Correspondence between Peredik and Vance

Letter I

Dated 3761ey, Jun 3d

From: Magister Vance, Third Circle of the Dweomersecte

To: Archmage Peredik the Highborn, Keeper of the Staff of Concordance

My Lord Archmage,

I trust this letter finds you in vigorous health and deeper understanding, as always. I beg a moment of your attention on a matter that has grown increasingly disturbing in my private research.

Over the past three years, I have uncovered patterns of extraplanar contact among a class of entities whose influence is beginning to be felt subtly among the arcane currents of Erenth. They call themselves “Vastirah,” and present themselves as divine messengers—yet their origin is neither divine nor native.

I believe they are travelers from a plane of mutable law and illusion, projecting forms of beauty, wisdom, and power—crafted to the expectations of mortals. Their presence correlates precisely with the rise in spontaneous theurgical awakenings among the peasantry.

This is no miracle. This is infiltration.

I ask—humbly—for five minutes of your time during the next Conclave. I have proof.

In service to the Circle and the Flame,

Magister Vance

Letter II

Dated 3763ey, Nov 8th

From: Archmage Peredik

To: Magister Vance

Vance,

I remember you as a bright student and now a tireless colleague. But let me offer caution: the road of paranoia is paved with real facts. What you describe is interesting, yes—but not alarming.

The world is old. Not all that is new is threat. If these Vastirah inspire reverence and peace, then what matter if they are not “gods” by our definition? Our role is not to police belief.

You are not the first to see patterns in stormclouds. If you must continue, do so quietly.

Your enthusiasm does you credit. But your fear does not.

– Peredik

Letter III

Dated 3765ey, Oct 9th

From: Magister Vance

To: Archmage Peredik

My Lord,

I must speak more plainly. These are not abstract concerns. The Vastirah are real, and their agents move among us. I have found four names worshipped in different lands—Thamerel, Issura, Belan, Voreth—and yet the visions of them are identical, save for trappings shaped by local belief.

These are not deities evolving from cultures; they are constructs, manipulating cultures to build a unified channel of belief. Belief feeds them. That is the mechanism.

If they are not stopped, they will become what they pretend to be. Their power is reflective. If enough believe, it will be true.

We must intervene before the Continuum surrenders itself. I fear the Hierophants already murmur prayers they once called blasphemy.

I know you do not share my alarm. But please. Meet with me. I will bring no theory—only evidence.

Vance

Letter IV

Dated 3766ey, Feb 22

From: Archmage Peredik

To: Magister Vance

Vance,

I say this with the affection of one who once taught you: you are approaching obsession.

The Dweomersecte is not a tribunal of spiritual purity. We observe, we record, we preserve. You are attempting to stem the tide of myth with logic—and worse, you are beginning to sound like a zealot.

Do not approach the Continuum. Do not speak of this in the Conclave again. If you persist, you may find yourself without station.

I am sorry. Truly.

– Peredik

Letter V

Dated 3768ey, Sep 24

P,

You fool. You vain, blinkered, soft-palmed coward.

You think this is politics? You think this is a matter of reputation, of Conclave decorum?

By the time you feel their power, it will already be too late. You do not see the web they weave because you have already stepped into it.

And when you finally bow to them—and you will—you will believe it was your idea. That is their genius. That is their curse.

You were the one man who might have helped me. Now, I know I stand alone.

I am done asking.

V.

History of Man -- Book 1: Westrun Part 7

At the dawn of the 37th century there were no fewer than 25 kings in Westrun. The first forty years recorded the many disputes between petty kings who were vying for control of the land and resources within their controlled borders. But the hallmark of this time was not contests between men, but rather the rise of the gods later called the Decadon or the Pretenders.

3744ey is the first recorded instance of Heimos in Westrun. Notwithstanding that date, the Priesthood of Westrun would come to teach that Heimos and the other gods arrived on Erenth almost seven centuries earlier. Their arrival was said to be in a fiery chariot whose descent could be seen in the night sky for a fortnight. The same records would claim that the entire pantheon came to end the rule of the Vyrum and to usher in the glorious new age of man. However, in the still extant writing of Gys, first Magi of the King of Bolden, there is another version.

In those early records Heimos is described as a tall, broad-shouldered man with bright blue eyes that seemed to burn with undying fire. In that telling he kept the company of six formidable Northrun warriors and two-score fawning Fahrish sycophants, including a half dozen wives (all pregnant) that he guarded with no little jealousy. At that time no mention is made of any supernal power beyond having a commanding voice and being possessed of great personal charm.

According to the records of Gys, this same Heimos contracted with the Boldish king for a handsome annual payment of silver to be able to settle his pilgrim band in the wilds of Ochre Island. Within a few weeks of the first payment being made, however, the silver was revealed to be some sort of temporary enchantment which disappeared. All subsequent attempts for the king to collect were met with misfortune and violence.

The next mention occurs in the records of Menea five years later. In 3749ey a great battle is described in which Heimos, now called the Conjurer and also named the Lord of Lightning, kills or puts to flight a company of Menes who outnumbered his forces. In 3774ey Heimos is made the king of the Meneans and Talireans -- ruling both kingdoms through vassal earls from his island redoubt. 

