The Myth of Taliskarn

Before the Beginning, there was the Ocean, and the Ocean was still. He slumbered a long sleep in the darkness of the Void, until the rays of the Sun touched his silent waters. At their light, the Ocean shuddered and drew a deep breath, awakening. From his tremor was born Fluere, Mother of All Currents, and from his breath, Kaelesta, Mistress of the Winds. The Ocean rejoiced as he beheld them, and thus began…

The Time of Beginnings

The Ocean granted his daughters freedom and tenderness, forbidding them only one thing — never to descend into his dark depths, where the long-slumbering flame lay hidden. The sisters were obedient and joyful: Kaelesta sang carefree songs in the heavens, and in harmony with that song, Fluere wove the flowing streams of water.

For an eternity, it was so — until Solkalor, son of the Sun, beheld the graceful Fluere from his radiant heights. He loved her at first sight, descended into the Ocean’s realm, and she loved him in return. From their union, the first life took root in the Ocean’s waters. Thus began…

The Time of Creation

Solkalor and Fluere rejoiced, the Ocean looked upon their union with benevolence, and only Kaelesta grew sorrowful. Less and less did Fluere rise to meet her sister, and ever more wistful became the song of the skies. The Ocean, hearing his daughter’s grief, sighed, trembled, and parted his waters. Thus, the lands were formed.

But the barren rocks unveiled by the Ocean were cold and lifeless. Seeing this, Solkalor shared his warmth with Kaelesta, but her gentle hands could not hold it — she let it slip into the Void. And so, Kaelesta’s loneliness deepened further.

Fluere saw this and could not bear it. She broke the one command of her father, descended into the deepest abyss, and stirred the slumbering waters. Their movement awakened Ferrude, lord of Ardenféra, the Molten Depths. He struck the vault of the earth with his great hammer, and heaved the undersea stone. A thousand blazing craters burst forth upon the Ocean’s surface, warming the frozen waters and bringing heat to the land.

Then the Ocean’s wrath turned upon his beloved daughter, and he was filled with turmoil. Great waves rolled across the seas, the land shook and cracked. Thus, the continents were formed.

In his fury, the Ocean drove Fluere toward the nearest shore and hurled his body against the cliffs. His rage surged over the lands, and they would have drowned entirely, but Fluere wrapped her arms around them, shielding them with her own form. Mighty waves crashed upon her back, battering and tormenting her, yet she did not let them pass. Thus was born the great current of Amplectar, the Mother’s Embrace.

Seeing her sister’s torment, Kaelesta wept bitterly. Her tears fell upon the land, becoming rivers and lakes. Solkalor sought to comfort her, warming her with his light, and from that warmth, many plants and beasts were born.

On her knees, Kaelesta begged her father to forgive Fluere, but the wrathful Ocean would not listen. In despair, she soared into the sky and flew to the highest burning mountain. There, she fell to her knees before Ferrude himself, pleading for his aid.

The mighty Ferrude agreed, but only if Kaelesta would give him her love. And so it was, and from their union were born the Flammars, the Flame-Winged.

The Lord of the Molten Depths kept his word. He strode through his subterranean domain, drawing closer to the land, and once more struck the vault of the earth with his great hammer. The land surged and heaved around the great mountain of Ferrir, and from the waters rose blazing cliffs, shielding the land from the Ocean’s fury. These lands Ferrude gifted to his children, the offspring of Kaelesta, and they named them Flammarg.

Then Solkalor, seeing Fluere’s weary form, lifted her in his arms and carried her to the green lands, where he hid her in a deep, cool lake. Thick blood flowed from Fluere’s wounds, staining the lake and the river it birthed with a sapphire hue, filling them with life. From these waters arose the children of Fluere, and they named the river Sanguama, the Mother’s Blood. Their lands they called Bryleah, the Shining Realm, and themselves, the Bryleahns. Thus began…

The Time of Birth

Yet the Flammars soon found Flammarg too confining; they had inherited their father’s tempestuous spirit and their mother’s love of freedom, and they would not be bound to a single land. They came to Bryleah, but they were rough and reckless. The Bryleahns wept, and Fluere grieved at the sight of her children’s suffering. She cast the Flammars back to their fiery mountains.

