The World: A Bedtime Story

A short stab at the world origin myth from the Lowlanders world view, which is one of many Westron variants of the Serpent Earth mythology.

Odom Tan is the 'great uncle', a folk figure who travels between the farms and towns, whose real identity as Tandim Ulgrasar is forgotten -- and unimportant -- to the rural Lowlanders.

 

The World: a Bedtime Story

“tell us the story, Odom!”
“yeah, tell us the story Odom Tan!” they said as he tucked them into bed.
“the story of the world?” and they nodded, the old man stroking his long tangled beard, “alright. But how about the real story, the way it truly happened, with the Fool and the Fighter and the Chimerum of the Ignis before the Great Dream swallowed them all?” he said, his eyes lighting up, “the Antedivisian dream before the schism of the Ember and the Umbra and the rise of the pretender gods?”
The kids looked up at him blankly.
“we want the one with the mama snake, and the moons. And the night sun. The way papa and grootpapa tell it,”
The old man stared at them for a minute.
“fine.” he said, just like your dumb papa and dumb grootpapa tell it, he thought.
“here goes:
“Serpent Earth -- that’s mama snake -- coiled herself to sleep after the Long Night in which all things came to be. The days were endless and the land was lush. But the night sun -- that’s Orh, who was the black sun then and shared the sky -- grew bigger and bigger. He got so big he threatened to blot out the gold sun Hael -- that’s the grootsun -- and they fought, casting huge shadows onto the world. The three moons, Tael and Luin (mothers of all people) and Masiel (mother of the Kaladri) were worried that the two suns would wake Serpent Earth, and she’d be so angry she would destroy the world. So they made a peace between them where Orh would have the night and Hael -- the grootsun -- the day. And the three moons were lifted from Serpent Earth to watch over us and they became the grey and red moons, mama Tala and aunt Luna, with Masiel as the black moon Mashana to keep the peace between the suns.” he said, the kids sound asleep as he finished.

Odom Tan walked outside, looking up at the night sky over the Lowlands, the ring of stars around the dark void of the Well of Dreams, the two moons and the distant black planet Orh and its moon Mashana.
“they never want to hear the real story,” he said, making his way to the next farm.

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