The Coming of the Sky God

"When the trees have overtaken the seas and the stones piled over the steppe, Tenrisi shall come in the guise of a great beast to lead our people from the fallen world into the celestial world."

— Passage from a Beirhamin myth.

The Beirhamin are nomadic peoples, and few of them ever write down their stories and myths. From this indistinct and unformalized tradition, it is difficult to say whence a particular tale originates. The tale of the Coming of the Sky God is an unusual one among the poems and legends told among the Beirhamin, not only for featuring a prediction of the end of the world, but also for the particular words chosen.

Summary

In Beirhamin mythology, the sky is ruled by Tenrisi, a god of the sky. The Beirhamin are known to view time as cyclical and each successive generation as essentially a repeat of the last, eternally replenishing the steppe upon which the Beirhamin subsist. Nevertheless, the legend of the Coming of the Sky God speaks of a time when the Beirhamin world will end, and the world they know will descend into the fallen world, the wicked underworld of the Beirhamin cosmos. In the days before the end, the steppe will begin to shrink, and Beirhamin will be forced from their land, and forced to abandon their horses. The "trees shall overtake the sea", a passage that is debated even among the Beirhamin themselves. Some believe it refers to ships sailing to far corners of the world, while others take it more literally. Nevertheless, as the decline of the Beirhamin reaches its lowest point, the sky god, Tenrisi, shall save the Beirhamin and lead them to a celestial world, where they may maintain their way of life free of corruption.

Historical Basis

In the 442nd Year of the Prophet, four great dragons flew north over Kraken's Domain, making their homes on great mountain peaks of the world. This had followed a gradual but noticeable decline among the Beirhamin. Long gone were the days when the Runberi of the coast truly feared the horse archers of the steppe. Increasingly, the scattered tribes were under the thrall of others, or simply unable to do anything as others settled their land. Faced with this, many Beirhamin would abandon nomadism and join the cities. Thus, when the dragons arrived, some considered it a fulfillment of the prophecy laid out in the tale of Tenrisi's return to the world.
A small Beirhamin tribe known as the Sumrai took this interpretation to heart. Joined by a few others who shared their vision, the entire tribe of the Sumrai trekked to Mount Aktar a few years after the great Bronze Dragon had taken it over and overthrown the Thaner king who ruled there. What became of them is unknown.