The Ancient Days of Dwarves
The Age of Darkness.
TOSH BHUL
In the beginning there was the fire which did beget life, the water which did beget life, the world within, Ana-thayor, Ketemuhr the Father-Son-Brother, Kepapahr the Mother-Daughter-Sister, the Teturihm who live forever and all the mortal creatures. And there did also exist the world of light, of which all but the mortals did know. The children of the Teturihm did live beside the warmth of the fire which did beget life, the Ruleth-durin, and drink from the water which did beget life, the Ruleth-roh, and for a time did prosper as such. The Teturihm who did become as gods did live in their divinity and look down at their children, safe and warm, and were happy and content. Yet after four eternities, some of the Teturihm were not content to merely watch the mortals, and did want for their promise of greatness to begin to blossom. Tanghar Teturihm did come down from the divine firmament to walk unseen among the mortals and did judge them complacent and lazy, but not without considerable potential. Tanghar did then see that Ana-thayor, Ketemuhr and Kepapahr did nothing to encourage their grandchildren to reach beyond their own mortal limits. Ana-thayor, Ketemuhr and Kepapahr did weep for each mortal who did perish from time, and did love them so that they did prevent harm, strife, discord or misery from affecting the mortals. Tanghar did not believe this right, and did one day conspire to change the way of things. He did first tell Ana-thayor, Ketemuhr and Kepapahr to make haste and meet with the Teturihm in the divine firmament to resolve a great crisis, and did also tell them that he would safeguard the mortals while they spoke with his fellows. And so Ana-thayor, Ketemuhr and Kepapahr did go to the divine firmament to meet the Teturihm. In their absence, Tanghar stole the Ruleth-durin and hid it where no mortal or god would discover it. And then the world within was put into darkness. And then the Ruleth-roh did become as ice. Thus did begin Tosh Bhul.
Tanghar, the Great Stealer, did take the raging fire which did beget life, and did go into the world above, the world of light, there to hide it beneath the brilliance of the sun. There he did conspire to find a better hiding place for he did know that his ruse was soon to be discovered. When Ana-thayor, Ketemuhr and Kepapahr did go to the divine firmament, the Teturihm did not know for what reason they did come, for what reason they did leave their precious mortals untended. And Ana-thayor did speak thus: We did leave the mortals in the care of Tanghar, the messenger whom ye did send with thy summons! Is he not one who would defend our children who are not forever? And Rhunuk, the True, did speak thusly in return: O good Ana-thayor, child of life, good Ketemuhr, our Great Father, and good Kepapahr, our Great Mother, I do love thee greatly but, because of my love, I must tell thee of thy folly. Long have ye coveted the company of the fragile mortals, and ye have not known what we, thy divine children, have become. We did go into the world of light and see the wonders of life and creation and we did grow and change. We are not now what once we were when last ye did know of us. Thy love of the mortals does blind thee to the world of light, which ye do keep hidden from them for fear that they would leave thy company, and does blind thee even to the divine firmament, where we do argue and sing and disagree and agree. We are all now unlike each in total but like all in part, and Tanghar is become a great maker of discord and does proclaim untruths! Ye did leave thy precious mortals in the care of a Great Disturber! Come and we shall go together to confront Tanghar! And together, all did go to the world within and to where the Ruleth-durin is kept, yet with dismay they did see what Tanghar had wrought. The mortals did lay upon the ground and weep and shiver, for there was no light and no warmth, for the fire which did beget life was gone. Tanghar was not anywhere to be found in the world within, and in her divine power, Rhunuk did know that he was not in the divine firmament. The gods did know that Tanghar was afoot in the world of light, and he did possess the fire which did beget life. Ana-thayor did know anger, and in fury did command the Teturihm to find Tanghar before the mortals did perish, while Ana-thayor, Ketemuhr and Kepapahr did remain to remedy what they could, with their power. And thus did begin the search for Tanghar. The Craven One did look upon the Ruleth-durin and did lapse into boredom, so he did put it upon the ground. There, the fire which did beget life did burn fast and did consume the grass and the bushes and the trees for as far as the eye could see, and beyond. Smoke did pour into the sky and Tanghar did fear that the others would know where he stood, so he did take the Ruleth-durin and did go deep into the heart of a mountain to hide. Rhunuk did spy the smoke of the wild fire and did move to the middle of it. She did know that if left to burn, the fire would consume all the plants and all the animals, so she did summon a thick rain and a mighty wind to put out the flames. Thus a mighty wind did come and thus a thick rain did fall and the flames of this wild fire they did snuff, and the ashes and dust did pile up in muddy mounds as though swept by a great broom. And then there was no more rain to fall in this land, as Rhunuk did use all the rain to quell the fire, only sun beat down. The land was brown and full of sand and the sun did press it with bright heat. The burnt land was sixteen and forty hundred leagues long in every direction, and the wind of Rhunuk did topple all the mountains as far as could be seen. She did look upon the way of things and it did please her, so she did call the burnt land the Khen-tormask-irlu. Far away, inside the mountain of his hiding, Tanghar did set the fire down and did tire and lay to rest. When Tanghar awoke, he did see that the fire had begun to melt the very rock of the mountain, and that soon the blood of the world would flow from the peak of the