Nila, the Blue House, lives in either the swamps or by the lake, making them the “Water House”. They, being the second poorest nation, have struggled very hard over recent years to be in good standing with all of the other nations in an attempt to start to regain monetary status. Due to their access to water, they export fish and clay, as well as poison from the swamp frogs and snakes.
Their people are viewed as mildly backward, with strange customs, and often smell of fish, making them not exactly the most popular company. They do build the best boats, however, and are often hired for building river craft in Irencu and Paccai.
Exports: Fish, poison, river craft, rice, sugarcane
The Yellow house lives in a mixture of plains, mountains, and snowy forests, complete with their very own iceberg. Their multiple waterfalls and rivers teem with salmon and other fish, making them a major export. Their people are very reserved, however, doing most of their political maneuvering inside their House. Their House is known for being a vacation spot for many nobles around the country, as their spring and summer during dawn and day have extreme beauty. During the night and winter, however, the House is fraught with blizzards, making it hazardous and impossible to trade in, leaving the House fairly destitute, as they can only interact with the other Houses for half the amount of time.
This is one of the texts I wrote for the character’s of my world, something I named the “Lament of the World”, written by a character named Dair. It is a religious text, viewed almost like the bible in the modern times of the world of Ihelan. You can use as much or as little of the text as you wish, as always.
It tells of the history of the world, and how the gods and goddesses created and shaped it.
A Lament of the World
Maranam
In the beginning, there was the void, an eternal void, Maranam. Xe[1] is the king of life and death, existing outside of space and form, time or conception of thought. Neither good nor evil, xe is of both. Xe is called Maranam, King[2], Lifebringer and Deathkeeper, Eternal, the Void, Ruler over the Sun and Moon.
Origin of the gods
Then existed Time and Space, brought by Maranam out of the void, intertwined. Where one was, so was the other. Such was their interaction, a fluidity that perceived conscious, and they felt the emptiness that was void.
Thus it came to pass that they birthed Keriyan and Kantiran, the Sun and the Moon, Light and Dark in a formless waste of the void. They existed in time and space, and time passed.
The Twins shed their light and shadows, but could not touch, as light and dark repel each other. Desperate to create a place of equality, a land where they might meet, they created the world. The world mixed dark and light in perfection, day and night, with sunrise and sunset a medium where they could touch.
But they went beyond, taking corporeal form, walking the world together, shaping mountains and rivers. But the world was barren, devoid of life.
Origin of the Eight
When they had formed the world in its entirety, they brought life into the world, covering it green. But they strived to create intelligent life, and so created the animals. But the animals lacked the powers of speech and reason, and so the Eight were taken and formed, imbued with the divinity of the Twins. They were the smartest of the animals, the divine power giving them intelligence equal to their masters’.
The eight were so split: four and four, light and dark. The servants of the Sun, the daughters of Light, and the servants of the Moon, the sons of Darkness. The daughters of Light, they were so named Velai, the white Elf, Mancal, the orange Warforged, Irencu, the yellow Goliath, and Nila, the blue Halfling. The sons of Darkness, they were so named hCaruppu, the black Dragonborn, Sivappu, the red Dwarf, Paccai, the green Gnome, and Campal, the gray Tiefling. Thus were the Eight brought into existence and imbued with thought and reason.
Origin of the Kulantaikal
The Twins delighted in the Eight, and so gave them charge of the world they had created, watching and shepherding them as they learned and grew. Thus the Eight, at the will of their masters, spawned the Kulantaikal, humanoids like the corporeal form of the Sun and Moon, as the Eight were bound to the shape of the mindless animals in which they came. In pity for their animal brethren, they raised them to be intelligent as well, imbuing them with the ability to speak and read.
The Kulantaikal were numbered, eight thousand and eight they were numbered, and they covered the earth. They created the first cities, civilization beyond the wild, showing their own intelligence, a link to the gods. They interacted peacefully, using their magic of song to sing praises and glories to the Twins, who left the world to watch from afar. The Eight were pleased with them, and so led them, creating the Eight Nations.
Origin of Mankind
Then Maranam, King, Lifebringer and Deathkeeper, Eternal, the Void, Ruler over the Sun and Moon, touched the world and brought forth life, the first of Humankind. On the day of equal standing did xe touch the world, creating those of the Sun and the Moon.
Being of Maranam, the Humankind held both good and evil, light and dark, born on the day of equal standing and so mirrors of both.
Awed, the Eight and the Kulantaikal watched as they interacted and learned, proving themselves intelligent, though their souls were not mixed with the divine, like the animals that the Twins had first created. They were mortal, and so brought life and succumbed to death, reproducing to number high in every nation.
