Sacred History of Maletsok

The ancient history of Maletsok describes the creation and settlement of the Maletsok Islands according to the local inhabitants. It is often usefully chronicled into nine chapters, each tangentially related to one of the Nine Deities of Luthaenoism. Below is a summary based upon numerous texts, dominantly the The Darbreduun Extolment:

I: Creation

Long ago, the Gods created Maletsok from the sea. It is said that Elumen yearned to create, and reached deep into the ocean. Drawing up ocean stone and silt, they set the foundation of the new Island. They then took the silt and stone and formed life in their hands in such a way that suited them, and the Island was made green with all manner of things walking and growing. At the heart of this Island, where Elumen had pulled the ocean floor up, rose the mighty mountain Darbreduun.

This Island became a homeland for the Gods, and each found favour in many places: Kirien kept the balance of life by teaching the growing and walking things how to kill and be killed. Manrien made the growing things bear delicious fruit, which he used to brew the first ale. Idwalen built at its mountain heart beneath Darbreduun her own forge, where she formed and set the jewels and gemstones, and all minerals in their place; Bokoren orchestrated the waves of the sea and clouds of the sky to make easy beaches of sand and looming cliffs of stone; Fornien travelled with the waters from the top of the mountains down to the sea, carving their paths to leave a flowing history in rock and soil; and Elatien gathered the light of Kolaluthaenut and formed it into the sun and the moon to bring day and night. Malakien, seeing all that had been made, brought together pieces of all creation and made a passage to peaceful rest in the north for those growing and walking things to tread at the end of their days. There, fresh fruit and strong ale sent them off on their journey, precious gems and minerals granted eternal reminders of the beauty of the world, the water from the mountains and the sea muddied the land to embrace the departed in cold slumber, and the sun and moon faded to easy darkness.

II: Birth

After such a time, some Gods desired to have assistants much like themselves to aid them in the world. First was Idwahel, who created assistants of stone and gemstone for her forge; Next came Bokoren and Fornien, who together made people of the water from the salt of the sea and sediment of the rivers to travel and study their paths; Manrien created small people after himself from the fruit of the soil; and Kirien gathered the bones of prey and formed for herself expert hunters who would bring glory to untimely death. Then it was that many of the Gods lived on the Island with their creations.

After a time, Manrien took his own creation and, opening their mouths with one hand, let them drink of his Ale of Life. These creatures became alive and aware, and are today known as the Pelozerians. They, in turn, shared the gift of life with many other creatures on the land, including the assistants of Idwalen who became the Dumadhur Dwarves, the children of Bokoren and Fornien who became the Dobrid Men, and the creation of Kirien who became the Vogg.

III: Discovery

The Folk of the Gods took to reveling in their new lives, and they journeyed Malakien's path with great joy. Fornien in her wisdom envisioned a greater life for these creatures. She ventured across the land and gathered the Folk to herself. Thence she reached into their mouths and unbound their tongues, and they began to speak, for she had gifted them Word. After that time, she reached into their hearts and opened their eyes, and they began to yearn to know, for she had gifted them Thought. This yearning led the Folk to explore the Island, giving all the land and those on the land their names in their own tongues. The creatures of Bokoren and Fornien in particular developed a deep love for the adventure of knowledge.

IV: Greed

With awareness and curiosity came the yearning to explore beyond the Island. Although Fornien rejoiced, the other Gods were perturbed. They turned to one another and said, "O should these Folk not leave the land that we have made, for if they leave our domain, they will become ill and cruel." Bokoren then called up the waves and brought down the skies around the Island with his terrible voice, interring the Folk to their home.

Restriction begets indignation, and the Folk became possessive over their parts of Island. They came to cherish their birthplaces and became envious of the riches of others. Much like the storm that bound them to the Island, the creatures' hearts tumulted and therein grew resentment and hatred.

V: Deceit

Atin and Akkolor, in their love of deceit thence went upon the land and sought to sew discord. Atin appeared to the Folk in their own forms and presented the greed they had and moulded it into resentment and hatred. To the Pelozerians, they appeared as a weary traveller with tales of the bountiful fruits of the forest which they surmised might make a wonderful ale, wasted on the Dobrid. To the Dobrid, they appeared as a nobleman of the Hills, well-bejewelled and rich with gold which they suggested would bring power, if only it were not in the hands of the Dumadhur. To the Dumadhur, they presented themselves as a Dwarven explorer who had found rare gems and metals in the Vrogg lands, unwrought by the unskilled creatures. And to those Goblins, they were a merchant boasting the ample foodstuffs and hearty ales of the Pelozerian lands, who merely got fat on their gifts and did not use them to better their species.

