from the expanding void.
"You are mighty, but what purpose is it to be mighty if there are none to recognize your might? What is the meaning of greatness if none worship your greatness?"
The darkness cast about for its lost child, but only found mocking laughter. She threw her nets over the void, but he evaded them. Meeting failure, she tried to forget about the child, but the words of the trickster haunted her. In time, she grew weary of her solitude, grew angry that there was no one to sing her praises, and she remembered the trickster's words. So she ceased to eat so many of her children, and from the mixture of crystal and void there were born the Koffu, the people. They struggled with each other to survive, and the weaker ones died. The great darkness looked down on them and she was pleased.
She laughed back at the trickster who now hid in a crack within the crystal.
"Now I have everything," quoth she. "I am all powerful, and my children do recognize and fear me."
But the trickster still laughed at her, and though she scraped every crack in the crystal still he evaded her.
"It is a sham," he taunted. "They only worship you because they know no other."
She raged at her lost son, but he laughed and laughed and always evaded her dark jaws. Over time, she grew to despise her creations, seeing that they were puppets. She wished them to fear her, and to know her power, so from her womb she nurtured many tiny jewels, and set them high above the Koffu, so that they might see her might and fear her.
When the Koffu gazed up and were blinded by the beauty of these jewels, they raised up their voice in a great song and moved their feet in a joyous dance. Such was the power of this song that it caused the great darkness much pain.
Then the darkness sneered at her children, and laughed at them.
"Behold," quoth she, "this is what it means to be light, and to feel joy! Remember it well, for I will devour it and then you will know that I am truly the greatest of all things, the mightiest of all beings!"
And the Koffu wept, for they had never seen such beauty and did not wish it to pass from the world. Then a strange thing came to pass, for the impenetrable crystal that surrounds the hollow world caused the song of joy to echo back upon the people, filled with the thoughts that lived inside the crystal. The song of joy and the song of sorrow met, and together they formed the mistress of song and beauty, who is called Ellistrae.
The great darkness beheld this, and rushed forward to devour both the jewels of light along with this strange song-child. This would prove her great might.
But the song child raised up a great keening, to mourn the death of happiness from the world. So loud and so sad was this single note that it pierced the crystal which surrounds the world and echoed out into the void beyond the void. There it was heard by the great ones, Frey and Freya, who followed the song back to its creator. With them they brought their mighty hosts and wove their magic for battle. Uller came with the bow that could pierce any shadow, and Njord with his mighty horn that could shake the very ground. They cast open the crystal and forged an opening into the world. There they encountered the great darkness herself, and a mighty battle raged. It is said that more than one of the Vanir died that day, but in the end Frey, who is life, and Freya, who is love, endured. They cast forth the great darkness into the void beyond all voids, which is called the Abbyss, banishing her for all time, and turned their gentle eyes upon the Koffu. They cleansed the void and the crystal of the venom, but try as they might they could not clean it all. And that is why evil still survives.
The Koffu were ungrateful children, always squabbling and fighting. For many eons they fought and warred. Those were the centuries of darkness. But in time the word of the Vanir took root and blossomed into a tree whose fruit bore peace. It was then that they set the laws upon the Koffu, and created the clans and the tribes. And all Koffu were divided into clans and tribes, save for two groups.
These were the Children of Song and the Children of Deceit, who worship the gods Ellistrae and Vhaerun. According to the laws, they may live where they choose, a reward for the part they played in banishing the great darkness. Often the two priesthoods clash, but that is the way of things. The Children of Deceit frequently cause much strife, but by the old laws no hand may be raised against them unless they cause the death of an innocent, for the Trickser stood against the Great Darkness when no one else would.