mountain. With haste, he did take the Ruleth-durin and leave the mountain, but alas it was too late. As Tanghar left it behind in his flight, the peak of the mountain did crumble and the blood of the world did erupt from it. So hot is the blood of the world that it set fire to all that did fall in the path of it. The destruction was so vast that it did cause a great and dark cloud of ash and fire to rise up into the sky. Rhunuk did spy the black fire-cloud and did move to the mountain from where it did come. She did know that the world would bleed to death, and not before the fire blood did burn up all life. Thus Rhunuk did cause the wound to clot and dry up and seal the mountain and the world did not burn. Yet forever, the world does suffer injury and does bleed in many places, and these places she did name Khirlu Il-forhs but, by the will and might of Rhunuk, these wounds do come to seal themselves and thus the world she does save. Tanghar did flee the land above the sea and did take the Ruleth-durin into the wide waters. Yet the Ruleth-durin was not meant for there either, and the gentle sea did tremble and boil, and great storms did arise. Tanghar did try to escape these tempests but the time he spent so close to the Ruleth-durin did blind even his divine eyes and the sea did batter him and he became lost amidst the great waves, flashing lightening and thunderous gusts of the storm. When Rhunuk did spy the dark horizon over the sea, she did know where Tanghar did go to hide the Ruleth-durin. There, she did calm the storms and find the bedraggled Tanghar with the stolen Ruleth-durin. Tanghar did beg and cajole Rhunuk to release him from her firm justice, he told her that he did intend with his actions to test and harden the resolve of the mortals that they rely less upon the grace of the gods and more upon themselves, but the Great Guardian did not listen to the silver tongue of the Great Disturber. She did seize the Ruleth-durin from his slippery grasp and did rebuke him thus: Ye who have stolen the fire-which-did-beget-life from where it is meant to be, ye who did cause much strife and discord for the children who do not live forever and their ever-loving ancestors, ye who did make much destruction in the world during thine unjust flight from our search, ye must receive punishment equal to the magnitude of thy crime! Never again shall ye enjoy the beautiful light of the moon or the sun, for ye shall remain blind when under such light. Even in darkness, even under shelter, even in the nights of no moon, all that ye shall see is the fire of life which is within all things, whether great or small! With these words, Rhunuk did bind him to her conditions of punishment, yet she did know that Tanghar could eventually find a way to escape her justice, so full of guile is he. More so, Rhunuk did wonder if Tanghar would become angry at her proclamation, but he did burst out in a great laugh, which still to this day does cause the sea to roll in waves. After he did laugh to his satisfaction Tanghar did speak thusly to Rhunuk: I need not sight to tell me that ye wonder at my merriment, but know this, O Great Guardian; I shall not seek an end to this condition that ye did place upon me, for I have wit to sustain and guide me and shall make a mockery of what ye desire to be hardship for me! Fare well, Rhunuk, as shall I! And with that, Tanghar, the Great Stealer did slip away into the depths of the great seas to ready his next test of the way of things. And forever does Tanghar bring upon the mortal kind, what he does believe to be, the trials which make life stronger and, in his way, he does aid the prosperity of his children. Rhunuk did not reflect long upon his words, and did make haste to return the Ruleth-durin to the place where it did belong. Yet, once there, she did reflect again upon the words of Tanghar and upon her own thoughts on the way of things. As Rhunuk did walk among the now weak mortals, healing their affliction where she could, watching how they did depend so greatly upon the whim of their divine ancestors, she did decide upon the end of her deliberations. In the presence of the first ones she did speak: O good Ana-thayor, child of life, good Ketemuhr, our Great Father, and good Kepapahr, our Great Mother, I do love thee greatly but, because of my love, I must tell thee again of thy folly. If ye do love the mortal kind as ye profess, then ye must let them grow without thine ever-present protection. Ye must allow them to choose their own way in the world, for if ye do not, even in love, then ye keep from them their freedom. This Tanghar did recognize and this do I see and this ye must also realize, else thy beloved mortals ye curse to never be greater than they are born. Let them tend the Ruleth-durin themselves, to do with as they wish, and perhaps they shall reward thee with their prosperity as never before! At this Ana-thayor and Ketemuhr and Kepapahr did ponder and agree, and Ana-thayor did speak thusly in return: O wise Rhunuk the True, again ye speak of things as they are, not as we wish to see them, and ye make judgment that is sound and right. So ye have said so let it be done! Our beloved mortals shall make their own choices, and we shall watch them with hope for their well-being, with sorrow for their mistakes and with pride for their triumphs. Let them tend to the Ruleth-durin each unto themselves and come what may, let them determine their own destiny. And ye who are wiser than we, and thy sisters and thy brothers, shall guide them as ye see fit. We place our trust in all the Teturihm to guide our children who do not live forever out of Tosh Bhul and into a new age! With that, the Ruleth-durin did spread, by the will of the gods, into all things mortal, and the gift of fire they give unto the world. Thus did end Tosh Bhul.
[Introduction] [Tosh Khama] [Tosh Bhul] [Khenkatath]
[Tosh Firok] [Tosh Breohm] [Ankhoman-Nit] [Dueta-Claidmor]
[Penkhoman-Nit] [Khenmuht] [Dueta-Kultar] [Dueta-Khurtunk]
[Tosh Haraka (part 1)] [Tosh Haraka (part 2)]
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