Assorted markings on Alior, the crafters and their works

Time in the Orphosphere

Alior is the all-being. Alior does not involve himself in any domain, but in truth all belongs to Alior. Alior is all, and yet nothing. Alior is the sea, the earth, the living and the dead. The stars, the moons and the sun. They are not Alior, but they are all Alior's. Because of this type of dynamic that Alior has with the world, Alior's role has been called the art of detached custodianship. Alior decides the fate and path of all, but Alior does not create, or end, or even alter. The Crenex, too, often an event assigned to Alior, is truly the work of Aminduis. Thus, Alior is often named Father Fate, Father Time or simply Time, for time moves all things to their inevitable destination, and is thus the main machination of Alior; the one thing that stands between the world and its inevitable fortune.
Early when the world was just out of the hands of Aminduis, he gave the land to his apprentices, the master crafters. “Fashion the world for Alior's wish, as I intended it", he spoke, and he observed. The master crafters were given the Orphosphere, and in it levitated a grand rock of Eron, who was asked first to shape it. Eron then went down to it, and he could not turn back until his work was done. First he broke the rock in pieces, and the chaotic pieces he fit together again, for Alior required a gift unlike heaven, where order prevailed. He raised the land at the seams of the stitches, so none could look down into the crofts. And he lowered some pieces down and raised some up, and he pressed his fingers down or swayed his hand, so that the rock was now of disorderly shape, befitting of Alior's wish. But the world was burning with fires, and grey and dull. Aminduis wept as he saw the rock, and thus he sent Mielah, of water. While Eron was working, mielah sprayed the world with her benevolent juices, and it gathered in Eron's depressions to make the oceans. Where it fell on the land, it had to flow down into the oceans. But Mielah waited, and the water did not flow; Aframir was still. And only the fires of Eron cast light on the still waters of Mielah. So Aminduis sent again a master crafter: Adrah. Adrah went not to the rock of Aframir, but hovered near, and there he unlodged his own eye. Bright white it was, and like a stove the eye warmed Aframir; and Aminduis named the eye Adrah's Pearl, for he ever loved Adrah's eyes. Adrah's Pearl shone more and less intense in various places around the rock. And it heated earth stirred the waters of Mielah, and they evaporated. With great strain she tied the water back together, and they were clouds. Aminduis was so enchanted by their beauty, that he decided “anywhere these wonders of water travel, the world is invigorated with prowess and beauty.” But Aminduis waited, and the clouds would not travel; Aframir was still.
And such it was when he sent unto the earth Aziel, the master crafter that sowed the planet with his works of botany. Wherever Mielah's clouds went and watered Eron’s land, and Adrah shone his light upon them, Aziel's plants would grow. But Mielah's clouds moved not, and thus Aziel created great trees and fields without Mielah, for impatient he was to look upon his own works. not all were fair; many he made reeking, sharp, unpleasant or poisonous. Thus Aminduis asked “Aziel, wherefore made thee many fair works, and even yet there are foul growths among them?” and Aziel said “I made some reeking and hideous, but they are few. And when the works of Ranién lay their eyes upon them, they will love my fair works evermore. As for the thorns and the poisons, these plants are the greatest I made. So sweet is their taste and soft are their leaves, I fear any harm that would befall them, so I protected them. For a part of my spirit is in them, and those who harm my works harm part of me. And Aminduis thought this was a noble cause, and he let those ugly works remain. Alior saw this and smiled, for Aziel thought like Alior, and Aminduis understood not fully what the gift to Alior should be. Now Adrah, Mielah, Eron and Aziel walked together over the earth. They smiled and were merry, for their creations filled them with joy but not pride. The apprentices were taught to appreciate one another and their shared beauties; thus Mielah smiled when Adrah removed her pools with the warmth of his Pearl, And Eron praised Aziel for his trees digging down deep, into the furthest crofts of the earth. For the old trees were great and their roots dug deep, for Aziel himself wrought these wonders. But when he sowed new seeds, hoping the old trees would have a fruitful offspring, they did not flourish or grow or even sprout; Aframir was still.
Aminduis despaired; could no cycles, movement or growth ever come to the Orphosphere? He called upon his youngest apprentice, lady Gilmithiën. He asked her for her to spread her creations over Aframir. Gilmithiën was glad, for her works were unappreciated by those that made the still crafts. Yet Alior loved her, for she most deeply understood the key to Aframir's completeness. Gilmithiën dotted the land with many beautiful animals, but they were tied to the water they were drinking, the food they were eating, or in an eternal sleep; Aframir was still.
