A'golm

movement, mimicking the only motion he could bear witness to, the Cosmic Forces. The Cosmic Forces were used as models for the breeze with which he would give movement and life to his first creation, The First Born Tree. Grass seeds were spread across the rock and soil so that we might see this breeze close up. Other flora was derived from the first grass sprouts with new shapes given to them, making it so the breeze made them sway in new ways. Water would be used to give life to the flora and eventually, primitive fauna would join the green plants on the soil and rock now covered in grass. Replicas of the First Born Tree were sprouted and given motion though none would be as grand as the first. 

The father would be their guardian and in return, they would forever thank the Father for his deed. The Father’s creations would bestow upon him a name, A’golm was that name. And so A’golm had matured. A’golm had borne fruits from his branches, seeds fell from his blossoms. Soon A’golm had covered a small part of the world in nature, the greatest angelical gift bestowed upon our world. Unsatisfied with just populating one corner of the world, A’golm set off on a great journey. His journey would take him far as to spread this gift of nature everywhere so that all the soil and all the rock could benefit.

 

II - Voyage

A’golm would lift his heavy roots and as he stepped, new life would sprout and germ from the brown and grey lands which he had found barren. The creatures that make their homes in the forests would follow and settle in the shadow of A’Golm’s footsteps and contribute to the life of the soil and rock. Great forests would sprout throughout the world as A’golm strove to bring his gifts everywhere.

On his journey, as he stepped upon the soil and rock, a young cheerful creature would come to his roots calling for A’golm to get closer. The creature in question was a mischievous fox. Playful and cunning animals, this young fox thanked A’golm for his gifts of life and vegetation but the fox had tastes for carnal foods. Berries and grasses would no longer suffice for this fox's appetite. A’golm humbly accepted the thanks and considered the fox's dilemma. A’golm had wished for everything to live in harmony. The animals would, unlike the plants, not be fueled by water and soil. The animals would not stay still long enough to gather what they need from the water or soil, a sacrifice A’golm made for the additional movement of animals. Instead, the animals were to borrow from the plants, the animals would eat and grow thanks to the fruits and leaves of the plants that could use water and soil to nourish themselves and in return, once their life had expired and death came, the animal would return to the soil so that the plants could reuse the decaying body. The fox pleaded with A’golm to allow the creature to taste the flesh of another animal, after all, all animal energy was to return to the plants upon their death so what did it matter that that energy came through one instead of two? The generous creator acquiesced and granted the fox its wish on one condition. The fox must agree that just as it would eat others’ flesh, others could eat its flesh. The fox agreed to A’Golm’s offer and bound its way back into the forest joyfully.

A’golm’s journey continued until he noticed something. The pact he had made with the fox had been unfair towards the smaller animals. Rabbits would become prey to the foxes and wolves of the forests but who would hunt the foxes and wolves? It was clear that the foxes’ side of the deal was impossible to uphold. The larger animals would run amok of the forests and prairies they now called home, dominating any smaller creatures, but A’golm had grown tired from his great journey and could think of nothing else but rest. As A’golm lay down in the forest, he started a great slumber.

 

III - Respite

As A’golm slept for the first time, he could not stop worrying about the well-being of the life he had brought to the world. As a great creator, he felt love and compassion for what he created and wanted to watch over them all forever but he also wanted to continue spreading the joys of life to the world. The imbalance created by the deal with the fox was still not solved and who knows what other tricks the fox could be up to while A’golm slumbered. Nonetheless, A’golm could not help himself and drifted to the land of Nod. In this land of dreams, A’golm’s greatest wishes could come true, there were no limitations to what A’golm could achieve. He could simultaneously spread life and watch over it as he did so. He could work on solutions to problems on the mortal plain like that of the fox’s deal and guarding his creations. A’golm would eventually awaken once more from his slumber and will not be able to solve the issues created by the fox after he awakens.

 

IV - The Elves

A’golm dreamt of beings, similar to his form, able to walk on two legs and have two arms for grasping and tinkering. They would take form in the land of Nod and meet A’golm there. A’golm would explain to them that they must protect the swaths of forest created by him in his name, keeping everything in check while he spreads the gift of life to all the corners of the world. Knowing the new creatures would be hesitant at accepting this, A’golm promised once they had carried out their duty, and only then, they could return to the land of Nod and live out eternity in that paradise. A’golm bestowed the name of Elf upon them as they agreed and were thrust into the mortal plain, stepping out of A’golm’s ear.

Soon after, A’golm would wake from his slumber and to his surprise, the elves were there, waiting for him to commence his teachings so that they may protect nature on his behalf. And so did the Elven people take their first breath of air on the mortal plain and so commenced a new chapter on the world.

