Happy birthday to the GROUND!

[Great Thrash]

It's pretty much Thrash's birthday today - Earth day!

For his birthday, he will ask for everyone to tell a story about a time when Mother Nature or the gods thereof came through1

[Yerkan of Elish]

This is an old folk tale told by a people of the Adduk Floodlands on the planet Dunia. The people, called the Diwa, believe that they are spirits, ancestors and reincarnated helpers, to the other races.

This is the story of their first encounter with the goddesses of the celestial lights:

Spoiler: show

Days were older. Skies were clearer.

At that time, long and long ago, the rivers coursed along different paths and
the floods came at different times of the year.

Days were older. Skies were clearer.

The people of unending boats had not yet come from the North. The mountain
people were here, and the small bearded people, and the small quick people, and
many other people, but not the tall elves with their boats that kept going. Not
yet.

Days were older. Skies were clearer.

We were still there. We were always there in the valley, we the spirits of all
the people, we the matches for everyone. We called ourselves "humans," and ours
was the lot of all the people in our great big valley. Everyone could come to
us, come to our fires and houses and cities, come to our visions. On the first
day, the dwarves would come to us with their long beards and ask of metals. On
the second day, the bearded gnomes would come to us, and ask of ink and quills.
On the third day, the small quick people would come to us, and ask of hidden
places and of traps. Then a fourth day, then a tenth, and everyone sought our
knowledge, for we were spirits of all the people.

On the next day, a goddess came. We did not think we were spirits of the
goddesses, but this one came to us. She was clothed in silver and had gray
eyes which shone brightly. We called her "Tala" - the star - and she came to
our campfire and sought our kinship. Silver, shining Tala came to us and we
helped her. We gave her seeds, and she threw them into the sky, creating the
stars. We gave her fruits, and she mashed them into a pulp, creating the
galaxy. We gave her cloth, and she tore it up and draped it around the world,
creating distant nebulae.

Still, we saw, silver, shining Tala was hungry, for she had not eaten of the
fruit. She was poor, for she had given away the seeds. She was cold, for she
had torn up the cloth, and we did not know what to do. "Indeed," we thought,
"We are not spirits of the gods. We can do nothing for them, for anything we
give to them, they will use to create, and will so starve themselves."

One day passed, and then another. A third day passed in the shining valley with
Tala. She grew weaker, and weaker. Then another goddess came, and her name was
Adlaw. She came to our campfire and sought our kinship. Glowing, burning Adlaw
came to us and we helper her. She was bright and glowing, clothed in yellow,
with purple eyes that looked deep into us. We gave her seeds, and she took them
in her pocket. We gave her fruits, and she swallowed them. We gave her cloth,
and she draped it around herself, making herself beautiful. "Indeed," we
thought, "We are spirits of this god. We can help her, for she knows how to use
the materials of our Earth."

But when glowing, burning Adlaw took the seeds, when she ate the fruits, when
she wore the clothes, silver, shining Tala began to weep. Silver tears flowed
from her eyes, and they went deep into the Earth, to be called back into the
sky as rain. When glowing, burning Adlaw used took the seeds, the stars of
shining, silver Tala were taken from the sky. When she ate the fruit, the
galaxy was also eaten. When she wore the cloth, the nebulae were draped across
her back.

Still, we saw, silver, shining Tala was hungry, for the fruit we had given her
had been stolen. She was poor, for the seeds had been taken by glowing, burning
Adlaw. She was cold, for the cloth had been draped over another body. "Indeed,"
we throught, "We are truly not spirits of the gods. We can do nothing for them,
for anything we give to them can be taken by another."

One day passed, and then another. A third day passed in the glowing valley with
Tala and Adlaw. Then the tears of Tala dried and went into the sky, and rained
down past the moon. The moon saw, and it wept as well, for it had enjoyed the
creations of Tala. And so a third goddess came to us. She was clothed in gray
rags and had black eyes which shed no light. She called herself "Mayari." And
she came to our campfire and sought our kinship. Dull, gray Mayari came to us
and we helped her. We gave her seeds, and she held them in her hand. We gave
her fruit, and she held it in her hand. We gave her cloth, and she draped it
over her arms, and she spoke to us. "When the sun burns brightly and reflects
upon me, the cloth will burn, the seeds will burn, the fruit will burn. I will
glow brightly, and Tala's creations will not be seen. From burning, I will die
each month, but at the end, Adlaw's power will be spent, and I will open up a
hole in the sky. Cool air will blow through, and the seeds will not be burnt,
so the stars can shine brightly. The fruit will not be burnt, so the galaxy
will flicker in the distance. The cloth will not be scorched, so the nebulae
will shine."

"Indeed," we thought, "We are not spirits of the gods, for they are spirits of
us. They can do much for us, and they create the balance in the world, between
the bright sun of Adlaw, the shining stars of Tala, and the cycle of the moon
Mayari." And so we took our nightly campfires and built our huts around them,
cutting a hole in the top to represent the hole in the sky left by the burning
Mayari. Thus the sky is kept cool and the light of our fires does not scorch
the sky, burn the seeds, heat the fruit, nor scorch the cloth, and the
beautiful creations of Tala will remain, protected both by us and by dull,
gray Mayari, who shines silver in the night and glows brightly once a month as
she burns.

[Great Thrash]

That is a fantastic Earth Day story!!

I create a plateau to sweep sturdily above Yerkan's studiolo, sheltering it, shading it, and protecting it. Green things grow on the steps leading to the top of the plateau, where there is a flat rock which is always comfortably warm for stargazing at night or snoozing during the day.

[Steepest Durin]

Food comes from th' ground!