Book of Moon 1 Origin of Life 1-110

[1] In the beginning, there was a void, dark and endless, full of infinite possibilities. [2] As if a child not yet learned, the void sat, quiet, waiting. She did not understand that she was the only thing that could harness the infinite, as there was nothing but the void. [3] She waited for a long time until eventually she created, fed up with the strange, empty feeling welling up inside.

[4] She pulled and tugged and gathered bits of darkness, squashing it together until it took on a form other than the void. It was nothing of consequence, a small round rock, but she loved it. [5] Inspired, the void made more things, filling the infinite space with a slow, measured pace. She molded vast fields of gasses of every shade and color, glowing with a soft ethereal light. [6] The warm light filled the void and made the darkness less all-consuming. [7] Satisfied, she went back to her rock and watched the glowing fields, content for now with what she had made.

[8] Then something happened, something terrifying. A brilliant ball of searing light rose from the fields with a slow, leisured grace. It burned fiercely and waves of heat roiled off it in torrents. [9] What horror had she inadvertently created? The void leapt into her first creation to hide. [10] Trembling, she waited for the thing to attack. When it didn’t, she peeked out and saw it slowly rising and drifting away.

[11] Other balls of ferocious light grew and drift away and the void realized they meant no harm. [12] The Celestial Fields she had created and unknowingly sown with love had grown stars to spread light even further throughout the infinite dark. [13] She emerged from her simple rock and watched the miracle unfolding in front of her. If she had a face, she would have wept tears of joy. [14] Soon, tiny pinpricks of light filled the sky as the stars drifted further and further away. [15] For a while, she reveled in her creation, once again content with herself.

[16] It didn’t take long for that restless, empty feeling to creep back and she looked at her first creation. [17] It was simple, almost ugly compared to the majesty of the Celestial Fields and the twinkling distant stars, but she loved it deeply. [18] She wanted to create something to make the ball of rock less alone. She made fourteen more balls of varying sizes, all bigger than her original creation. [19] She put them in a pleasing line and marveled at the simple beauty of it all. [20] As she looked at them, they started to move, to revolve around the largest of the spheres. And her first one, the smallest, began to revolve around the one closest to it, as if dancing with it. [21] Elated by this turn of events, the void rushed back into her original work and whirled and danced about with her newest creations.

[22] Time went on and eventually the void grew tired. She stared down at the ball her first creation had chosen to dance with. [23] It had tall, craggy peaks and deep, dark crevasses. [24] Something stirred within her, the potential of what lay before her. She could make something more, something not exactly like herself but with autonomy, something that could think and feel as she did. [25] She looked down at the ball before her and gave a little bit of herself to the rocky peaks. [27] The mountain stirred beneath her with childlike wonder, and she wept with joy. [26] “Kalnasa,” she whispered. The mountain looked up at the void then, confirming the name was right.

[27] There were bits of metal, and minerals, and clay in various pockets that she added another bit of herself to. “Raud,” she whispered, and he stirred slowly, blinking, yawning, turning over to sleep. She smiled and moved on. [28] Tany, she put into the earth himself, into the ground not taken by the metals and the mountains. [29] She created a funny furry animal with four legs, black hair all over and vicious teeth. When she gave it a bit of herself, she called him Karhun. [30] Efitra, she gave to the vast deserts. [31] Vee, she filled into the deep crevasses until he overflowed and lapped gently against the land. [32] She crafted tall leafy things and named them trees, and when she was done, she gave a bit of herself to them and named him Sigar. [33] She made smaller leafy things and named them plants. Some of them she gave pretty, colorful petals and called them flowers. The bit she gave to them she named Lillid. [34] There were gashes and small holes through the land that she poured herself into much like she did with Vee and called them Upesa. [35] Eira, she gave to the snows in the North. [36] She breathed life into the space between the rock and the infinite void and it became the wind and air and she named her Ritrova. [37] Then she created clouds and rain and gave a last bit of herself, naming him Makoni.

[38] But something seemed to be missing and as she gazed out into the distant stars, she knew what it was. [39] She added a part of herself to the biggest ball of rock which all the other rocks circled and she gave it fire and light and made it burn with such intensity that she herself, nestled within the tiny rock ball, glowed with loving light. [40] She named him Aurinko and knew that he was the final piece.

[41] Her new children, for that is what she came to realize they were, flourished under the heat and warmth of the big star. [42] Life thrived and grew and became so much more than she thought possible. [43] She would sit for long periods of time watching all the different aspects of life work together. [44] The plants, the animals, the seasons. All of it. It was hers and her children’s, and she loved it all.

[45] After a while, the void felt the novelty of the small living planet grow stale. [46] The life her children created did nothing more. [47] Plants grew and died and grew again. Rain fell in predictable cycles. Ocean tides came in and out. Rivers flowed. [48] Even the animals who were closer to her and her children did little more than act on instinct. They stopped growing and adapting. [49] She sat there spinning in an eternal dance with this world she created and tried to think of what she could do to make things more interesting. [50] What new thing could she create? [51] She watched the simple-minded creatures and how they went through life. She watched her children and how they went through life. [52] And then she realized she could make something in between the two, something with less power than her children but more complex than the animals.

