Elven Creation Myth/Mailon of many wives

Once upon a time, when Mazre was still young, and the Epoch of Myth was still unwinding its tendrils into history, the Firstborn Evirynn committed a terrible crime. She left her perch in the mountains of Stonewreath, she left her clutch and her husband. Taking upon herself the heart of the land, she conceived and bore from the egg a manlike creature, whose ears grew sharp and whose eyes glimmered with the gift of Life. The child went on his way, and was named Terr.

Then Evirynn flew to the sun, and after the night fell, conceived a child, and bore the egg, and came from it a similar creature, but he burned brighter than his brother, and he lighted the dark. The child went on his way and was named Aelius.

Evirynn returned to her perch for a fortnight, and lived with her husband and her wyrm, but she grew tired, and flew to the moons, and conceived twins of different fathers, and they reflected the Light, and they saw through the shadows. The children went on their way they were named Selene and Janus.

Evirynn then flew farther than she had ever before, and she met with the stars, and when she returned to her perch, she clutched three eggs, and her husband was filled with doubt. Then the eggs bore three creatures much like the others, but they glowed palely, and they shined with many colors. The children were named Astri, Zoriana and the youngest was named Mailon. The husband of Evirynn, who was named Zeus, in his fury called upon Arulan, who speaks for the ((SYSTEM)).

Arulan came and Zeus told him of Evirynn’s crime, and the ((SYSTEM)) was enraged, for she had committed the first adultery on Mazre. And was believed to be of the Light. She was punished and sent to the land of death and left to rot with those who bring it. Let all Memento Mori, for even the Firstborn may be exiled. Arulan named the children Elf, taking the name from the stories of the Many. As years passed, and the celestial children grew to adulthood, feeling a call to a certain place, they met in a grove near Stonewreath, and they spoke, for they had never seen others so like unto themselves.

Those bore of sin and evil have hearts that are already weak to its temptations, and so it came to pass that brother fell in love with sister, and Terr married Zoriana, and bore two sons and a daughter, and Aelius married Selene, and bore five sons and no daughters and Janus married Astri, and bore seven daughters and no sons.

Mailon was disgusted, but his siblings swore him to secrecy of their accursed unions. He honored his word and distanced himself from them.

One day, the daughters of Janus and Astri wished to go for a picnic, and in searching for a proper place, they came across a glade of trees that they had never seen before. The glade was wholesome and near a pond, so they set down to eat. They laughed noisily and splashed the water and drew out of the glade an old woman, whose kind they had never seen before.

“What manner of being art thou?” Asked the eldest daughter, Aurora

The woman replied, “I woudst ask the same thing of you, as you are unlike any being I have yet drawn to this yew.”

Aurora, young and unversed in the manner of the fae, said “I am Aurora, daughter of Janus, and I am Luna Elf.”

The woman laughed, “And how is this be? Only Elf who live are bound by kith and kin.”

Aurora realized her mistake, and she stood to flee, when the trees bound her and her sisters in their roots. The Fae called for Arulan, who appeared from one of the trees.

The daughters wept, and Arulan called for The Fae to free them, and he told them to return to their parents, but since they ran, they would share in their guilt. The next night, the elves where once again called to the grove in Stonewreath, and they were met they’re by Arulan.

He asked “Which among you hast child?”

And they lied and scoffed, and blamed the other.

Arulan asked again, “Which among you hast child?”

Again, they lied, but this time Mailon spoke and said, “All but I, Speaker.”

“Why did you not speak sooner?” Arulan asked,

“I did not wish to break my word.” Mailon

“Very well, of this crime you are pure, for your heart shows no malice.” This was not Arulan, that spoke, but the ((SYSTEM)) “For those who the crime does fall upon, your sentence is less than your mother’s and more. Your crime will be the bane of your race, and yet twill define it, Astri and her daughters will bear no more daughters, and those of Selene no sons, Zoriana’s children will have no more than three chances during their life to bring forth a living child, for one thousand generations, on the one thousand and first cycle of birth, the punishment shall be stayed, but not unto the next, until another thousand have passed.”

Arulan began to leave, but Mailon entreated him to stay for a moment,

“Sir, I beg that I be taken from this place, any all places that the spawn of my kin may inhabit, for I feel naught but disgust for those whose blood is shared too freely among too few veins, I wish that I may be taken to my mother, so that I may live my days not in exile, but in hiding of the grotesque welps that will spring from the overripe hearts of my siblings. That I may fly from the lands of plague, and famine, and war, and leave to the land of death, I beg this of you, and I swear upon my stellar father that I will seek for my kind no trouble and evil, and I will do all that I can to mitigate this sin that has tainted my blood and those who share it, and these things I cannot promise if I stay in a place where they will meet me, and my disgust may grow into revulsion and hate.”