Gilmithiën inquired with Aminduis: ‘Wherefore does my life not live? Will thou not breathe substance over it, so that my children can love each other and enjoy the fruits of Aziel’s labour?’ But Aminduis could not; the world remained still and petrified, as if all was fashioned out of stone.
Ranién now pondered on his creation. He was tasked with designing a creature like that of Gilmithiën, but with more cunning and thought, so that they could reshape Aframir into something meaningful. The creators only created, but Ranién’s creations had to improve it, append it, ponder on it, and interpret it. Alior wished it so, for he could not be alone in the enjoyment of this gift. This brought his creation closest to Alior and made it the most principal in giving the Orphosphere meaning. To honour Alior, he had no choice but to redesign him. When the crafters were granted audience with the king of heavens, Alior came to them in the form of a bipedal and greater in height than in width; but Alior was neither man, nor woman, nor crafter. Ranién created his first human in likeness to this shape; it was small, especially small compared to Aframir and Pearl. But in size not unlike Gilmithiëns work, which seemed more fitting to Ranién, for Alior was the only great one. The first one he made was named Aliorod. Sixty-five times he made other humans, some of them slightly different to Aliorod; Alior would hide parts of his appearance, around his core, wrapped in stardust; Alior spoke of it once, where Alior said that the inner workings of time were central in him; he wished not to show this to anyone. Ranién knew not the nature of the forms hidden to him, so he created two variants: man and woman. He was unhappy with the results, so he gave the man and the woman the desire to hide their core, like Alior himself. But Ranién was still unhappy, for his humans did not stir unless he moved them around; Aframir was still.
Adrah, having designed his beautiful masterpiece of Adrah's pearl, the white jewel of the sky, was upset that Gilmithiën, Eron and Aziel experimented freely with new creations, even after Ranién's creation was completed. He decided, against the judgment of Aminduis, to hone his skills are reproduce a greater, more magnificent version of Adrah's pearl. He made a thousand times a thousand attempts, none as beautiful as he desired; so he cast these away, far to the outer reaches of the Orphosphere; at night, when the light of Adrah's creations does not drown them out, they are still visible from Aframir, in the distant Orph. But after a million stars were set in the night sky, Adrah created his most magnificent work: a red sphere, fiery, greater than his pearl. With great pride he displayed his new creation in the night sky for all of Aframir to see; but Aminduis was perturbed by Adrah's selfish deed and he mockingly told the crafters that this new light was Adrah's Folly, a gem of greater warmth and size, but an object of no bliss and lower excellence; for Adrah wished only to represent his own terrible semblance, and did not hope to achieve fairness solely in honour of Alior. But Alior saw the new star and he smiled, for unbeknownst to both Adrah and Aminduis, the second sun of the Orph proved to be a fateful object that the king of heavens had long decided would come. Alior spoke to Adrah:
"Weep not, child most ambitious of mine, for the Orph is more beautiful; under thy pearl Aziel's designs would be dark and dreadful for ever. And the king of heavens has laid many eyes on what is, and what should be; Ranien's people must bask in the glory of thy pearl, as Alior has always hoped it would come to pass. Under the pearl, Aziel's plants grow in a wondrous palette of colours, but they will turn red, purple and black, a cycle granted by the new red mass of what Aminduis has named thy folly; For what may seethe and burn in the mind of thy master, gives purpose to all life in the will of thy king. Yet do not so eagerly discard thine attempts to birth this magnificence; the stars thou hast set in the corners of my gift will have their place, as Alior will give all a place. Aframir will circulate your Pearl five times. Then, when it grows tired of the cold, silver shapes of Aziel's creation, it abandons the Pearl. A time of cold comes in this darkness of thee and matters most vile will sprout and thrive. Then Aframir will meet thy folly; And it is beautiful, for the hearts of Ranién's children have grown fond from longing for light. And under a red sky they will rejoice the warmth as evil recedes and Aziel's gifts will resprout in colors new and fresh. But after yet five more circulations, Aframir must return to her home near thy Pearl, and once more she must endure the long dark that she is cursed to confront. Be not upset, for the darkness allows thy discarded children to shine in their own display, for the master crafters do not so carelessly forsake their works.” And as Alior spoke the two jewels of Adrah approached one another. In a dance still poorly understood, the two move sometimes near, sometimes far. But we know that once every five circulations of Aframir around either jewel, the other gets so near that Aframir is stolen and carried through Adrah's Darkness to the other jewel.
