Tamriel Data:Xahxes's Gift

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Xahxes's Gift

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The following is a recording of Kervena, a Reachman matriarch of Old H'roldan. Transcribed by Janus Sarvenelus, agent from the Imperial Office of Reachmen Affairs. Old H'roldan. 3 Suns Height 3E 412

Part I

Part 1: The Trickster

And so it was upon the Void Steppes that Anu did sprout from the ground like a Wrothgarian grape. Great was his shapeless form as he quickly consumed and merged with his world-hearth, allowing the creation of the Substance. Pleased with his work, Anu shouted (no, not THAT type of "shout") Anui-El into being with songs of clattering and praise. Yet it was a confusing time for substance-son relationships, one of wandering and sore feet. Journeys of myth-making and unfulfilled revelations bore down on the spirit of Anui-El, so Anu as any good father would did hew him in two, thus forming the terribly beautiful Dragon of Temporal Heart, Auri-El. With their travels, Auri-El brought stability to the land, time with his graceful gait, and the Empty Grains bore fruit and became Gods. Mah-Ra, Zeyht of the Grasses...

...And Sheor. [The narrator at this time makes the sounds associated with a stomach ache. This is a customary and (according to Kervena), a very important part of the myth]

Part II

Part 2: Sheor the Tusked-Trickster

Now let me tell you of Sheor, also called the Tusked-Trickster. Sheor was trusted with the important duties of a scout and spent his days mapping the Steppes ahead of the tribe alongside his companion and lover, Kyne. In their seclusion did thoughts of menace manifest betwixt their rutting (who influenced the other I cannot say). It was on one night in a time without nights that The Accursed Two returned to the Celestial Camp.

"Holy hosts, I bring to you a mind of revelatory power. I mean to bring Mortality to Substance and I require the assistance of my brothers and sisters! Kyne herself has laid the foundation of our proposition. Heed her!"

So it was that many of the gods participated in the creation of Nirn, like Magnus Sun-Shaped, who worked with Kyne in the shaping the basis of the new reality. These beings would become the aedra. Those who sat and watched their brothers and sisters and did nothing (save the Funny-Man, who yelled and yelled for Zeyht to invent cheese) became the daedra.

It was just before their creation was finished that Sheor spoke once more:

"Brethren! We are but on the cusp of reaping the benefits of our toiling. I ask you to sing with me in celebration!"
ON THIS AUSPICIOUS DAY OF DAYS
SHEOR ASKS HIS EQUALS FOR THREE GIFTS
HE SHALL NAME THEM WITH HEART AFLUTTER:
LET THE DAWN BECOME NEW LIKE NO OTHER DAWN BEFORE
LET THE CORPSE OF THE OLD AND CYNICAL FORM THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW AND HOPEFUL
AND LET NIRN BE TORN FROM THE MIND OF THE ARTISAN
AND BE MADE WHOLE INCARNATE
NE NU-MANTIA; ALTADOON LORKHJ

Then something horrible happened.

In the creation of this world, the aedra found themselves unable to move their tents and their herds of spectra refused to leave, mucking up the place with bleating. Worse yet, our ancestors were cursed with this mortality (this is why we tell our children to hold back tears when they scuffle their knees, to not grant the Trickster his due). The daedra watched on in a combination of envy, horror, and amusement at the expense of their kin.

"Why have you done this, brother?" cried Zeyht, his mouth spilling forth with locusts.

"You desire my motivations? Know this, for our children shall not! For-"

Yet Sheor was unable to complete his rambling diatribe, as Orc-Friend Trini himself set himself upon the traitor, pummeling him into theological particulates.

Part III

Part 3: The Execution of Sheor

After learning of the betrayal by Sheor Tusked-Trickster, Auri-El in his righteous fury, threw the jaundiced fiend into a pot of scalding ethers, as the rest of the gods tried to make sense of their condition. There was much weeping, especially from Water-Mother Mah-Ra, whose tears filled what would become the Bjoulsae, the lifeblood of our people (Do not let the Nords fool you, she was crying for being cursed with mortality, not for her supposed "husband").

The Trickster goaded the head of our pantheon, spitting, sputtering, and muttering foul aphorisms (not worthy of remembrance).

'Have I not a right to a trial? Do I not have the right as any of you would?'

'Do not waste our time, fiend" said Orc-Friend Trini 'Your crimes are laid bare and no justification could set things to right. Now is the time for thinking of what to do with such a beast as you!'

'May you be eaten alive by demons dressed as maidens!' Sheor snarled, with fury in his eyes.

Orc-Friend Trini, fed up with such rampant display of irreverence, plucked out the heart of Sheor to stop his mewing (an easy feat, for he, like all Nords, was shallow hearted) and let his cursed organ fly to the land of Dwemereth, where the only people who hate the snowmen as much as us Reachmen dwell.

What fate befell Kyne? Well, let me tell you, stranger. In seeing her partner put down like the rabid skeever he was, she let out a furious scream and wailed over Sheor's corpse, holding him close to her bosom. Seething and bubbling, her body lost its form, becoming the Storm, growing ever larger amongst the tribe.

Facing the wrath of a goddess with naught but destruction in her heart, Auri-El pleaded to father Anu, but his cries were drowned out by the thunderous maelstrom of Kyne. Our gods were swept up in that tumult.