Godmen

The Godmen were the mythical inhabitants of a landmass contiguous with the modern Natorn Archipelago, said to be the ancestors of all the Thalsic peoples of the northern Civilised Worldplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigCivilised World

The Civilised World refers to the known regions of human civilisation, notably the continent of Anásthias, the Natorn Archipelago and surrounding islands.

Gastrinimer's 3rd century BME Map of the World, showing Anásthias and the Natorn Isles. Note: old maps place north to the right.AnásthiasAnásthiasAnásthiasAnásthias. In the Emerald Epoch they created the first great civilisation, referred to as the Realm of the Godmen. The Godmen are said to be mytho-historic, memories of an ancestor race shrouded by millennia of folkloreplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigFolklore

Folklore

This is in a series of articles about oral traditions, tales, folk practices, and folklore.

topics cult1.

In Thalsic mythology the Godmen were the first humans to inhabit Helevos. They were born from the hermaphroditic god called The One, fashioned to live upon the soil of Helevos. They were mortal but preternaturally strong, tall, gifted and living hundreds of years, building the first great Realm of the Godmen with shining cities where all lived in comfort and luxury. Over the generations this divine blood thinned and the Godmen civilisation declined as the blood thinned, leaving modern humans with relatively lower lifespans.

Myths of the Godmen are found throughout the Thalsic cultures of northern and eastern Anásthiasplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnásthias

Anásthias [a-NAS-thee-ass / ænæsθiːæs], or [an-ass-THEE-as] is an equatorial island continent, heart of the Civilised World. The north straddles the equator and is hot and humid, while most of the equatorial centre is an upland plateau with fertile river valleys, and stretches of arid plains and desert in the shadow of the mountains. The south is temperate but more wild, separated from the civilisations of the north by the almost impassable Harthera and the Natorn Archipelago, although today they are only considered to be historic fact in Anrel. Many cultures have myths of other god-like progenitors, and most modern scholars in the learned institutions of Harthera and Ororr treat tales of the Godmen as allegory or myth.

In Hartheraplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigHarthera

The Hartheran Union, commonly named Harthera, is an imperialist maritime nation state dominating the northeast of Anásthias. It is one of the two great powers of the modern epoch, arguably the most technologically and militarily powerful nation in the world, only matched by the vast size and wealth of its neighbour, viridOrorrMEOrorrOrorrOrorrOrorr the Green Sea Origin Theoryplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigGreen Sea Origin Theory

The Green Sea Origin is a comparatively recent theory of natural history, proposed to explain why Helevos has two distinct and incompatible kingdoms of life - the virid and the green kingdoms. It was first theorised by Herf Gerlatin of Harlon University, in his 1086 ME book Man from the GreenviridGreengreenViridViridgreengreenviridgreenviridgreengreenviridviridGreenHarthera is currently fashionable, a belief that humans evolved from more primitive life forms in lands now lost beneath the sea.

When Thalsic people first encountered other racesplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigRace and Ethnicity

The concepts of race and ethnicity in the Civilised World are complex, related to issues of history, geography and culture. Some theories of the origins of humanity claim that all humans are descended from a single group of original ancestors, while others believe mankind is made up of distinct races with separate origins. EloyounHartheraAnrelOrorrOrorrEloyounGodmenEloyounOrorrMunatanEloyounAnásthiasGodmen, their cultural and physical differences led Thalsic peoples to believe they had a separate origin, and were not descended from the same Godmen. This has led to some discrimination both in Ororrplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigOrorr

Ororr [o-ROARR, ɒ̝rɔ'ɾ], also called the Holy Motherland of Ororr, is a theocratic nation in Anásthias, one of the world's great powers. It the largest nation in the world, perhaps the largest empire in history, occupying the entire northwest of the continent between the mountains and the sea. Ororrviridlanguagelanguagelanguage and in Harthera in particular, with Thalsic supremacists believing the Thalsic peoples are superior. The Gyeil people in particular are looked down on for their shorter lifespans and shorter stature.

“Godmen” is a mytho-historic term, applied both to the general inhabitants of this early civilisation, as well as more specifically to a group of beings with superhuman wisdom and powers, who constructed the first civilisation and created all the crops and animals essential to human life.

Though termed Godmen, they were equally male and female.

The greatest tales of the Godmen are recorded in the Tirennion, the lengthy saga of collected tales which is the foundation of cultural history in Anrelplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnrel Isles

Anrel [ANN-rel], or the Anrel Isles, is the most northerly island group in the Natorn Archipelago. It consists of three major islands and numerous smaller ones. The largest, colloquially if infrequently called Mainland, is divided between the kingdoms of Trésard and Narette. The island.

According to the Tirennion, the Godmen once lived and sailed among the stars, but fell to earth after an internecine war amongst themselves that led to the destruction of most of their own kind. As a group of refugees fleeing the war, they used their abilities to build a great civilisation of peace and enlightenment, which survived for thousands of years during the First Epoch of the Hirerk Moonscale, called the Emerald Epoch.

The myths of Anrel give names to various of the Godmen, although these are almost certainly much later inventions. Many of the ancient clans of Anrel claim descent from particular godmen, though these are more likely to be either human ancestors or pure invention. The historic sect of Signtists in particular venerated a particular set of Godmen, though few of these were recognised by mainstream society.

1. Tire-Ohn was the first and greatest of the Godmen, firstborn of The One, who first led humanity to the world. The Tirennion is named after him.
2. Mecal was a genius with metalworking and machinery, creating fabulous devices and artifacts. In his most famous legend he created one of the four Beasts of the Apocalypse, the Black Wyrm.
3. Ralain was a master of knowledge and wisdom, said to have founded the city of Rasia.
4. Ridas is credited with taming the elementals and creating the spoken languages of the Godmen. He was therefore founder of magic and father of the Reidan peoples.
5. Dahrin the breeder of beasts, who created domestic animals from the blood of the Godmen.
6. Drorkin the philosopher and protector of women.
7. Segin of the night sky, who set the Fixed Stars in the heavens.
8. Onder of the waters, who gave herplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigHerbs
   
   Herbs are usually green plants cultivated and used for use in medicine, cooking or for other purposes.
   
   Herblore is the traditional practice of making decoctions, extracts, powders and other preparations from the roots, leaves, seeds, bark and fruit of plants found across the world.greengreenAnásthiasAnásthiasgreenMunatangreengreen name to Lake Ondrere.
9. Tarah of the lakes, who gave her name to Lake Otaran.
10. Arelia the farmer, who gave her name to the landmass of Arelia, formerly in the Natorn Archipelago
11. Armets the shipbuilder, after whom the Strait of Armets is said to be named

Archeological evidence suggests that a sophisticated civilisation existed in ancient Anrel, though the exact dating of this is unclear. Modern writers have suggested this may be evidence the Anrel Isles were colonised by the great civilisation of Miyarris, but Miyarrain texts discuss the artefacts of the Godmen as being ancient even in their time.

The most widely known relic of the Godmen are the oracles, such as the oracle at Welvér in Besoa. These are said to have been repositories of ancient wisdom, but most of the oracles have been destroyed, buried or otherwise lost. The library of the Rasian Academy was said to have had the greatest collection of artefacts and fragmentary texts from Godmen times, though these are believed to have been lost during the sack of Rasia in the Long War.