The Tirennion
The Tirennion is an epic saga which outlines the legendary history and origins of humanity, from the creation of the universe, the mutual destruction of the ancient first gods who created mankind, and the descent of the Godmen to the world, from whom all mankind is descended. The work is most known in the Natorn Archipelago but its tales were shared by the ancient civilisations of Traithe and Miyarris. These myths are believed to date back to some time in the Jade Epoch, at least 7000 BME.
The Tirennion was likely first codified around 5000 BME, based on source material from many different authors and oral traditions. The text has been redrafted many times throughout history, but the current popular version dates from c.2000 BMEplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBME (Before Modern Epoch)
Used to date years Before the Modern Epoch..
A related work is the Helevosien, a comparatively recent and more controversial work which continues the history of the Realm of the Godmen and the subsequent history of mankind, particularly in Anrel. The earliest version dates from the 2nd century BME but has been added to over the centuries. Modern versions include history up until the end of the Long War.
Structure
- I. The Titan Wars
- II. Descent of the One
- III. Foundation of Yendim
- IV. Tale of Tire-Ohn
- V. The Viridplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigVirid
Referring to the Virid Kingdom of flora and fauna, toxic to human life. and the Greenplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigGreen
The Green Kingdom of flora and fauna includes humans, mammals, birds, whales, greenfish, and most green plants and crops cultivated by humankind. - VI. The Age of Black Days
- VII. Fall of Yendim
- VIII. Fate of Orodien
Creation
The greatest Creation tale is the Saga of Tire-Ohn , from which the name Tirennion derives. It ends with a series of prophecies, histories and moral tales. The legend tells of how the last offspring of the First Gods, called The One, descended to earth after a great war in heaven, carrying the seeds of all the clean creatures in its belly after eating them up from the wreckage of the field of battle.
The King-Father of Eternity, who set all things in motion, and the Queen-Mother of Night, whose cloak is the black of the heavens, had ruled since they had thought themselves into being at the beginning of time. They had children and these titan-gods were so bright they blazed as stars, filling the skies with light. But in time they became jealous of each other and vied for favour and power, even attempting to usurp the thrones of their parents, in many tales of intrigue, war and betrayal.
The titans created the first god-men, to worship them and to serve as soldiers in their terrible wars. They fed them on their god-food to make them strong, huge and powerful; so powerful that they glowed with fire and could step between the stars.
The One was the last and gentlest child of the Mother and Father. It was the runt of the litter, born neither male nor female, weak but gifted with wisdom. It was made as ambassador, a non-threatening peacemaker; a last attempt by the Parents to bring peace and harmony to their warring children. But the titan-gods laughed at and scorned The One, and continued their destruction for aeons until their armies were all but destroyed and the skies were half darkened with the death of their brothers. As the Titans recovered from the efforts of their vast battles, The One swam the heavens, amongst the embers of their conflict that are the stars, eating up all the scattered seeds of their creation. At long last, the One descended to the dark earth far beneath, to plant these seeds, far from the destruction that raged above.
Another myth, central to the saga, tells the story of the hero, Tire-Ohn.
He was one of the first offspring of the seeds of The One. Though weaker than the god-men who had been raised on immortal food, he was still huge and powerful, and became leader of a great race of men who lived in peace and plenty.
These first were strong and powerful, wielding incredible powers. Supreme amongst them were the Boghrema, who studied the stars and discovered all the secrets of creation.
Tire-Ohn and his people daily saw the battles that still raged above them in the burning battlefield of the heavens, and despaired that one day the Titans would come and undo the whole of Creation. So one day, after the climax of a dreadful battle sent the Titans swooning to their tents, he climbed into the heavens and picked his way onto the battlefield, strewn with the god-men dead. He sneaked into the camps, and while the gods slept, weary and wounded, he stole their spears and shields. He piled them all into a great chariot and returned to earth.
With the sword of the Iron God, Nomes, he cut a great doorway into a mountainside and piled the weapons within. But once the sword had left his hand, the door closed, trapping him inside the mountain, for ever.
With their power taken and their armies slaughtered, the titan-gods slept. The saga tells that they will remain asleep until the gate opens at the end of days, and their weapons are returned. Then, Tire-Ohn will awaken to leads the armies of men, against the gods who will return to destroy the world.
[NB There is truth in this story. Helevos was seeded as a colony of refugees from a vast ancient war, whose survivors had seen suns sucked into nothingness, turning whole galaxies dark. Helevos was the product of an ancient peace treaty. The survivors of the war, on all sides, sick of the mass destruction they had wreaked upon each other, agreed to forever hide their technologies in a hyper spatial portal, secretly located on this world. The one device to open the door was broken into eight pieces, embedded in a crystal material to protect and preserve it. These eight vari-coloured crystals were given, one to each treaty world.
The cultures who created them then detonated their shining cities and went into a deliberate technological retreat. Helevos was seeded with a number of engineered species that would make life acceptable, without the need for hard technologies.]
The Apocalypse
Included with the accounts of the downfall of Orodien are a curious set of apocryphal prophecies which foretell the end of the world. These are believed to predate the codification of the Tirennion, and come from multiple sources. Although prophecies are common in many religions, the Godmenplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigGodmen
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 World. 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 HartheraAnrelAnrelherherAnrelAnrel made very few predictions about the future that were not technical or specific, such as the Hirerk Moonscale calendar which predicted climatic cycles. More strangely, these verses appear in the context of being in the middle of describing another downfall, claiming that the destruction of Orodien was, although calamitous, nothing compared to the real cataclysm that would take place many thousands of years in the future.
Chapter 5
Chapter 6