Arulan and the ((SYSTEM)) consulted and then spoke to Mailon, “You will go to Mori then, but be warned, one day, the place of exile will become reconciled with Mazre, and then, if you still live, none will stop them.”

“Very well, then I will train my blood to be cooled against them, and my heart to be guarded in the innocence that birth hath given them.” Mailon said,

Arulan nodded, and a great beast with wings came and took Mailon across many seas, and the wind blew favorably, and the sun beat softly upon his brow, until the beast took him to the place where his mother was exiled.

Evirynn welcomed her son warmly, her heart becoming chastised with her exile, and for many suns they lived secluded in the deepest [1]mori, however, as time waned, Evirynn said to Mailon.

“Go out, and find yourself a wife among the peoples of this land.”

And Mailon did. He married a Morian by the name of Martha, and they had seven children, Bruce, Kalel, Bartholmew, Hal, Diane, Aruthur, and John, but the blood of Mori is thicker than the blood of stars, and the children were very little elf. The people of Mori are short lived, and before twenty years had passed, and Mailon arranged their own marriages. Then, forty more, and Martha withered. Filled with grief, Mailon returned to his mother, but after twenty suns she said again.

“Go out, and find yourself a wife among the peoples of this land.”

And Mailon did. He married a widow by the name of Suzane, but they had no children, and she withered.

And many times, this repeated, until the blood of elves was mingled with the blood of the exiled, and they became something that was unlike themselves, and they lived longer, and magic came more readily to the hands it once avoided. And the blood of Elf and Fae over many generations mixed with the blood of the Morians who were once Many. These are the names of the Morian wives of Mailon.

October, Ursala, Layla, Ruth, Barbra, Violet, Marigold, Ethel, Atalanta, Ester, Veria, Faith, Marie, Scarlet, Bri, Ivy, Hope, Lorelei, Mei, Angel, Donna, Gemma, Philomena, Cora, Gin, Tilly, Cassiopeia, Madelyn, Amy, Mira, and Roxy.

After Roxy withered, and his children where grown, Mailon tired of his beloved dying, and retired from the world of mortals. For a hundred years, no whisper was heard of the elf on Mori. It was then that Evirynn grew old, for her soul was of the Many, and still held the curse of death, and Evirynn did not wither, but instead was placed in a deep sleep, and she became buried under stone, and now a mountain lays over her and a city atop it, named Marcsworth. Mailon, wrapt in grief, left the mori[2] glade and took to wander.

For three years he wandered, then on the night of the fourth year, he stepped into a Fey Wild. Inside lived the Faery Talia, who met with Mailon and they broke bread. Mailon stayed in the Fey Wild for many days, and soon Talia and Mailon wed. The fae are long lived and their blood is strong, but Talia wished to give Mailon an elven child, so that he may have more of his kind. So, she carved a log into the shape of a child, and set upon it a glimmer so that it would appear alive. They named the child Justine, and Mailon did not wonder that his daughter stayed an infant, for that is the way of the Fey Wilds, and time seemed to stay frozen, for if the Fae lack one thing, it is time.

But so many years passed that the magic drained Talia’s soul, and she withered, and the glimmer faded, and Mailon was left with a corpse and a log. He cried over his wife who lied, and his daughter who never lived, and tears fell upon the log. The next morn, when Mailon awoke he found that a tree had sprouted, and laughter flitted through its leaves, and a child played at its roots, at first Mailon cried out for his daughter, but as he grew closer, he realized that the child was not Justine, but she had her eyes, and her voice, though she did not have the skin or ears of an elf, Mailon reached out to the child, but as if she was a ghost, she didn’t notice as his hand fell through her shoulder.

The child was not Justine, but Mailon named her Rose and stayed near her. The child was alone, and Mailon knew this loneliness, as though he had siblings, he was the only child of his father. And none of his children or lovers where elves, and none understood the loss of the elves. So, in the moonless night, Mailon found his father in the sky and called to him, and his father answered saying.

“Why do you call to me? You have not thought of me since you swore on my name.”

And Mailon said, “I wish to ask how I might spare another of the loss.”

And his father said. “I will show you. Reach out your hand.”

Mailon did so, and starlight twisted around his fingertips, “Weave the light into a form, and life will be born.”

