The Great Sapling
Summary
This is the myth as told by the Priests of the Feather, followers of Poyas, in the oral tradition.
The myth starts in a nameless, flat desert. From the skies fell a great boulder, thrown with full force by the old god Poyas. This formed the great Veyetræll Crater. From the boulder's remains emerged the child Kervam, who held a strange acorn in her arms.
Curious, she ate the seed, and when it came out from the other end she buried it in the sand.
Then, a great lightning bolt immediately struck Kervam, who fell inert on the ground. This caused an earthquake and the Crater became deeper, which made a shockwave creating the Deltutia Mountains and the greater valley of Veyetræll. Rain ensued, lasting for years. She slept through it all, still hurt by the bolt cast by the angry Twins, Hevel and Tosten.
A few years later, Kervam woke up pregnant. She had grown a lot, and was now a young lady. The tree was more than a meter in diameter now, and reached a few stories in height. She quickly noticed that the surroundings were much greener than before, with the seasons that passed. From the central point where she stood, the former desert was becoming a lush circular valley. She was at the center of it, on an island with rich soil. She did not know it was her who made the soil fertile again.
Suddenly, she heard the voice of an elderly woman seemingly coming from behind the tree.
"Onghet epigheldm e ruhay menha", she heard. "Never out of sight, you must be".
Looking beyond, she quickly noticed that the boulder had coalesced together again.
She knew it was Mediol, the Mother.
The godly, spherical rock rolled towards her. Behind, a crevice slowly opened, revealing a purple eye.
The eye of Doeni.
Kervam could not bear to look the god in the eye, and she immediately passed away.
The body stayed there for several days, until a large shadow started circling around it. It was The Raven, looking for carrion.
Shortly after, an even larger bird of prey attacked the raven, The Roc. They fought atop the young tree.
They were no match however for what came afterward. The Dragon arrived and breathed fire at them, and they flew away, singed by the flames.
On the ground, three other creatures had also taken interest in Kervam's body. The Toad was fiercely guarding the deceased god from The Serpent, who had just crawled from under the tree. But the dragon swooped and took Kervam, just as The Salamander emerged from the lake.
The Dragon brought the body to the mountains, in his nest. She did not have any intentions to harm the corpse of Kervam, knowing she died pregnant. A few hours after she laid her next to her eggs, twins came out of her body. They were the first humans, according to the scriptures.
The Dragon raised the humans in the mountains, located near the Skyre Plateau. They grew up and reproduced, descending from the mountains and reaching a river. Eventually this became the settlement of Skyra. From here, the humans spread all over Veyetræll, eventually reaching Sylgadrig again. By that time, the tree had reached unforeseen heights and was now hundreds of feet in diameter.
An order was formed to steward the celestial tree, called the Conclave. It was composed of the Holy Ones, predecessors of the Root Priests and the Irate Priests, charged with handing down the knowledge of the Gods' story. They were the only ones who knew how to write, in the scriptures that eventually became the Arl language. Since that time, they are the only ones who can communicate with divinities and cast magical formulae.
For nine millennia, the tree grew and grew to become the gargantuan size it is today. The Six Titans from the story came and went; the Toad reportedly lives underwater, having eaten the Serpent. The Salamander lives in the caves under the Tree and the Raven and the Roc have gone somewhere in The Outskirts after the Invasion. The Dragon has not been seen since the first humans.
Historical Basis
It is unclear to some whether it should be seen as history or if some parts of it are constructed, as some of the knowledge has been lost with the Invasion.
Each cult also has their version of the story. There is a debate whether the humans created all civilizations by themselves; it is at the foundation of the divide between Rootfolk and Trællites. The former believe the two humans mixed with other tribes upon their arrival at Skyra.
Priests of the Eye do not believe Doeni killed Kervam, that she died a natural death. The Dragon would have brought her up alive and she would have raised her children atop the mountains.
Irate Priests believe the bolt that struck Kervam was the source of humanity; the main branch of Radican faith does not pretend to know.
Spread
The myth is known to all denizens of Veyetræll, all of whom are under the Tree's watch.
The myth is taught to Radican children as a didactic way to learn about the Sylgadic Pantheon.
Variations & Mutation
The Veyetran translation was not a pure, direct transcript. It has been significantly altered to match the worldview of the invading Trællites, by scribes from the Sylgadic Faith. Specifically, the Root Priests become accessory, pushed to the background as "pretenders" and charlatans. This fundamental derivation historically cemented the direct relationship of the Traellites to the Gods, without any intermediaries.
In Literature
The Tales of Sylgad is an enormous book detailing the relationship between the gods of the Sylgadic Pantheon, the Six Titans and the ancient inhabitants of Veyetræll. First recorded in Arl, the one copy has been translated to Arlevon, then to Veyetran and then forever lost. It is not known whether the translations are accurate to the original story or not, or even if the original story aimed to record the facts with accuracy.
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