Now Aframir moved, and the Orph was tied to an unseizing ballad. The crafters were enchanted; they had not seen movement before. And all together they desired audience with the king of heavens, and they begged him to stir Aframir too. But Alior said:
“Know the effects of time, children. Time is a force unstoppable and irreversible. It is part of my very being, and the greatness of my being cannot be undone. I can grant fantastic beauty to Aframir with time, but there is no telling what harm is waiting; for your works are tender and fragile, and I am great and bombastic. Time will lead to inevitable ruin of all things.” Now the crafters wavered, uncertain. But then Aframir spoke the great words, which were gospeled from the first days of time and must be gospeled until the far ends of time and beyond that when the world has recycled into rebirth for a thousand times over.
“But I believe no rebirth can happen with no time. With no time your works stay ever beautiful but can never carry Alior’s love. Cycling and moving is what I am, and I desire a gift in my likeness. While decay is inevitable, out of the ashes of death grow new things, and with every event of evil that shall transpire a force of good will sprout, for time moves forever; and in forever all happens. Aziel, let thy plants grow, wither and bloom again. Gilmithiën, let thine animals run in gladness, die of hunger, thirst, and the slow decay of their bodies. Ranién, even your works that resemble Alior’s form, must wither, and ever strife with one another. For they are modelled after Alior, and there is only one Alior. They will all be their own clock, their own passage of time and fate. But they are unaligned often, will hunt each other and hate each other. But fear not! There is no thing that Alior loves more than himself, and so humans will love each other, first and foremost. Let them embrace one another, be close to one another and create new humans with their love. Time will cause birth, death, and rebirth again. Birth will always outweigh death, and your humans will spread to every corner of Aframir one day. Let Alior’s will be known to them, so that they can live in earnest to their fate.”
Now Alior left them, and the crafters were without doubt. Aframir must experience time. And Alior knew this, so he came to Aframir to grant his blessing.
This part of Alior's will is more direct; when the Orphosphere was wholly done, Alior gave blessing to the world, for Alior loves it forever. But Alior's blessing is nothing so simple as a meaningless phrase or an exclamation of approval; Alior's blessing was the strings of life. Alior tied a band around Aframir of Alior's own hair; bright blue strands of stardust, and they came from beneath Alior's crown and above Alior's head, and thus they were filled of Alior's essence and Alior's intention. And then Alior broke the band into many pieces, and Alior breathed so that the blue strands scattered around the Orphosphere in uncountable fibres, many of which are undoubtedly still unaccounted for. Aminduis collected many, for he wished for disorder on the planet as Alior commanded, and he feared that Alior's blessing would order the planet like it ordered the heaven. But he saw that the strands that landed did not order the world but moved it and gave it purpose; they infused the waters, the trees, and the wind. Aframir rotated on itself and now the whole planet basked in the light of Adrah’s Pearl. The waters flowed, the clouds released rain, they watered the earth and Aziel’s seeds grew. Gilmithiëns animals consumed Aziel’s plants and lived together merrily. And Aminduis saw that it was as it should be. Therefore, he gave the blessing he collected to his apprentices, so that they might use it for those things they deemed of higher purpose and thus for whom and what time must move faster. Eron granted it to his Juuren, Mielah to her rivers. Adrah spun it around the earth for his sun to move over, granting the sky dome an ever-blue hue. Aziel blessed his forests, Gilmithiën her Aerin. and Ranién had only humans, the wisest and most complex of all the Orphosphere's creations. How could Ranién give those gifted ones evermore purpose? And thus he gave the blessing he had been given not to all, but kept it for himself, and only bestowed it to alter the course of the world as it was first decided by Alior's first blessed band; for the smallest tokens of his creation had great fortune on their own, and with the blessing they were able to change the world greatly and for ever, like a skilled tailor can reweave all threads on a carpet woven yet long ago.

