The tournament of the Goddesses

What began as a somewhat friendly tournament between the sister goddesses Pyria and  Zerah caused the definitive separation of two continents and the natural dissasters that followed.

This event had a profound impact for elves and humans across Yeia.

Origins of the Tournament

According to mythology Zerah and her sister Pyria decided to have a competition in order to see who was the most powerful. They sat on an island (some myths point to the island of Vegus in the Blatian Empire, other to some island in the Kingdom of Cloudia). According to the myth Pyria took his bow and shot an arrow that crossed the continent of Karia from west to East and landed in the lands today occupied by the Nari peoples . Upon hitting the ground a huge explosion happened and the great mount Mei Mei.

Zerah wasn't going to loose to her sister. She took her bow (or her spear according to the Seris) and broke the entire continent in two creating the Suris strait and the Interior Sea. Pyria gave up and declared that her older sister was the winner.

Unintended consequences

The split of the former single continent in two, Teria and Karia, mass earthquakes and tsunamis. Volcanic activity increased so much that the oldest elven written sources, which collect oral traditions of the time of the cataclysm, speak of the sky darkening for months and that it rained ash in some regions of the world. This event caused the alteration of the migration routes of many land animals and the diversification of some species. It also forced the first humans and elves to take refuge in the interior of the continent because of the tsunamis.

Worst of it, the dissaster made some elves to lose their faith in the gods, to reject their teachings and their wisdom. They blame the two goddess of all the calamities they had suffered and also the Sky Father for not having stop the two young goddesses. It took centuries to the volcanic eruptions to stop in some regions. This eruptions created new lands like the entire Southern Coast of the Interior Sea and new mountains chains like the ones in the peninsula of Moria, specially the White Mountain, and old volcano, as well as the mountain where the  Palace of the Blatian Emperors and the Great Temple of Blati are located.

The Tournament in art

This event has been a very famous topic in both Seris and Ikarian/Blatian art. The Blatians often depict this event on the walls of the temples dedicated to Zerah. And were very proud to say that their divine ancestor won the tournament. Some elves also created pictures of the event but for them the Great Tournament is a sad event because it separated entire communities when the two continent split and also because the great cataclysm created a branch of the elves that is the mortal enemy of those elves that still believe in the power and wisdom of the gods.

Type

Metaphysical, Supernatural