The Origin of the Great Barrier Mountains

The Myth:

The Great Barrier Mountains were not an original part of the Southern Soul's design of Edith, but rather one implemented in more recent times by the Eastern Soul out of desperation. After the people of the world split into the four races, the humans began to wage wars against their brothers.

They turned first to the Mers in the south. Jealous of their command of the sea the humans began to build great ships and harpoons to fight the Mer, but that fight they quickly began to lose as the Mer sank their ships and disappeared among their many islands, isolating themselves away from the humans.

So then the humans turned north to the Fae and the Demons of the Well Lands that ruled much of the north. The humans were jealous of their magic, where the humans had a paltry fraction of that power in the form of gifts the Fae were able to command storms and shake the earth with the help of the Demons. So the humans waged war.

Unable to hide as the Mer did, and urged forward by the Demons, the Fae were forced to fight the humans. The humans developed weapons quickly, while the Fae relied on their magic and the Demon's bloodlust. The war spanned decades and left the continent barren. With all able bodies at war the human fields were empty, as were their homes, their numbers dwindling dangerously. The Fae were facing magic-sickness and succumbing to their Demons as they pushed their powers further and further.

The Soul of the People wept.

The Soul of the People had been a minor soul raised to cardinal status by the growth of people, they maintained the will of all four races and they had grown dangerously close to death with the war between the humans and the Fae. But they found that they could do nothing. The Demons were inherently creatures of war and consumption, people molded after the Western Soul as they were. The Fae were ultimately a soft-hearted people, but were head-strong and goaded by the Demons, their fears whispered back to them until they felt their only option was to fight against the humans. And the humans, the Soul of the People cared for them the most, and saw in them the potential of the North Soul they were molded after, but they had been tainted by the Soul of the West, just as their Demon brothers.

And so the Soul of the People turned to their sibling soul, the Soul of the East, and begged them to help put an end to the war.

"How?" The Soul of the East had responded almost placidly, creating a new creature as it seemed they were always doing.

"Teach them to be better." The Soul of the People begged. The Soul of the East's own people, the Fae, were as tied to the Demons as they were to the Soul of the West.

"If that were possible, you would have done it yourself." The Soul of the West poked at the Soul of the People, "You need to think bigger. What puts an end to a War?"

"You could put an end to the war, you put it here, you could just as easily take it away." The Soul of the People pushed.

"The Soul of the East put your precious people here. Could they just as easily be taken away? Do you forget how it works to be a Soul? How it works to create?" The Soul of the West pushed, and pushed, "The only way to guide your creations once they have been put into play... is to add something new." And with that the Soul of the West let loose a great disease upon the people. Human, Fae, and Demon all fell to the disease, rapidly spreading it among themselves.

The Soul of the People cried out in pain, feeling their being break and crumble as the people succumbed, "Please. East, please." They begged.

"I could separate them. The way to stop their war would be to keep them from one another, make it seem as though neither group had existed." The Soul of the East offered, "But you will feel torn, between your people in the south, your Mers and your Humans, and your people in the North, your Faes and your Demons. You will feel as though you are two halves that do not fit. Two halves that can never make a whole."

"Please." The Soul of the People wept and the Soul of the East brought forth mountains. The mountains rose and rose, separating the two warring peoples. The Great Barrier Mountains split the continent in two, as did it split the Soul of the People, a scar forming down their body.

So, too, did the disease cease, "It was a disease of proximity. I made it so that the humans and Fae cannot be near one another and fighting, no more than the Fae and the Demons can be apart." The Soul of the West explained, helping the Soul of the People to their feet.

For decades the Soul of the People watched as their people rebuilt. The humans carefully laying out their countries and tribes, setting war with one another over lines on pretty paper maps. The Fae and the Demons called their storms and regained their strength, going on to build their cities as they had wanted, settling disputes with peace and logic. The Soul of the People watched as their two halves forgot each other, and felt their own divide deepen.

Where?

The Great Barrier Mountains is a mountain range that splits the continent almost neatly into its Northern and Southern halves. Largely considered impassible the Great Barrier Mountains' height is unknown to the people of the Southern half of the continent, as is much of the geography of the Northern Half.

Records

Moonwin and the Temple both individually maintain records that include maps of the continent where the Great Barrier Mountains aren't depicted, leading many to believe the myth presented true. There are also several records after the fact that are believed to be the origin of the myth, though there is a gap in records of about 60 years where maps go from not depicting the mountains, to maps depicting only the Southern Half of the continent, the top ending with the Great Barrier Mountains.

Notes

The Fae, Demons, and Mer are to most of the continent in a realm of myth. The closer to the mountains you get, the more the people tend to believe in Demons and Fae, same for Mer in the islands. Stronger non-inherited gifts do tend to show up with greater frequency in smaller towns along the base of the Great Barrier Mountains.

Variations present within the tribes of the East and West have not been extensively studied, though some merchants carry with them stories of Fae and Demons and Mer interacting freely with the tribes. The validity of these claims has not been investigated by the University or any country's archive masters.

Common Variations

In some regions the myth varies by which Cardinal Soul created the Mountains. Some regions have the North Soul visiting and raising the mountains, while others have the Soul of the People raising the mountains in a moment of strength.

There are also several small communities, both tribal and settled that practice with the Temple in the belief that the Soul of the People was not only scarred, but completely broken into two, with the human people following the will of a single half. Some further variations of this go on to say that the Soul of the People was not truly created until this moment, being split instead from the Eastern Soul, who created the people in the first place, with the rise of the Barrier Mountains.