Mirvaitali

Before Aminduis had spoken to mankind, there were sixty-six humans that roamed the earth. All were hand-crafted by Ranién, and from these sixty-six all others came. The first one Ranién made he named Aliorod; the new Alior. He and the other strayed over a land that the crafters bent all their attention towards, for they wanted a place of great beauty for humans. It was left unnamed by the crafters, but Aliorod named it Tordisti later.
Aliorod wandered the earth for seventy years aimlessly; he took the bounty that Aziel provided him, which was plentiful and full of flavour. He wandered high above the earth among the Aerilian trees and rested in the grass under their shadows. He went down deep into the Analior Glades, where the unending lights touched him, and he felt there at home, for it was as if he had strayed into a good dream. He came to love the trees and the violet lights. Under the canopy he saw not the darkness of Adrah that weighed heavy on his heart, and the evil things did not reach into the Glades. Fifty years he spent in the glades. But the human spirit is restless, and he was curious about the east of Tordisti, where his wanderings had not taken him before. after these seventy years his path crossed with the Ley of Pearl. He felt a strength invigorate him, and the suns shone more powerful upon him, and Adrah's darkness, which all humans then feared greatly still, did not make him cower here. He explored the area and found that the Ley was a long line that led southwest and northeast. He followed it northeast, for he had never before visited the east. He came to a wooded valley, flat and sandy, but with plenty trees and shrubs, and a small lake in the centre. As he entered this dale, a great calm washed over him. He felt unmoved by any doubt or fear that had lingered in his mind before, and while he could fall fast asleep in the blink of an eye, at the same time he felt he had the strength to move a mountain. He drank from the lake and felt stronger and more optimistic than he had ever felt, as though ready to fulfil a destiny that was not completely clear to him. The water, azure blue and clear as glass, was host to many fish, that did not flee or struggle when he caught them. On the bushes in the valley were berries so sweet, it was as if they were covered in a layer of caramelle. It was no happy chance that gave this valley the properties that impressed Aliorod so; the lake was on the crossing between the Ley of Nethyras and the Ley of Pearl. Unbeknownst to him, at this time the sixty-five other humans found themselves at ley crossings too, for it was what Alior desired.
And then the whole world trembled, the sky split open and Aminduis appeared to the world, in all his splendour and terrific divinity. The humans cowered and hid, but they could not escape the voice of their maker. Aminduis gave the humans the tasks, so that the world would be shaped by them, but be not consumed by them. The reading of the tasks describes what Aminduis has told humans what their task was on this world. At this point, every human experienced the godly light, and heard the voice of Aminduis. Here follows an exempt of the reading of the tasks.

“Hear me meticulously, humans of Aframir. What I will declaim soon is to be everything thou will strive for in this world. The following commands are from all from thy great crafters, and the great crafters of Aframir, as commanded by Alior, king of heavens, and thy only true leader. Lo, hear!
Thou shalt not bust or attempt to bust any great work of one of the masters, for it shall displease Alior, king of heavens, mostly. to destroy works of crafters is to invoke the wrath of Alior, king of heavens.
Thou shalt take and enjoy the fruits of our crafts and labour, and thou shall fill thy bellies, build thy shelter, and defend thy children with it. To enjoy the fruits of our labour is to please Alior, king of heavens. Thou shalt celebrate the cycles of the world, for Alior infused the world with time and filled thee with life and purpose. To celebrate the cycles is to please Alior, king of heavens.
Thou shalt not reshape the forms of the crafters in hideous ways; for only the crafters can craft. Thy task is to enjoy the gifts that were given to you as they are presented to thee. To tinker or to defile is to invoke the wrath of Alior, king of heavens.
Thou hast been designed after the image of Alior, king of heavens. It is so that Alior loves himself most, and thus Thou shalt love one another, for not to love one another is to not love Alior. To love one another is to please Alior, king of heavens.
The crafters have reserved the right to create. Humans are granted the right to rule. Do not question those who have been granted the right to rule by the fate of Alior, to do so is to invoke the wrath of Alior.”