So that is the story, in brief. Kiaransalee, Yhaniss tells me, came much later. It is a story about mortal pride, what Vedrus calls hubris. According to the tale, a portion of the great darkness' venom had distilled in a crack in the crystal. At the end of the darkest days, when the wars were receding, there was a great sorcerous who was nearing the end of her life. She was so ancient that she remembered the days of the Great Darkness and the coming of the Vanir. Refusing to die, and fearing the justice of the Vanir, she sought out the most potent venom in the world, and imbibed this. So potent was this venom that it did not slay her. Rather, it slew her death, so that she could never die. As time passed, her flesh decayed, but still she could never die. She became an exile, and was banished by the Children of Song. After many eons, though, her magic grew so strong that she left the crystal boundaries of the world and ventured into the darkest of places. There she dwells in rot and death, and the souls which are too impure for the Vanir and too foolish for the Trickster and too ugly for the Songmaiden... These she gathers to herself and feeds upon to build her powers of unlife.
So as any reader can see, these are pretty basic creation tales.
It does help me understand, though, what the clan lord was talking
about when he spoke of the elder days. It appears that the Koffu
were not always as peaceful as they are now. I can hardly think
about such things without one part of my mind recalling that -
creation myth or not - the Koffu share the same lineage as the drow.
It is said that when the Great Darkness was burned out of the sphere, the Koffu lived in peace for many centuries. This was a time before time was even measured, before the tribes were even gathered. There were no cities during this time. There were only families and extended families, and above these the clans. There was much space to fill, and different clans rarely came into contact with each other. This was also the time of the first priests, when the Vanir and others granted visions to devoted followers, and filled their mouths with the holy words of prayers. It was a time of much happiness. A simple time.
But then the Lord of Strife saw that the Koffu were too happy, it is said, and that they would never fulfill a greater destiny which his sister Ellistrae had prophesied for them in dance and song. He spoke harsh words to Frey and Freya and the other peace-loving Vanir, speaking of a time when war would come to the Koffu and there would be need of prowess with weapons and skill in battle. The Lord of Strife and Trickery demanded that the Vanir give to their children knowledge of war and magic to make things of war. Yet the Vanir loved dearly their dark-skinned children, and could not visit upon them the pain and tragedy of war, so they maintained their gentle hand and taught the Vanir peace. The Vanir well-knew the battle-lust that came with war, and justly feared it.
Yet Vhaerun was not satisfied with this, and so he fled to his distant and hidden realms where none could follow him, and there he hatched a plan. When he emerged, he spoke to his sister, and she too agreed to his plan. So brother and sister conspired together, and caused their two most devoted followers to wed. Now the priest of the Strifebringer was called Tathlyn and the Songmaiden was called Rauva, and they were wed and gave birth to eight healthy children, each very special in some way. Yet in time, Rauva grew old and barren. Some say that she grew old before her time because she was bitten by a spider, others claim a powerful curse of some sort. Yet Vhaerun deemed eight children an unlucky number, and so he stole a portion of the Waters of Immortality from the three guardian sisters of the Well of All Things, and mixed this with the dreams of the Father of Giants, and thus rewove fate. (This itself is a long story, which Yhaniss has promised to tell me later.) Vhaerun fashioned a tiny child, but could not create life within in for he was not a god of beauty and creation. So he brought it to his sister who sparked life within it, and then gave it unto his priest Tathlyn, who embedded it into Rauva's womb. Soon, Rauva gave birth, but the strain was great and she died with the first cries of the child. Tathlyn mourned her greatly, and died only a few days later of grief. Thus, the last child was raised by the eldest of their children, the woman Haeldra, who is said to be the wisest Koffu ever to live. Thus, the ninth child was born, and Ellistrae's prophecy was fulfilled.
Now these nine children came to be known as the Mayedra, the Torchbearers, for it was they who founded the nine Namings. Now theNamings are not blood bonds - for blood ties are a matter of clans. Norare they the political alliances of clans from which Koffu tribes were born. Indeed, these events occurred long before any tribes were formed and before the first true tribe cities were built and tribe borders were established. Rather, the nine Namings are mixtures of spirit and purpose, and so we say that a boy who is a member of Clan Nurith-Nur or Clan Enguraas or any other clan is also a member of the Naming of Anru if he posses great strength and stubbornness, or that he is of the Naming called Lylyl if he is born with the soul of an artist. Usually, a boy or girl inherits their spirit from one or both of their parents, but not always, so that a youngling must choose their Naming for themselves upon their 33rd birthday. Full Koffu names are rarely used because they contain the person's use-name, clan name, tribe name, Naming, and often a descriptive name as well. Some Koffu also retain the practice of including their mother or father's name with a son or daughter-of term. Some Koffu even use both. I at last understand why no Koffu has bothered to use more than a short use-name with me; I doubt I could wrap my brain around a full Koffu name.