The First of the Muttirai
And so the Kulantaikal intermingled with the Humankind, copying their form and bearing children who were marked by the Eight, sharing their powers. They held great strength and length of life, and so were revered by their fellows. They became the leaders of their inner councils, acting as emissaries to their divine cousins, messengers to the Eight.
They were so named the Muttirai, those who bore the seal of the Eight.
The First War
The Humankind grew in number and strength, having equal share in every nation, and the leaders of the Kulantaikal grew jealous of the attention and power they received. They whispered out rumors into their people, and withdrew support of their cousins, and the jealousy grew hard.
The Humankind saw this and responded in kind, and soon the streets were walked stiff necked and proud, and secret councils were held in hiding. The Humankind met with their Muttirai, creating bindings that could hold fast Kulantaikal, rendering their power as the void.
On the same day of their birth, of equal standing of Sun and Moon, blood ran in the Eight Nations. Though the Kulantaikal had the power of the Eight, the Muttirai and the Humankind were numerous, and so the Kulantaikal were bound, trapping seven of eight of their soldiers.
The Eight cried their suffering, but could not stop what was done. Then were the years that the first weapons of killing were created, and bloodshed entered the minds of men.
The Rebuilding of the Eight Nations
When the last of the Kulantaikal were hidden so they could not be found, the Humankind turned back to their separate nations, rebuilding them with the Muttirai at their head. The Eight returned to lead them, spreading the idea of peace once more. They were as gods and kings, leading each nation with a council of seven Muttirai.
Such had been the length of time that the Sun and Moon had departed, they worked with separate minds, quarreling among each other while striving for peace. The Eight, being split in power, each held equal dominance over another, and so held even council. They kept with tradition, ruling the day separate from ruling the night, as was right, with the daughters holding sway over the day, and the sons over the night.
The Humankind formed themselves in difference, believing a first among equals was needed. Thus the Eight mirrored their action at their behest, the White and the Black, Velai and Karuppu taking preference over their brothers and sisters, as they were the first to be raised, and thus the eldest of their kin.
The Eight worked closely with the Humankind, choosing the wise and powerful for their councils. Time passed, curbing the blood in the memories of the Humankind, and memories of the Kulantaikal turned akin to mist.
The First Kulanai
But old hatreds had not died in entirety, and so the Kulantaikal prayed to Maranam, who touched them, forming them as his own, making them Kulanites. Though drained of much power, they mirrored the human form, and so passed as Human, though they retained their length of life and song.
As time passed, they intermingled with mankind once more, creating the Kulanai, the unmarked, possessing the power of the Eight without the seal. They held the song, and it resounded in them. But the existence of the Kulanai showed the Kulantaikal had emerged, and so the memories of blood rose up from within.
The Purge and Binding of the Eight
In secret, the councils of man met, across the eight nations and within, conspiring to rid themselves of the Kulanites and the restraints of the Eight, who preached peace. When they stood ready, they culled the nations of the Kulan blood, purifying themselves in their death. The Kulanites fled to the corners of the world, creating their own nations and cities away from their blood minded cousins.
The Eight howled at the slaughter, but their councils, ready for their wrath, trapped them. One by one, they were stripped of their corporeal forms, leaving them as weakened spirits, only able to touch minds and dreams.
The Etu, are no more, but spirits.
This was as of eight and forty years ago, as I stood and watched.
Maranam forgive me, but war has overtaken the world, and the wraith[3] is in the minds of men. And I watched.
I am dead
Dair
Seventh Leader of the Velaiyan Council of Eight
[1] Xe is used because Maranam is genderless
[2] For translation in to English, this has been changed to King. In reality, King and Queen in the language is the same word
[3] It is uncertain what Dair meant by the “wraith” but it is likely she is referencing the darkness of Maranam
The House of Mancal live in the great tundra and cold, used to more snow than anyone but the Irencu, who have mountain slopes near the glacier that beat them by inches. Because of the great pines and maples that grow on their land, they export syrup, brown sugar, and wood as well as furs in large quantities, making them the “Sweet House”.
They heavily compete with Paccai, who also export wood and furs, making them diplomatic and trading rivals, since Irencu separates them from any physical warring that they might desire.
The people of Mancal are warm and inviting, with large fires open to everyone. They turn away no one and are known to be very nice and open, as well as honest and trustworthy. They are polite to the extreme, to the extent that someone is said to “be turning orange” if they are over apologizing.
Exports: Brown Sugar, syrup, furs, wood, ice
Imports: coal, grains
Wealth: 4th wealthiest, though politically fairly inactive