these are six tasks of a longer list. Many describe how humans should live and what actions are considered sins. Ever since, humans have taken the advice to heart. the tasks are taught to children at school, and every decent human being knows them by heart. Those who do not follow the duties sometimes disappear, sometimes get involved in horrible accidents and, when the sin is particularly horrific or of great size, can be taken in Crenex. As the final words spoken, Aminduis whispered to Aliorod:
“Thou hast found the crossing of the Leys of Nethyras and Pearl. It is a most blessed place, for here the strands of Alior were tied around the world. I command thou wanderest no more; build thy home here.” Aliorod pondered the words of Aminduis, and as the tasks had commanded, he stayed and recorded all that he saw and remembered. In stone he carved meticulously a long tale of his traversals in the Ahlani script, invented by himself.
On a day decided by Alior, Aliorod sat at the bank of the lake to bathe his feet in the water. The water was shallow and clear; thus he had seen all the fish in the lake, and he had given all the species a name. But then, without warning, a woman rose from the water in front of him. Aliorod was startled, but he did not fright or fight, for the woman was beautiful, and he had never seen another human before; he was filled with curiosity and wonder. But alas, he was unable to speak to her, for he was always alone and had not invented the spoken word yet. Unlike him, however, she could use her tongue, and she spoke:
"Aliorod, our father Ranién brought me here to fulfill the wishes of Alior, king of heavens. Wherefore does Ranién's firstborn tarry?" But Aliorod could not understand her words, and he only uttered soft noises without meaning but full of emotion. The woman sighed and closed her eyes, and she left Aliorod by the water, mistified by the appearance of another human.
The woman built her home by the water, on the opposite bank of Aliorod's dwelling. She told long tales as she lived there; she spoke to the grass, to the water, to the winds and to the birds and beasts. She told the chronicles of Tordisti, of the crafters, and recited the wishes of Alior to the fish in the water. But most of all she spoke of Aliorod; for why could he not understand her? Ranién taught her to use tongues before he brought her to that lake on the Leys. And Aliorod looked at her every day, trying to guess her intentions; for he had guessed there was meaning behind the sounds she made. Never before had he considered using his mouth to record the world; for sounds were fleeting and short and were taken by the wind the moment they were uttered. So, after forty days of living close but communicating not, Aliorod tried to teach her his own ways: that of inscribing. He went to her home and brought his stone tablets. The woman smiled warmly as he arrived, and Aliorod laid out his tablets. He pointed at the trees, and then pointed to the inscriptions he made to describe those trees. The woman looked at the trees, at the tablet, and at Aliorod, before she spoke "trees." Aliorod looked her in the eyes as he repeated "trees". "Aye, trees!" the woman said with heart. She pointed at the lake: "Water!" Aliorod pointed at the water and repeated after her. They did the same for the fish, the birds, the animals, and the mountains far away. And then the woman rested her hand on her heart, and she said "Tsalisi." Aliorod pointed at her and said "Tsalisi." She then pointed at Aliorod and spoke his name, And Aliorod did the same.

Tsalisi taught Aliorod to speak, and Aliorod taught Tsalisi his Ahlani; and they fused the two together and named the language Tsarod, the first union between man and woman. The two built a new dwelling where they lived together. They called it their Habla, their home.
Tsalisi and Aliorod wandered far and oft, and where they went they named all they saw. As they encountered more lakes, all of lesser excellence than the lake in the valley, they thought to distinguish the lakes from each other; and they did the same with many things that deserved a name, much like their own names. They named the clear lake Mirv, and the valley they named Mirvai. And as they lived there for many decades, they had children together; so great in number was their kin, they named themselves the Mirvani.