There are many tales about the founders of the Namings, and also their father and mother who are sometimes invoked in blessings in marriage, childbirth, and death, and are known to have taken their places as special minions of the gods of Strife and Beauty (and often intercede between Vhaerun and Ellistrae when their anger brings them in conflict, for it is said that love of Tathlyn and Rauva for each other surpasses even divine anger). There are even small cults of priests who worship Tathlyn and Rauva, and can invoke prayers much like the priests of other gods. I suspect they have become demi-gods in the service of the higher powers and native to Koffuspace as the Red Knight is native to Realmspace.
So a century passed, and the nine children made their way across the face of the hollow-world of Ustus, the First One. One of the nine children even learned of a way to pass between the spheres, though it was dangerous and difficult - he was the first Koffu to meet the Ones Between who guard the portals between the Koffu "planets." Others taught the Koffu to train riding salamanders, to read and write, to grow mushrooms into houses, and many, many more things.
But the youngest son, who was called Ryld the Wild, was unlike the others. He always wandered from place to place, never settling down and never building a following to teach his arts to. Rather, he would go some place, and somehow others with kindred spirit would seek him out. They would follow him for a time, and then set out themselves to wander from place to place, always seeking wonders and glories - and often meeting death.
Thus nine Namings were born, and the Vanir looked upon this and thought it good. Yet this was only the beginning of Ellistrae's prophecy, for in time, the wanderlust within Ryld's heart grew beyond bounds, and Fate guided him to a door to other worlds. Ryld vanished for a space of decades, and many tales are told about his adventures in other worlds. It is said that he fought great scaly beasts that breathed fire and lightning, that he sailed on ships among the stars, that he walked through a place made of fire, and all manner of things. With him, he brought his most faithful companions, and these together are known as the Sesi-Straeka- Raelin, the Seven Reckless Fools. Undoubtedly, Ryld would have perished many times but for the timely aid of his six companions, but these do not concern us now.
Much is written of the greatest of Ryld's adventures, for it brought the Kin-Wars. Surely, Ryld could not have known what would happen, else he would never have masked himself as a fey-man and stolen into the sacred house of the Vanir amid the branches of Igrassdillin, the Tree of Life. Yet he could not see the future, and so he fulfilled his greatest quest and stole the secrets of runes and magic from the Vanir, and returned to Ustus with them, whereupon he taught them to his clan.
Now Ryld had hoped that his brothers and sisters would make good use of this secret knowledge, and they did, but his own clan - the clan of the nine Torchbearers, tried to keep much of Ryld's stolen knowledge secret. This clan, whose name is lost and is never invoked when one speaks of the Torchbearers was ruled over harshly by a patriarch whose name is cursed and never spoken. The clan had become bloated with pride and power because of its nine incredible children, and had decided, prompted by it partiarch, that the clan should be supreme among all Koffu clans and rule the Koffu people.
So when the other clans came to ask for the secrets of magic and runes, the clan denied them. Then the other clans assembled a huge caravan bearing many gifts, for they hoped to buy the secret from his already wealthy and famous clan. Yet this patriarch - may his soul be damned - perceived these gifts as a demonstration of force, and so he use the secrets he had gained from Ryld to attack the newcomers, slaying them to a man.
When the other clans learned of this, they were incensed, and they called a great council and marched to war. Oh woe! For deep within the heart of every Koffu rages a battlelust just as strong as the lust to create and the lust for joy. In the alliances of war were the first true tribes born as the people fell upon the clan of the Mayedra and destroyed them utterly. Only the nine Mayedra themselves, of all their blood-kin, survived.