Thereafter, Akkolor humbled itself to Kirien and said, "Behold, the Folk have become predators and yearn to hunt. Bestow upon them your gifts of malice so that they might glorify you." And Kirien, chief of conquest and power, yearned to be worshipped by all the Folk.

VI: War

Kirien, moved by Atin, visited the lands. She spoke to the leaders and soldiers of the Folk upon the Island, saying, "See, your neighbours are misusing the land they have, and they envy your own. Mind it is the one who attacks first who achieves glory," and this stirred their minds to take action on the will of their hearts. She taught the assistants of Idwalen to craft great weapons of death; she guided the children of Bokoren and Fornien to the path of violent magic of malice; and she revealed to the guests of Manrien the locations and uses of poisonous fruits and venomous creatures, who in turn engineered them toward death.

In short order, the Folk took up their tools of hate and commenced a great war with one another. There was such a blood shed upon the land that the rivers and rain turned red, and the growing things of the land withered and died. It is said that the very mountains trembled and wept.

VII: Hellfire

The War was so terrible and vast that Elumen and the other Gods turned to Kirien and chose to punish her for bringing it about. When they had placed her for judgement, Kirien said to them, "Behold, the greed and hatred for one another was not of me, but of their own hearts." Then she turned to the Gods and said, "Even more, it was you who took the walking and growing things and gave them life, curiosity, and desire, and bound them to their land. I then accuse you all of bearing the guilt of this crime."

The heart of Idwalen was so moved that she took up Kirien's cause first, for she held in her own heart that she would rather destroy her creations than let anyone but her own people have it. After a time of deliberation, the Gods saw to it to punish the Folk themselves for their malice. Idwahel shook her mountain forge with such a force as to tear down the walls of the very Darbreduun. From the cracked mountain erupted all the fires of the great Holy Forge, which flooded the land and scarred it. All manner of things were burned up in the fires and drowned in the slag, and there was loud cry of despair. It was then that the Gods departed from the land.

VIII: Recovery

The Folk of Maletsok were devastated by the flood of fire and were very near to disappearing from the Island, for they had only to burn up in the fire, gasp on the smoke, or drown in the sea. While the Gods had turned their backs on the Folk to let them perish, Elatien looked upon them and was moved with pity. He returned to the land, piercing the smoke with his light as an arrow pierces cloth. He took his Holy Mantle in hand and brought it over the Folk, warding them from the scorching wave. As the fire consumed the land, the light of his cloak cooled their burns and sealed their scars. There was a great rejoicing beneath the Mantle of Elatien.

IX: Peace

After a time, the fires expired and the slag cooled to stone, and the Folk came out from under the Mantle of Elatien. They found a land as smothered in sorrow as in ember; and many spirits wandered about, ever-crippled by the pain of their deaths. The Great Elatien too was marred by the fires, his holy skin forever disfigured and his Mantle charred; he wept for his own pain, and the suffering of the Folk. In the silence of the aftermath, there arose a shout of mourning, and many fell to the ground in grief.

The woes of both the living and the dead and the sacrifice of Elatien stirred the heart of Malakien. She turned to the Gods and said, "You vile devils. You have sought to destroy what you have created, but have not seen that they are creators as us. Look here, our own friend has been destroyed with them; verily he has shed his own blood alongside them. We owe to them our faithfulness." And she turned from them and came to the land.

For a great while, she wandered the land on her cart, gathering the sorrowful spirits of the slain and bringing them north, where they would go to rest at last. The Folk, seeing the faithfulness of the Gods, were changed and yearned to follow the paths of Malakien and Elatien. Their hearts turned from their greed to a desire for peace. They gathered upon the land as one people, a people of love for one another, in order to rebuild the lands they had destroyed. And so it was that the Gods returned to the Island to be faithful to their people.

Other Considerations

The Fifth Chapter of this creation myth has since been rejected this heresy by Imperial scholars on the grounds that it asserts the inherent innocence of sentient creatures. The necessity of the Gods of Deceit to deceive the Maletsokish and divine creatures directly contradicts the Polasenok - The Universal Order. It has therefore been removed from most canons. The heresy is only promulgated by extreme traditionalists, chiefly the Duamdhur Dwarves.

It is important to note that this history does not take into account the independent nature of the Marnab Gnomes, who for most of Maletsokish history were considered the same species as Halfling. It seems that not even the Maletsokish folk, steeped in lore and history, can provide an answer to the Mystery of the Gnomes. Additionally, this history only dances around the notion of lands outside the Island, outrightly ignoring the histories of other nations and cultures, particularly the Ethelan Empire.