Neyyentali

After the reading of the tasks the crafters rested and observed, and fourteen times Aframir passed through Adrah's darkness when Gilmithiën again stirred. She looked upon the creations of Ranién in envy, for they resembled Alior in many ways, and Alior loved them above all else. Uncontent she was, and she entered the Orphosphere still as Aminduis had outlawed it; for Alior loved the gift, and Aminduis feared to alter it any further at risk of invoking the wrath of Alior. But unbeknownst to him, Gilmithiën hid under Aziel's trees, and she worked Alior's blessing into many attempts at a creation as great as humankind. But she knew only how to shape an animal, and though great in wisdom and cunning her new creations were, They had little splendor and could not design the world as humans could. Therefore, she brooded on the idea that a template was necessary to create a great species, and she abandoned her workplace in Aimane to travel to Tordisti, under the guise of a human, hooded and cloaked. There she observed the humans meticulously and for three years she lived among them as the hidden lady; The Mirvani then were only two yet in numbers, Aliorod and Tsalisi, therefore she came upon the society of the Derendi She saw among the humans greater and smaller ones; Though she knew not the difference between them, it occurred to her that Ranién would sooner be alerted to her presence if she took a greater one. Therefore, she took a human who was particularly small, and she did not know it was a child. She took it over the sea to Aimane and brought it to her workplace. Afeared, the young one cried, for it knew not the unfamiliar new lands and was separated from its kin. Gilmithiën pitied the child, and she altered the child, and it lost most of its fear and sadness. As she Gilmithiën worked, the child grew accustomed and comfortable in the dark and cramped workplace of Gilmithiën, and henceforth each of its kin would feel the same; to be most accustomed to the darkness and to feel unsafe in the open wilds. When she finished her work, the child exceeded any human in strength and ingenuity. And then with Alior’s blessing she multiplied them and spread them over the land of Kangolar. The child she abducted long ago she named Mehrdau, and Mehrdau came to be the first Dwarven king of Kangolar. But Gilmithiën’s new, wicked crafts did not evade the watchfulness of Aminduis, and her master came upon her workplace. With both horror and wrath, he pressed Gilmithiën to unmake her new species. Yet even as Gilmithiën descended on Kangolar and began to cull the first dwarves, she spoke: “I made the Neyyen in the likeness of Ranién’s creations, and Ranién made his humans in the likeness of Alior. Dost thee desire I unmake an image of Alior?” Aminduis faltered, and then agreed that the Neyyen could not be unmade. But he said: “a human child is imperfect and ungrown, and your Neyyen are made in this imperfect image. Therefore, they shall be named Dwarves, for they are forever barred from reaching maturity.” And Aminduis punished Gilmithiën further: he decided that the creations of Gilmithiën could no longer live in harmony, for she made a species that were not hers to make. And Aminduis ordered her to make some animals hunger for flesh, and they would eat others, or perish. And chief among these were the dwarves, who could gain no nourishment from Aziel’s fruits, and were doomed to consume Gilmithiën’s species.

Derentali and Grahntali

Now many sun cycles had passed and the Mirvani were a rich and proud folk. Great were their numbers and they praised Aliorod and Tsalisi for they were the leaders, and the Mirvani held their leadership in the highest honor; for independent and stubborn the Mirvani were, and keeping their clocks aligned was a great challenge. But under the wise and just guidance of the two elders of their tribe, the Mirvani moved far away from the Mirvai into the furthest reaches of their realm, which was growing great in size in splendour these ancient days.
The time then came that Alior brought together the Derendi and the Mirvani. On that fateful day an expedition lead by the lady Mahile, seventhborn of Aliorod and Tsalisi, crested a hill the Mirvani had not crested before, and they came upon a land that was altered in a peculiar way. they found people they had not seen before, whose tongue was strange and unintelligble. They spaded the land in beautiful patterns that followed the countours of the hills, and in the ploughed earth were the plants that the Mirvani ate from. The Derendi were tillers, who worked the earth they walked on and sowed it with the seeds to enjoy its bounty later. The Mirvani marveled this invention, and they cheered, for it was a great and efficient way to live by the tasks of the master crafters. The Derendi, in turn, respected the ways of the Mirvani in how they led one another, and they marveled at the beauty and refinement of the Mirvai. And the two tribes learned each other's tongue and came to know each other's ways. And unlike the nine kingdoms, in those days of yore they separated themselves not; the Mirvani came to live with the Derendi, and the Derendi came to live with the Mirvani. Neither felt envy for the other, and they kept their tasks separated; for the Derendi were great in skill with working the earth, and the Mirvani were great in skill for leading men. Thus the Mirvani led, and the Derendi tilled the earth, and their two realms became as one, different not in realms but in crafts.