Now when the united clans conferred after the slaughter, they were still taken with the battle lust, and each feared the others would seize the opportunity to take up the power of runes and magic, so each secretly plotted against the others. The clans' great alliance broke into its many pieces - the tribes, each clan desiring power over the others and each tribe desiring all clans be part of its rule.
In a matter days, all had grown quarrelsome, and fighting broke out. The fighting spread like wildfire, and in months the entirety of the Koffu were at war. Tribe against tribe, and often clan against clan as the tribes split and re-formed from internal bickering and changing alliances. This war lasted for five hundred years, and came to be known as the Kin Wars, or the War of a Thousand Tribes, of which there are many tales told. Amidst the Kin War, the Mayedra continued their teachings, for their clan was destroyed, and the clans did not fear them since they taught to all the clans equally. Yet while Ryld's cult spread, and many who followed his path took up a life of adventure, Ryld himself disappeared. In time, his brothers and sisters died and were buried in shrines dedicated to the path they forged for others to follow.
No one knows what happened to Ryld in the meantime, but it is said that he returned five hundred years later, and played a part in ending the Kin Wars. The stories of the Kin Wars themselves are long and numerous. Many are terrible, but others are stories of sacrifice and nobility, such as the tale of the two warriors called Kurthym and Maedir who were separated at birth and brought up to hate each other, but finally set aside their hatred to rescue their two clans from a horde of monsters which came marauding from the hills. Likewise, there are many tales of tragedy, and other tales of powerful magics and glory. All the while, the Vanir mourned and sought to prevent the worst of the slaughter, but they could not end it.
The end of the Kin Wars only came when a descendent of Ryld
ventured off on a great quest to find his great-grandfather, and
freed Ryld from his bindings. It is said that Ryld had been captured
by the Great Darkness itself, but who really knew the truth of this
story? Ryld himself never revealed it, and in fact he sacrificed
himself soon after his return to end the Kin Wars which he himself
had begun. A ninth shrine was constructed for his body, the smallest
of all the shrines for the Mayedra, yet it is also accounted the
holiest by many. The Vanir wept for joy, and were glad to look upon
the Koffu. No longer were the Koffu mere children, but they loved
them regardless.
Many floods ago (there is no year here, but the major rivers do flood regularly, and these are counted to keep track of the eons), the great wars raged among the Koffu, and clan fought clan for land and women. As you know, this was a time of war, and the Koffu did little else but bend their minds on killing each other.
During this time, a son was born to a great chieftain. Now this boy was no regular boy. As he grew up, he proved a most intransigent child, never doing what his father desired. While other lads would craft weapons of war, he would spend time watching the clouds change in the sky. While the others would practice the arts of stealth, he would sing to the hills and listen to his own echo.
Seeing this, the chieftain ridiculed his son. Only the timely intervention of his wife prevented the man from casting the boy out of the village. Many years passed while the boy grew to manhood, and the chief took two more wives to try to have another boy child. Alas, fate would have none of it, and he had only girls.
So it came to pass, one day, that the chieftain was struck with an enemy's poisoned arrow, and grew deathly ill. The warriors of the village gathered together and were fearful. How would they fare without a great warrior to lead them into battle? So they chose from their number a great warrior, who went by the name of Bloody Hand, and declared that he would be chieftain.
But there was much strife between the families of the clan, and one of the families did not like this choice. The leaders of that family threatened civil war within the clan, and claimed they would rather have the cowardly boy as their leader! There was much grumbling, and many threats. Eventually, the clan came to an arrangement.
They set before the chieftain's son three tests, and all the clans agreed that if he succeeded the tests, then he would be chieftain. But if he failed any one, the warrior would become leader.
The young man, who was now called Cloud Watcher, came to the village council, his eyes unfocussed as though he had inhaled poisonous mushroom spores. The clan elder spoke to him, and demanded of him three tasks.
First, they demanded that he find the feather of a snow eagle, which dwells only on the highest of peaks.
