Lore24 Jan 29: Gar, the Primordial Beast

Gar was an ancient monster that is said to have predated even the oldest gods. It may have been the first being to ever exist. According to sacred texts kept by the priests of Atar-Numash, Gar looked like an enormous thousand-headed crocodile with the paws of a lion and the three pairs of wings: one that of a swan (or a heron, the translation from Old Elvish is unclear), one of a kingfisher, and one of an owl. It also seemed to have great fanged maws open and close randomly on its body and limbs.

According to legends all the deities that existed back in the day needed to work together to defeat Gar, and even then, it ate almost half of them, and chewed them up so thoroughly that not even their names survive. After Gar’s defeat the surviving deities used its body to make the world as we know it. Its meat became the ground, its teeth the mountains, its blood the rivers and the oceans. The pair of kingfisher wings were used to create the daytime sky, and the owl wings the nighttime sky. The third pair of wings became one of the most valuable divine treasures. The bones were ground up and thrown up the night sky to become the stars. Gar’s heart was used to create Atar-Numash’s chariot, its eyes the moons, and a gem from its stomach, the sun.

Even so cut apart, Gar could not die completely. It still stirs and shakes the earth when it feels pangs of hunger in its deep bowels. In times like those, people either offer sacrifices to the gods to clubber their ancient enemy back to unconsciousness once again, or they offer sacrifice directly to Gar, to state its hunger. Surely, only the most cruel or the most desperate rulers would choose the second option. Surely...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lore24 May 9: The White Gates of Enki

Image
Legends tell of an old city, long claimed by the deserts . In ages long past, this city was the crown jewel of the world, its walls tall, and its sorcerers mighty. According to these legends, when the favorite wife of its Sorcerer-King, Enki, died in childbirth, he became obsessed with getting her back. Now, for the meager men of today, such a feat is impossible, but people have grown feeble since the times of their ancestors, and indeed, Enki’s magic was so powerful, that he reclaimed his wife from the Underworld . The gods, however were not happy with this violation of the order they set up at the dawn of time. They sent ferocious beasts, one after the other, up from the depths of the Underworld to reclaim their prize, and to drag Enki down as well. But the city held. Monster after monster fell before they could breach the walls, killed by the magic of Enki. Enki, on the other hand was worried. He knew he couldn’t hold out forever, so he made a daring plan. He traveled to the mout
Read more

Lore24 Jan 26: Peoples pt. 1: Orcs

Image
There are a multitude of different peoples in the known world. Most are quite similar, sharing a basic bodyplan of one head, two arms and two legs, but some can be quite different. In the age of great empires one could travel and trade all over the world, so it’s no wonder that all kinds of people exist basically everywhere. It is true, however that certain peoples are more numerous in certain parts of the world. Of course people aren’t a monolith, and even among, say the orcs, there are multiple ethnic groups, different languages, and multiple kingdoms, each with their own history, friends, foes and agendas. And of course an orc living in Nashat-Ippur will have more in common with their bronze elf neighbors than with their kin living on the western islands. The following are just some of the various peoples one can meet. Orcs are thought to be masters of combat, on account of having four arms and fearsome tusks. This allows them to fire two bows, if rather inaccurately, to wield a
Read more

Lore24 Jan 2: The White Lady

Image
The White Lady is one of the hundreds of Underworld deities mentioned in the clay tablets rescued from the ruins of the drowned city of Ab-Cir. She holds the keys to the nine gates of the Underworld, and the souls of the dead are only allowed to leave on her authority. Legends of heroes delving into the Underworld often feature bargaining with or straight-up threatening her to allow for the release of the hero’s loved ones. She is worshiped more out of fear than reverence, as in her displeasure she is wont to unseal the gates of the Underworld, allowing the spirits of the dead and other, even worse creatures to wreak havoc on the mortal world. She may alternatively bar spirits from entering the underworld, rendering the souls of the dead cursed to wander the lands of the living. She is most commonly depicted as a woman wearing a long white dress and a white veil, or as a white snake or sparrow. Her temples are made out of marble where possible, and out of limestone where practical.
Read more