Kaelesta saw this and sorrowed. She offered Fluere a pact — to divide all the lands equally. But Fluere replied, “Let your children remain in the lands of flame, and mine on the shining shores, but let no others walk the rest.” Thus did Bryleahns and Flammars become enemies, and Fluere and Kaelesta grew estranged. From that time, those lands were called Malkona, the Land of Strife.

Anger took root in Kaelesta’s heart, and she bore a silent grudge. On a moonless night, she took on the form of Fluere and lay with Solkalor, bearing him two children: Aurehjo, the golden-haired giant, and Tranqa, the frail, pale-skinned maiden. She gifted them lands to the east of Bryleah and commanded them to people those lands with children of their own — ones who might one day aid the Flammars in vanquishing the Bryleahns.

Aurehjo fulfilled his mother’s will. He begot children in his own likeness — tall and mighty — and named them Prymars, the Firstborn. Tranqa, in turn, gave life to a pale-skinned, fragile people like herself and called them Pulcars, the Beautiful. But the moment the Sun’s rays touched the Pulcars, they cried out in agony, writhing in torment. The Sun’s heat seared their white skin, burning both Tranqa and her children.

Tranqa spread her arms wide, shielding her children, and ascended high into the sky. Kaelesta rushed after her on the wind, pleading, crying for her to stop, but her daughter would not listen. The ethereal wings of Tranqa burned away, and she remained forever hovering above the land, sheltering her people from the Sun’s wrath. Thus was born Noctaria, the Nightlands, and her children became the Noctides. Tranqa herself never set foot upon the land again, and the wondrous power within her offspring began to wane.

Aurehjo’s children, however, were like Solkalor — fearless before the Sun, fertile, and strong-willed. They swiftly spread across the new lands and flourished.

Solkalor saw all that had transpired and realized Kaelesta had deceived him. Rage overtook him. He forged a spear of pure light and hurled it at Tranqa, but the Mistress of Winds cried out in terror and shielded her daughter. The spear pierced her through, leaving a great wound. From that moment, the Sun above that place burned red with fury, and the Prymars who dwelled beneath it darkened under its fiery glare — thus were born the Brunars, the Brown-Skinned.

Kaelesta, overcome with fury, soared toward the flaming mountains, gathered fire upon the winds of the sky, and carried it to Bryleah. The forests blazed, the Bryleahns screamed in agony, and Fluere trembled. She cast her waters over the shining lands, shielding her children from the raging wrath of the Storm Mistress.

Seeing this, Solkalor’s fury burned ever hotter. He turned his blazing gaze upon Aurehjo’s children, seeking to destroy them. He dried up their rivers and lakes, withered their plants, and smote their beasts. Some of the Prymars fled into the deep forests, where their skin grew lighter and their hair darkened — thus they became the Saltuars, the Forest Dwellers. Others remained upon their scorched lands, enduring all that befell them, though they grew smaller in stature — these became the Arydars, the Children of Drought.

Aurehjo beheld the suffering of his offspring and was enraged. He seized his father upon his shoulders and cast him down to the earth, shattering it all the way to Ardenfera, the Molten Depths. From the gaping wound in the land burst forth Ferrude’s burning breath, consuming the surrounding lands, parching them, turning them to dust. Thus were born the deserts.

So great was the upheaval that Malkona split into three, its sundered lands drifting apart. Only then did Solkalor and Aurehjo cease their battle. Each took hold of the broken earth from opposite ends and pushed it together once more. The lands clashed, crashing against each other, rising into jagged peaks. Thus were born the mountains.

Father and son gazed upon Malkona, now divided by its peaks, and realized there was nothing left to fight over. Fluere raged in vain, for the god of light had calmed and could no longer lift his hand against his own children. Pensive, he turned to the now-silent Kaelesta and bid her lift him to the highest summit. There he remained, lost in thought.

From the thoughts of Solkalor were born gray-skinned and wise children, and they called themselves Kyommndaih, which means “The Prudent Tribe.” As for Kaelesta herself, fearing the consequences of her deeds, she ascended even higher into the sky, vowing never to return to the earth.