[53] She molded something with bits of earth and clay and leaves. It was tall and gangly, long-limbed and awkward. Nothing like the graceful beasts her children had made. [54] She made another, and it was better, sleeker, more symmetrical with lots of twos. Two arms, two legs, two eyes, two ears. [55] She made another and it could stand on those two legs all on its own. [56] And another and another until she came upon a design that seemed perfect. [57] She scrapped the originals and created more and more out of that perfect design and set them all over the world. [58] She breathed life into them; she gave them intelligence and free will.

[59] These creatures, these people she created, were slow bumbling things at first, as they tried to figure out their world. [60] They gathered in groups and made homes and those homes built up and up until they had cities. [61] She blessed them with a little of the power she had given her children. [62] They knew the special abilities came from the Moon and so they praised it. [63] Those she blessed became warriors and priests and leaders. [64] They changed their world, and they adapted. She watched and watched in utter fascination.

[65] Her first daughter, Kalnasa, goddess of the mountains, came to her one day. [66] Her children had been grumbling amongst themselves because she had taken it upon herself to change their world and to give these lesser beings the power to change their world. They didn’t appreciate it. [67] “Manen, Moon Mother, please, let us give blessings to your new children so that we may once again have a say in how our world works.”

[68] She stared at Kalnasa in bewilderment. This child of hers, this first daughter, had called her Manen. [69] She had never had a name. She was the void and had always just been. [70] Tears sprang to her eyes as she became, in that moment, more than what she’d always been. [71] She knew this was right. She was the Moon Mother, Manen. [72] After a moment, she got control of her emotions and said, “Kalnasa, my daughter, you are right. When I first created you, you were a baby stumbling through the world on new legs. That was such a very long time ago and you are no longer a child. Forgive me.”

[73] She kissed her daughter on the brow and gave up most of her newest children so that her first might guide them. [74] Though she reserved a small portion of the people for herself and continued to bless them. [75] She came to them in dreams and told them she was the Moon Mother and they worshiped her as such.

[76] Not all of Manen’s first children sought to bless the new human children. [77] Kalnasa blessed some in the mountainous region near where the Moon Mother kept her people, for she had always felt close to her mother and wanted her people to be close as well. [78] Karhun blessed some in another land across the wide ocean. Efitra took some, then Raud. [79] Upesa, Sigar, and Makoni were content to be worshiped every now and again. If praise was given, they would do little things to make the people’s lives better, but otherwise didn’t give anyone any special notice. [80] Eira, proud of their strength of will, blessed those who somehow survived in the small frozen wasteland. [81] Without provocation, a small group of humans started worshiping Lillid, and so she claimed them and made them hers. [82] Vee was happy to exist in the slow day-to-day life.

[83] Aurinko, the youngest and most stubborn of Manen’s first children, tried to bless people, but they wouldn’t praise him. They praised any of the others instead. [84] He grew angry and lashed out, but it didn’t help. [85] He noticed that during the summer months, when the world threw Eira’s dominion into constant daylight, she would grow tired and sleep. [86] Aurinko took that opportunity to turn her people against her. He blessed them and forced them to worship him. [87] His anger was a force, killing those who refused him and creating chaos to coerce those who were unsure. [88] Eventually, they bent to his will. Even in winter, when his power could not reach them, their fear of him remained strong.

[89] Aurinko renounced his mother, Manen. “I do not need you anymore. You are nothing to me. All of you are nothing to me,” he said, sneering in disgust at his brothers and sisters. [90] “I will make sure that none of the people follow any of you.” He let out a burst of heat that washed over Manen and her little world. [91] She grew fearful and went back to previous creations to make them more than they were.

[92] There were thirteen rock balls of varying sizes still revolving around Aurinko. She went to each one and gave a little bit of herself to them. [93] Not like she had when she created her first children, but she gave enough of herself that they could protect her little world against the rising tyranny of her son. [94] And in doing this, she changed them, transformed them into something more than rock balls and each one different from the last.

[95] The first guardian she named Ilona and since she was closest to Aurinko, she made her the guardian of the sun, to be the first defense against him. [96] The next guardian in the line she named Coen and made him her trusted confidant so that he may bring her any news of Aurinko’s movements. [97] Niklas, the guardian before her precious world, she made one of her fiercest warriors, to protect her children. [98] Sigrid, on the other side of her world, she assigned to help Niklas as a warrior. [99] She stopped for a moment, wondering if this would be enough to protect against Aurinko’s anger. [100] Another burst of heat spread towards her and she knew it wasn’t and so she continued to the other rock balls.

[101] Herkus she made a guardian of the home, to protect each individual child in their own houses. [102] Bartela, she made a guardian of farmers and fields so that her children would never go hungry. [103] Edgar, she made a guardian of prosperity so her children could flourish without her. [104] Arda, she made guardian of the metals and furnaces so they may always have tools and weapons to provide and protect. [105] Lievan, she made guardian of loved ones so that her children may have comfort when they are apart from their friends and family. [106] Veli, she made guardian of the Order of the Moon, to help lead her children in the fight to come. [107] Daina, she made guardian of music and the arts so that her children would always know happiness. [108] Valen, she made guardian of health, so that her children would always have protection against ailments and injuries. [109] Finally, Tanelo, she made guardian of judgment so that someone could fairly judge her children’s lives and try to keep Aurinko from spreading his hate throughout the land. [110] These thirteen would do all they could to protect against the rising evil she had unwittingly created.