So, Mailon weaved the light into a tree. And in the morn, a woman was sitting beside Rose, and she gave her another name, and they did not see Mailon, and thus was born the Dryads. And Mailon wandered many years, and he was known across all of Mori, and the Ents came across the sea to Mori and they settled in a plain that became a forest, but they where old and weak, and fire charred their trunks, so the companions of Arulan slept and the Dryads from this forest very wholesome, and since then the Ents and the Dryads have never been separated.

Mailon wandered and he settled in a cave near his mother’s mountain. His father watched his heir, and the other stars where envious, so the stars that made up the Gemini conversed, and they came up with a plot. The north star heard of these whispers, and told them to the triplets of the summer triangle, and they told others and the rumors traveled far, until stars that did not look down upon Mazre heard of them, and they wondered of this place where stars had children.

One of these stars, who had no name, for the Many had never given her one, heard these whispers, for stars only whisper, and she sent a message on a beam of starlight toward Mazre, and a star known to Ridoum as Ghith caught the light and sent it to Mailon’s father. Mailon’s father sent a message to the nameless star and they agreed that a marriage would be arranged between his own child and one that she would create.

The nameless star called upon the Sun, (there is quite a difference between stars and suns, despite what the Many seem to think) and the Sun called upon Kwim the sea dragon, who would pull the cradle of Leona, and Kwim promised the Sun to make a daughter for the nameless Star. Kwim, not knowing how this could be done, came to the shore of Ladora, to the city of Volom, before it was raised into the sky by the Harpy King, and he called upon the goblin smith Edurn, who was a legend even in the earliest days.

Edurn promised to teach Kwim the art of smithing if he would light his forge, and Kwim agreed. Now, as the Harpies and Dwarves who lived in Volom feared Kwim, Edurn took him to a beach, and he used his magic to build up a great forge, and he taught Kwim to build all manner of things, and how to use dragon fire to breathe life into golems, but the metals where far too coarse to become the daughter of the star, and wood could not be forged by a dragon.

In his frustration, Kwim flew high and scorched the beach until the sand glowed red, but when he returned, he found that the melted sand and created a new substance, and when it was flung into the water, became clear and hard, but still fragile. Kwim showed Edurn the material and they together named it ‘glass’, and Edurn dismissed it as too frail to be forged, but Kwim worked many hours and days, blowing fire onto the sand, and twisting it with his claws. After three weeks, he had built a statue of a beautiful woman with the shape of an elf and skin of glass. He set one of his scales as her heart and clothed her in a gown sewn from rubies. And then the nameless star wove her light into the sculpture, and her color became the green of her mother, but it flashed blue, and sometimes red, like the scale she held as her heart. The glass became mailable like flesh, but she was always transparent, like a stained window in the chapels of the knights.

The star’s daughter was given the name Adelaide. And Kwim, though he was not her father, taught her to speak the language of dragons, and of elves, and of mori, (For he had been there to meet the FirstDragon), and he gave her a large sum of gold from his own horde, and many gowns and seeds that would grow trees made of silver. Then Kwim took her to Mori on his back.

Mailon, at this time, had lived in the cave for a period of 150 years, and he had built himself a large house outside of it. And Kwim came with Adelaide and he left her and her gifts, and after bowing to Evirynn’s mound, he flew away.

And Mailon inquired to Adelaide who she was, and she said that she was the daughter of a star, and that her mother and his father wished them to wed. Mailon, whose heart had grown many scars, said, despite his loneliness, that she was young, and he had lived for many years, and the Epoch of Myth was ending, and that he could not marry her, because she to him, was a child.

And Adelaide was quite troubled by this. For she had been created to be his bride, and she was not sure what she was to do, for she did not know anything of the world. Mailon saw that she was troubled and told her this:

“I will promise you this, if you follow me for two hundred years, and I show you every sight of Mori, I will teach you every secret of Mazre, every goodly place and every heart that beats upon its land, and if you still wish to marry me, then I shall marry you.”

And two hundred years passed, and they traveled over every isle and forest of Mori, and they saw every sight and every secret was told, and when Adelaide was no longer a child, and she found that she loved Mailon because of his kindness, rather than of her birth, they married, and they had many children, and many stars called to Kwim to make them daughters and sons, and there was never too few veins in Mori, and they settled in the Ent-Forest and the Dryads made sure that no child was ever lost among the shifting trees. Mailon’s father looked down at his son and he sent messages to Adelaide’s mother, and they where happy in the knowledge that their arrangements had been successful.

[1] Mori here refers to forest, not the land of exile, this was common in texts from the epoch of myth.

[2] forest