Book Two: The book of Attainment

 

I - the First Lesson

As the Elves climbed down from the land of Nod, and A’golm awoke from his slumber, he stayed with the elves around his sleeping spot. In honour of this momentous occasion, the Elves built a large stone circle around it as a place to learn from A’golm as he taught them his ways. 

In the beginning, the elves were taught many things such as compassion, generosity, and forgiveness. But the true lessons would not commence until the fox would once more come forth to A’golm. An opportunity arose to teach the Elves. A’golm took it upon himself to make sure the fox upheld its side of the deal. A’golm taught the Elves how to hunt and prepare meat to feed themselves and then what parts of the animal were to return to nature, such as the strong bones and ligaments. They were to make sure the animal did not suffer as the life forces left its body and that a misplaced arrow would be shameful. The Elves practised their aim intensely to help the fox keep its side of the deal.

The fox was slain by the Elves and they prepared the dead fox for a feast in celebration. A’golm taught them how to use fire to prepare the game they would hunt and to combine it with the fruits of the forest. And so it was that A’golm had taught the Elves how to feed themselves and keep the terms of the Fox Pact intact.

 

II - The Second Lesson

The Elves grew weary of sleeping in the open, vulnerable to attacks from wild animals, unhappy with the Fox Pact and its new keepers. The Elves would have to put up with the storms and inhospitable weather the Cosmic Forces would throw at them from time to time, as well as the seasons changing and the forest growing cold for half of a cosmic cycle. A’golm would take pity on their mortal plight and help them construct tents and houses in the forests to keep the rain off of their heads. If the Elves were to ever need wood for these new roofs, they would have to replant and care for the offspring of any tree that they felled. They would nurture this sapling until it reached maturity and could fend for itself, at which point the Elves would treat it as part of the forest just like its ancestor before it.

To keep the cold from freezing them, A’golm would teach them that dead wood was a better source of fire as it sped up the return of the former tree to the forest and burnt better than trees still carrying sap within them. Fire was also useful for light beneath the new roofs as outside light could not enter beneath the roofs.

Now that the Elves were safe from threats to their well-being, A’golm also taught them how to revere him as their creator and deity. They were to worship him every day, giving thanks and praying for his great journey to never end. Not satisfied with such meagre actions, the elves would start gathering in mass at special sites that hold great memories of lessons A’golm would teach them, such as the site of the Fox Pact, A’golm’s Resting Place, The forest of the first hunt. As well as places that hold memories, they would also gather at A’golm’s first creation and name Min’nora Alda. 

 

III - The Third Lesson

As the Elves learnt more and more from A’golm, they no longer needed to rely on him to survive on their own. It was at this time that he would teach them how to keep the forest as its guardians, protecting it while A’golm forever spread life to the world. They had already learnt the importance of upholding the Fox Pact, but there was yet more work to be done. The plants’ reliance on the Breeze to move meant they had trouble tending to the soil they grew in and other plants might invade their space, stealing their soil and water and causing the plant to die. The Elves were to be taught how to make sure every plant got what it needed to survive. Some select Elves would also be taught the difficult craft of Botany with the aim of diagnosing and treating illnesses that might come to the plants. The Elves were taught to make sure everything and everyone came to an end when they were intended and never before. All the injured and all the sick would be treated equally so that the forest never finds itself unbalanced again. 

 

IV - The Final Lesson

A’golm would go on to pass all the knowledge the Elves would need to carry out their duty. Only a few things remained. Some Elves stood out as the most devout and zealous Elves. These Elves would begin to notice their form change. The Elves considered themselves unnatural-looking creatures brought over from Nod, with barely any fur, no leaves, muzzles, paws or anything of the sort. Instead, having feet, arms, hands, small noses and long pointy ears. The Elves did not dislike their form, they thought it gave them grace and elegance but did wish to blend into the forest more. The most zealot Elves would have their wishes granted, slowly resembling more and more like the things they would interact with. Some would grow horns, moss, leaves, scales… Some would have their limbs transformed, legs becoming paws or hooves, nails into claws. Yet they would retain the overall appearance of an Elf. 

Over time as the Elves complete Cosmic cycle after Cosmic cycle under the gaze of A’golm, some Elves would grow old and weaker. Life draining from them, eventually the first Elf to live out the entirety of its mortal lifespan would succumb to death. The Elves no being creatures of the forest like the beings they protected, A’golm had to teach them how to make sure the dead Elf made it back to Nod to live out eternity in paradise. A’golm taught them that for the elf to return to Nod, a spiritual connection must be made with the resting place of A’golm. The Elves then built a replica stone circle to the one found at the Resting Place of A’golm. At the centre, the Elves placed the lifeless elf and covered it with a large stack of rocks. This cairn would allow for multiple elves to be put to rest for their journey back to Nod. 