Then Fluere grew wrathful beyond measure. She withdrew her waters from the lands and commanded her children to march eastward and strike down the children of Aurehjo. Thus, the Bryleahns waged war against the Prymars, Brunars, Arydars, and Saltuars, and the conflict lasted long. Golden-haired Solkalor and the Mother of Currents bestowed their people with great gifts, enabling them to perform wondrous and terrible feats alike. Thus began…

The Time of Miracles

But the forsaken children of Kaelesta grieved, and in their hearts, fury began to burn. The Flammars multiplied in great numbers, forging dreadful weapons in the molten depths of the mountains, and they descended upon the lands of Malkona like an unstoppable tide.

Fluere and Aurehjo beheld the wrath of the flame-winged ones and understood that their children could not withstand such fury. Thus, they forged not peace, but a truce.

From Aurehjo, Fluere bore Fluaht, the Patron of Pure Waters, and Kustopha, the Keeper of the Source. To her daughter, she entrusted the care of the living river Sanguama, and to her son, the fate of her children, the Bryleahns. Then, Fluere descended back into the sea, going forth to meet the raging Ocean.

Enraged, the Ocean-father drove his defiant daughter toward the shores, striking her against the fiery cliffs of Flammarg, shattering them. Mighty waves poured into the blazing abyss, the sea boiled, and Flammarg was no more.

With the last of her strength, Fluere embraced Malkona once more with a warm current. Yet, she never forgave Solkalor’s betrayal: along the shores of Bryleah, she placed her hands close; by the lands of Aurehjo, she kept them at a distance; and at the farthest edge, she did not close them at all. Thus came to be the warm shores and the cold shores.

As for Aurehjo, he gathered the Prymars around him and descended into the molten depths of Ardenfera to subdue the raging Ferrude. To the Brunars and Arydars, he decreed that they should honor the deeds of their ancestors but shape their lives as they wished — yet the Saltuars did not emerge from their forests to follow their father. And so, he named them Humans.

Fluaht, mourning his mother’s fate, sought to bestow upon the Bryleahns all manner of gifts and wonders. He generously revealed to them the secrets of alchemy and the world, teaching them the mysteries of healing wounds and prolonging life. Kustopha, seeing this, said: “No river flows forever; every current must have its beginning and its end.”

Her brother opposed her, and thus Fluaht and Kustopha quarreled.

Kustopha cast out her brother and his followers from the blooming shores of Sanguama into the misty, fetid swamps. Overcome by sorrow, their minds darkened, their bodies and thoughts became twisted. Thus were born Flumorn and the Nablings.

Exhausted from her quarrel with her brother, Kustopha descended into the Lake of the Source and fell into a deep slumber. Thus, the progenitors of the Bryleahns abandoned Malkona, and the wondrous power within their children began to wane.

The forsaken Bryleahns grew fearful and restless. They climbed into the mountains, calling loudly upon Solkalor, but it was not he who answered them — only the beast-like and fearsome Kyommndaih emerged to meet them. The Bryleahns found their name difficult to pronounce and instead began calling their neighbors Kyönnhi.

The Kyönnhi proclaimed that they named their progenitor Dh’Fhalbh, meaning “The Departed.” Solkalor had left Malkona, and his children lived by their own wisdom, placing no faith in their forebears, shaping their lands as they saw fit by their own will and desire.

The beast-like ones showed the Bryleahns their stone cities, their deep mines, and their strange, wondrous tools. The Bryleahns grew even more afraid and did not trust the Kyönnhi, believing they must have slain Solkalor and, through his flesh, gained the power to perform miracles. Gathering all their strength, the Bryleahns ascended the mountains in force, but the Kyönnhi drove them back to the shore.

The Kyommndaihh seized the Valley of the Source and settled there, advancing no further. From that time on, the Bryleahns were forced to come before the Kyönnhi in supplication, begging for permission to see Kustopha.

Meanwhile, the Humans and the Noctides lived in their own lands, waging no great conflicts against one another and no longer witnessing the light of the progenitors. Thus began the Dark Time.