"Why, this is simple," said the boy, and sat down upon the ground and closed his eyes. The Koffu laughed at him, but he did not hear them. He waited a long time, and a storm built up around him. The Koffu were about to leave, but then a most remarkable thing began to happen. The cloud shed snow upon the ground, thick and soft, until a layer covered the entire mushroom jungle. Then a great white bird flew down, and landed atop the boy's head. It paused only a moment to preen itself, then took flight, leaving a single feather behind. A moment later, the Koffu blinked, and the snow was gone. Only the feather remained.
The Koffu were amazed, and some frightened, but the families that stood to gain power demanded that the boy pass the other two tests. So the clan councilors demanded of the chieftain's son a second task, that he break in two a great boulder the size of a navarr [an elephant like creature].
The young man laughed. "Why, this is even easier than the last matter," he said, and yawned. He nodded off to sleep even as he spoke, and slumped to the ground. Again the Koffu waited a long time, and many scoffed at Cloud Watcher, claiming him weak and a fraud. But even as they jeered, smoke swept through the trees, and a fire raged behind it. The Koffu fled to a safe distance, but none bothered to move the sleeping man.
From up high, they saw a giant salamander, covered in flame, slither through the forest and approach the rock. It curled up around it and remained still. After a few more minutes, the rock split open with a thunderous crack, as water within it boiled. The salamander grew frightened from the noise, and left.
When the salamander left, the ashen remains of the forest were no longer burnt, save for a trail of footsteps leading to the rock and then away. Many of the clan councilors were afraid now, but Bloody Hand refused to give up his power so quickly. So Bloody Hand demanded that Cloud Watcher complete the third task, defeat him in battle.
"Why," scoffed the young lad, "this is the easiest yet."
He began to drift off to slumber. Bloody Hand looked around, and seeing nothing, raised a battle cry and charged. He hacked Cloud Watcher into tiny pieces, and the Koffu nodded, convinced that the chieftain's son was no more than a charlatan.
"I claim the seat of Chieftain..." said Bloody Hand. But then the pieces of Cloud Watcher gathered together again and began to creep toward him. The severed hands clamped down on his feet, and the broken head bit into his hand. The great warrior quickly lost his nerve and cast his weapons down, begging for forgiveness.
The severed head laughed.
"You are forgiven," the chieftain's son said, and released the man. "But you should know that it is not I that defeated you, but the fear in your own heart. I merely showed to you your own fear." A moment later, when the Koffu blinked, the chieftain's son was whole. He turned to the tribe and shook his head.
"I thank you for the honor," Cloud Watcher said, "But I do not want to be chief. So instead I give you my eldest sister to be made chief, for she is a better warrior than I."
Now upon hearing this, Bloody Hand was humiliated and enraged, for he was embarassed and forced to weep openly like a child. Without warning he struck Cloud Watcher in the back, dealing him a mortal blow. But when Cloud Watcher fell, his body did not strike the ground. Instead, it turned into mist and vanished. A moment later, Bloody Hand began to scream and clutch his head. Even as the Koffu watched, he tore into his own face and arms and pulled the skin from his bones, until his blood flowed black upon the ground. When he died, his blood seeped into the earth, leaving no trace.
From that moment forth, the Koffu no longer slept. When they were weary, Cloud Watcher would visit them and show them beautiful marvels to make them forget their weariness. When they were frightened, it is said that Bloody Hand would come to them and appear to them as a terrible horror.
Well, that's the tale. I'm sure it sounds like many other
stories, fraudulent faerie-tales told to explain a natural
phenomenon, in this case the fact that Koffu enter reverie instead of
sleeping like animals. What I think is remarkable about this story,
and about so many others, is that the world was changed by a single
individual. In many tales, only gods or the children of gods may set
the laws or break them, but here the Koffu themselves can do it.
Moreover, as in many other tales, the hero or heroine _becomes_ the
thing they wish to create... The same is true with the story of how
fire was created, and how the Koffu learned to write. Of course,
many of these stories conflict with other stories about the Mayedra,
and many a bard has gotten into long arguments trying to resolve the
two, but nonetheless, we should keep these tales in mind when we
consider how to intervene in this sphere.