The First Shepherds

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Upon the veil known as the Heavens did sit the siblings Solis'Rei, Nissa'Lune, and Stell'Arya. They watched over their creation and held true to their duties.

Solis'Rei would tether the great disc of light and turn it across the great the veil of Lumis. As it showered its light upon the land, the life-giving crops grew in plenty. But soon he ran into a problem. He could only harvest so many of these fruits within a period of time before his sister, Nissa'Lune, would come to tether her soft disc of light. The cold silver light would make the fluid essence of the seas rise and swell, drowning the crops. This angered Solis'Rei, and he confronted his sister, and said,

"Why do you delight in seeing the life-giving crops perish before we may properly consume them? Your disc brings forth the cold and dark waters that swallow the lands and I cannot harvest the fruits of our nourishment."

Nissa'Lune, insulted by this accusation, responded,

"You wound me with your words, brother, I am simply acting upon my nature and my duties. I do not see you apologizing for bringing forth your great disc that burns away the swelling waters which I use to replenish myself. I too only have little precious time to sustain myself upon the Material and yet your crops grow through the nourishment of my essence-giving waters."

The two beings continued this, for a time, one seeking to gain the upper hand on one another, undoing the work of the other. Soon, the expanse known as Lumis began to grow no crops or flow with any waters, their great work was becoming undone. Stell'Arya, busy marking the movements of her Stars, did not notice until she descended from the Heavens to see her work. When she witnessed the devastation of Lumis, she was filled with anger and confronted her two siblings, saying,

"You who are meant to be the first shepherds have abandoned your duties for the sake of superiority, through no fault of your own, for it is within your natures. However, if this expanse was one of us, it would weep with agony at its torment that you have subjected upon it. Undo your suffering and make amends for this tragedy."

But the two siblings were without guidance and could not decipher the riddle of undoing the work they have committed. Being bound to their nature, they could not act against it without abandoning their duties, which Thana'Tomos forbid. So, in repent, they turned to their sister, Stell'Arya, and asked that she help save the great shape. Stell'Arya, wise through her work with the stars, divined a solution and demanded that they each bring to her vessels filled with crops and waters. Once they presented the vessels to her, she took from the aether-soaked stars and made new shapes, saying,

"You shall harness the essence-giving waters of the Material, every drop belongs to you, courses through you, and you shall shepherd its rise and fall, its flow and presence."

The new shape, filled with pride in her voice, said, "I shall make the Seas my home and domain, guided by the lesser disc, yet honoring of the greater one. I shall harness the movements of the veil and call it the Winds, which I shall use to sail the open waters, shepherding its flow across the expanse. I shall take the name, Meridi'Anna."

Stell'Arya spoke again, and said, "You shall harness the life-giving crops of the Material, every seed belongs to you, and you shall shepherd its plenty and bounty, its vigor and growth."

Though she believed to have spoken true, she was met by two voices, who responded to her calls. The first one, soft and graceful, said, "I shall make the field of green and brown my home and domain, guided by the greater disc, yet honoring the lesser one. I shall harness the life-giving light of the greater one and call it the Sun and the essence-giving waters of the lesser one and call it the Moon. I shall take these seeds and make plenty the bounty of them that I shall harvest for us to consume. I shall take the name, Eris'Neas."

Another voice, stern and robust, spoke and said, "I shall make the forests of green and wild gardens of life my home and domain, guided by the wrath of the Sun and Moon. I shall harness the desire for superiority, growth and vigor, and make hardy the places where life may flourish unbothered by the desires of others who would undo the great work, this shape called Lumis. I shall take the name, Cor'Neas."

The three new beings, made of the selfsame aether as the siblings, took the Material and made their domains. They poured of themselves into the lands and seas, and from it sprang new shapes, vast and plenty. Meridi'Anna filled the seas with shapes both big and small, born of the essence-giving waters. Cor'Neas filled the wild places with great and powerful shapes, born of the vigor of the land itself. Eris'Neas filled the fields with great and benign shapes, born of the life-giving crops. 

And so were the first shepherds made, and all was good, and Stell'Arya marked this day in the movements of the stars.

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