The Cave Stalker Creation Myth

This story revolves around how the Cave Stalkers believe the world came to be. It is likely that this story was much different in its original form, but after interacting with the first humans to become transported to the Nightlight Zone, they changed it to fit the surface world into the narrative. In the present, it remains largely unchanged due to the Cave Stalkers low population, similar to numerous other aspects of their culture.

Summary

In the beginning there were three gods which had a part to play in the creation of the world. There was Tsamilīq, the World Beast, Nononūn, the Sun, and Konalāmi, the Ocean. At the start of their lives, the three were suspended in empty space, barely interacting with each other, mainly due to their difficulties moving. Nononūn had the body of a nautilus, yet he lacked a siphon that he could use to move, and Konalāmi did not have a physical body. Tsamilīq was the only one that had mobility as he had the streamlined body of a sea creature, and a fluke at the end of his tail with which to move towards his siblings. However, he chose to keep away from them, as Nononūn's nautiloid shell was hot to the touch, and Konalāmi was completely formless, and thus could not physically touch anything. Tsamilīq, being much larger than the two of them combined, could not seek anything from them, and the three drifted separately for what felt like forever, until Konalāmi created landmasses to populate with companions of her own to soothe her isolation.

Konalāmi created two main landmasses, one of which sat above her skin, the ocean's surface, and one which rested inside. The interior land was known to the Cave Stalkers as simply "Tsāmo," or "The World," meanwhile humans call it the Nightlight Zone. The first animals and plants populated each of the two worlds, but they were at risk of dying off due to stunted growth in the cold and the darkness. Nononūn saw this, and moved closer, and with his heat, warmed the land and allowed plants to grow larger. The animals then fed off the plants to keep themselves alive, while other animals feeding on those animals to keep themselves alive. While Tsamilīq did not interrupt the two with their creation, he did witness the inhabitants experiencing mass die-offs in multiple occasions, and the other two were completely oblivious to what was happening. He blamed Nononūn, claiming he was radiating too much heat for life to resist. Tsamliīq, in an attempt to show the Sun that he knew better, pushed his brother aside, suffering a brief burn on his head in the process.

Nononūn, annoyed at the gesture but not realizing his mistake, drew closer again, but this time Tsamilīq attempted to talk him out of it. Nononūn angrily told him to back off, which sent the two into a tense deabte. The two kept arguing back and forth on how their creation should be cared for, before Konalāmi sprayed a torrent of water at Tsamilīq, nearly killing him from the power of the blast. In return, Tsamilīq rushed at his sister, and wrapped his jaws around the Nightlight Zone, storing it in his enormous gut. Konalāmi, however, was suffering from the wound she received, and fell on top of Tsamilīq's backside. Tsamilīq then attempted to swim through the space around him, carrying the weight of his now handicapped sister. While he was angry at her, he did not want to kill her, and planned to help her creation as much as possible. Through his wish, he gave Nononūn a siphon, so he could move along with him. In return, Nononūn would stay farther away from Earth, while periodically disappearing underneath his brother to give the land a break from his light. Then, the inhabitants could rest.

The longer Nononūn circled around Tsamilīq, the more he grew tired in his job of caring for the world. It became apparent he needed a companion to help life with a little extra light, thus Konalāmi bore him a son, named Uqakodi, the Moon. Uqakodi would then circle Tsamilīq as he wished, sometimes appearing when his father was out, sometimes giving a glimmer of light at night. Humanity then emerged, living in a land more forgiving to its inhabitants than another. Tsamilīq swam through the darkness, supporting the Earth with the ocean, and with Nononūn and Uqakodi circling him endlessly.

Meanwhile, in his gut, the Nightlight Zone tremored. The oceanic currents of the land's piece of the ocean became harsh in the darkness, prompting the inhabitants to adapt. They gained increased vision in the darkness, and grew naturally stronger and faster to survive the environmental disasters, such as the quakes caused by the rumbling of Tsamilīq's gut. For a time, the animals lived in a constant battle for supremacy, using their various supernatural abilities to best one another. Some animals, however, became follies in the natural world, and suddenly grew to large sizes. These animals began communicating in ways unseen before, and grew to become their own tribe of gods which would govern various natural aspects of the realm, in the hopes they could stabilize it. Lotōpī was a goddess of the mountains, and she would create the enormous landforms between the Fields and the Pits, as to keep the populations from killing each other, lessening the conflict between the animals. Dzum-polin was the god of the plants, and would work hard to keep the animals from eating all of the plants.

In some areas, the animals would become hostile towards any god they saw, attempting to attack them for interfering in their lives. Yet, they could do no harm to them, much to their annoyance. In other areas, the animals had no knowledge of the gods' interferences, and stuck to their own. In the area where halocline flowed down from the roof of the gut, animals attempted to interbreed if they could not find a mate themselves. Most of these hybrids would not survive, as the mixed traits from their parents would not work together in harmony. However, one hybrid of mixed creatures was able to survive, and have children of its own. This was an octopus-like creature, and with the combined intelligences of its ancestors, was given higher thought. It began using its higher thought to craft tools and the first works of art, yet the animals would not give their appreciation, blinded by their hunger. The Cave Stalkers realized they had no choice but to use their tools to defend themselves in the wild, and over time they began to establish themselves in their environment. For a time, they thought intelligent beings like them were alone, unbeknownst of the gods beyond their lands.

Historical Basis

While it is not confirmed, some of the gods the Cave Stalkers currently believe in may have been inspired by the Watchers, which live close to where they live. Seeing as the gods are larger versions of animals, their appearances mirror that of the Watchers themselves, being extremely large animals with some unnatural features such as four eyes or more limbs. Other than this, there is no historical basis.

Spread

In the present, this myth has spread throughout the large majority of Cave Stalkers, and is a popular story for parents to tell their children. Although, they seem to become careful to not condone siblings having children. In the past, this myth may have spread all over the Cave Stalker civilization, but underwent heavy modifications to cater to different cultures.

Variations & Mutation

Upon studying the Cave Stalkers, it has been found that a large portion do not know that the Moon exists, and some who have not perviously known have rejected the idea. This means that Uqakodi is not present in some versions of the story, yet the core of the story remains the same as the absence of the Moon is unimportant to the Cave Stalkers.

It is also thought that still some obscure groups of Cave Stalker are unaware that the surface world exists, as they have never seen animals from Earth's oceans. It is possible that in their version of the story, instead of Tsamilīq eating only a portion of his sister, he entirely devours her, as the Nightlight Zone is the only world they know about. He would drift through empty space alone, as the Sun is also not present, which also means there would be an entirely different conflict to drive him to eat Konalāmi.

In Art

The Cave Stalkers have made numerous works of art based around their creation story. There have been cave drawings found that depict a whale-like creature, with the ocean inside its gut, with two small objects around him. This depicts Tsamilīq with Nononūn and Uqakodi encircling him, giving their light to the Earth. Along with this there are carvings and sculptures with symbols relating to the first Cave Stalkers, with the gods depicted above them.

The more common depictions come in the form of trinkets that live Cave Stalkers carry with them. An individual called Anāk has said they are used as prayer items, in order to please Tsamilīq, and help ease his gut. This in turn, would aim to allow the ocean currents and the land to work in the Cave Stalkers' favor, helping them find good hunting grounds. Juvenile Cave Stalkers have made trinkets depicting the Sun and Moon, which likely have no significance, and are only reflective of a fascination with the human world.

Date of First Recording

Unknown

Date of Setting

Unknown

Related Species

• Cave Stalker

Related Locations

• The Halocline Pits