With this final nugget of wisdom passed on by A’golm, it was finally time for him to leave the Elves and continue on his journey. A’golm would simply walk away from the Elves, spreading life as he stepped at peace with himself knowing the Elves would protect what he created.

Book Three: The Book of Scrying

 

I - El’halafarin Faceran

As A’golm left the Elves alone and restarted his great journey, the Elves were confronted with a leadership problem. For many cycles, A’golm had led and taught the Elves and his authority and wisdom were unquestioned. Now with their deity gone, a vacuum was left in the power structure of Elven society. The Elves would, without the guidance and unification of A’golm, devolve into many different tribes and spread themselves far and wide across the forests, fiercely protecting it from would-be wrongdoers. This state of uncivilised existence would continue for many more cycles until one elf stood out.

Before A’golm left the Elves, a select few had shown themselves particularly devout to A’golm, none more so than El’halafarin Farecan. Considered by his tribe, the Isleirili’i, to be the wisest Elf to still walk the mortal plain, El’halafarin had written many of A’golm’s teachings in a journal. He taught his tribe how to read his markings and slowly through interaction with neighbouring tribes, the written Elven language would spread far and wide. El’halafarin became known as his tribe's Scryer and led it to relative prosperity. Many other Elves from other tribes would go to him seeking advice for all manner of problems. El’halafarin had grown a large following of Elves in a short time and through consultation with his fellow tribespeople, founded the Scryership to lead the Elves as A’golm had done all those cycles ago. El’halafarin would voyage around all the tribes, bringing them under one banner with his vision of once again uniting the Elves and bringing prosperity to the forests like never before. An eminently holy Elf, he often relied on his former tribespeople for advice when not even he had the answers the Elves seeked.

Many more cycles passed, and El’halafarin grew weaker and weaker, Nod soon awaited the Elf. In his absence from the Mortal plain, El’halafarin appointed two successors to the Scryership. Two of his most trusted and wisest tribespeople, two Elves he knew, could lead the Elves together.

 

II - Min’nora Alda

Many more cycles would pass, and many Scryers would lead the Elves in this time, keeping the ship steady. The council of Scryers numbered four members by this time; Dh’aenwyn Valxi, Ys’Kharis Vensus, Ae’Namis Belfir, Ve’Ieolena Advalur. These Scryers grew tired of not having a dedicated location to convene in. The Elves by this time had multiplied many times over and governed from the middle of small forest villages had become impractical. In an effort to ease this and assemble all the members of the Scryership’s governing bodies, the Scryers all agreed on constructing a seat of spiritual power, but the question of where remained unanswered.

A handful of cycles, filled with debate on where to construct this place, passed but finally, the Scryers had decided. The Firstborn tree would host the holiest of gatherings, ceremonies, and rituals. Min’nora Alda was born. Elves would flock from every forest to live at the roots of the Tree while the Scryers would gather, high above in the branches, able to see down on every follower of A’golm.

 

III - The unfaithful

There came a time, not long after Min’nora Alda’s construction, that a great plague of the mind overtook some of the Elves. At first, it started when some troublesome Elves believed the Scryers had been overcome with greed and corruption, causing trouble for the Elves living at the roots of the tree. Shortly the minor disturbances turned into murder plots, destruction of property, and assault among other uncivilised crimes. This madness spread to more and more Elves, corrupted by an evil plague of the mind whose source was unknown. The unfaithful as they came to be known in wider Elven society were expelled from Min’nora Alda by the Scryers. They returned to tribal dwellings, attacking any they did not recognise and denouncing the leadership of the holy Scryers as straying too far from A’golm’s teachings.

As these claims were obvious to all to be ridiculous, many Elves stayed true to A’golm and continued following the Scryers’ holy words and continued to seek them out for aid whenever it was necessary. The unfaithful would go on to attack and kill many Elves who had not been infected by the madness that afflicted them, leaving the Scryers with no choice but to lead campaigns of extermination against the unfaithful and any agents of madness that might have infiltrated the Scryership.

The imbalance brought by the tribes of the unfaithful proved hard to eradicate. Plants and animals would not return to the forest after their passing, the Fox Pact was vulnerable, and the unfaithful would not return to Nod once they passed, being forever trapped between realms, not welcome on the mortal plain nor in the land of Nod. It is therefore a Scryer’s duty to wipe out the madness and cure the forests of the unfaithful.