Of course, multiple records from 3752ey are extant. All declare that Heimos is named the Patron and Protector of All Nations (of Westrun.) He has a total of 25 earls beneath him each of whom he anoints in a public ceremony in the shallows where the Brownbeck meets the Sea. A grand manse with stately columns is erected on Ochre Island and the Invitatory Court is erected across from it on the mainland. It is here that the earls meet with their liege to receive direction, but Heimos is content to let the earls have autonomy as long as their tribute is paid, preferring to rule his island alone.

Further records indicate that all but one of his six wives died in childbirth. Ranay lived to give him three children. All of his offspring were raised by his devoted followers and a kind of priesthood they developed toward that cause. By all accounts, the children of Heimos were quick to anger and difficult to control. Each of them was called a conjurer and wonder-worker, like their sire, and that made their easily roused anger a dangerous thing.

In the early years Heimos made no secret of his plan to install his children in the place of his earls and use them to usher in a era of peace in Westrun. But his offspring proved to be uncontrollable well into adulthood. They became agents of unpredictability and violence. From the first, each showed even less interest than Heimos in having control of armies and land. Rather, each enjoyed the tribute and accolades heaped on them by the men of Westrun and each developed their own cult of personality.

Alone among the kingdoms of Westrun, the Southwest tribes still contended with the successors of the Urok, the so-called Goblins. The most powerful of them, the Aras, were annihilated utterly. The warriors of the Aras were slain to the very man. The wives and children of the Aras were carried off as spoils and slaves. The remaining tribes on the plains (Du and Ren) sought shelter at Balsrest and unified their tribes under King Belos Thunderhooves, thereafter calling themselves and their city by the names of their tribal gods: Balduren.

The Princes of Erenes IX: Jondul Halfgiant

Jondul, was the son of Beleseri the Giantess and of Mykrojurs, the Prince of Erenes. He was considered wise among his kin and many though he was small among his people, they thought they saw in him the Yotinir of old. Thus they sought Jondul to be their chieftain. He was strong and greatly respected of their kind, but Jondul was much like his father and he sought a bride in his sire's way.

For the day came when he looked down into a great valley and espied a maiden, Hana, living among the tents of her father's people. So stricken was he with her beauty that he stole among the lodges at night and carried her off to his mountain home.

Now Hana was not surprised for she was a dreamer. It was said that when she was between sleeping and waking she saw things that were to be and they could not be gainsaid. From her youth she had dreamed of being taken afar off and it had come to pass.  

Then, though she was stolen from the lodges of her people, she came to love Jondul her captor; and her love was returned by him and so he would deny her nothing. Then Hana lived with Jondul Halfgiant for the space of ten years and had a son by him. Often times she shared her dreams with Jondul, her husband, and he became more wise for hearing them. 

But as the years passed, Hana seemed to miss the tents of her father, and the love she bore him consumed her with its sadness. Many times Jondul caught her staring into the great valley with tears in her eyes.

"What does my wife desire?" Jondul asked one day.

"I fear I must die apart from my people," Hana said. "For even now I have seen my fathers death by grief and I know that my death will follow quickly."

Then Jondul grieved and said, "Perhaps it is not yet as you have dreamed. You must return to the tent of your father and take to him this son you have born, so he will know that his line has not perished."

So Hana took her son and departed Jondul and returned to the lodges of her father's people. And Jondul was filled with grief for it was there that she died. And her dream was not gainsaid, for she died apart from those who became her people.

The son of Hana was raised among those who dwell in Eastrun. He became a mighty warlord and hero of his age.

 

The Princes of Erenes VIII: Law and Chaos in the Principalities

Long ago the Principalities were ruled by noble Houses which built glittering Alds that rose to the sky. But the Alds were eventually abandoned and became the possession of lesser men.

Into this land came Ris, who is sometimes called the Hound of Law, and sometimes the white god. By his side was Kels, who is sometimes called the Grimalkin of Chaos, and sometimes the black goddess. From a conflict over the sea, they fled to the shores of the Principalities. Because news of their coming was noised far and wide, the Black Princes of Florenia, Genia, and Matinia came out to meet them on the sea.

But not all of them together were strong enough to oppose Ris. He sank their ships and set their men adrift. Then Ris lashed the Black Princes who had opposed him to the prows of his vessels and went next to the Danello Isles.

But the Black Princes of Belolia, Iglesia, Novaria, Comaria, Leccia, Pordenia, and Ferraria would not submit at his landing. So Ris and Kels fought against them and in the power of their fury struck terror into the hearts of all men. These were the Wars of Subjugation and when the fury was spent, the islands were no more, for they had been swallowed by the waves. 

When Ris and Kels made landfall at Benonia on the mainland, their Black Princes came out to show them obeisance. Then Kels danced above the water which divided Westrun from the Principalities and many saw her and were charmed.

The Princes of Erenes VI: The Sons and Daughter of Umirra

Umirra, Prince of Erenes, was a great physician. He came to Southrun cleansing people of their diseases and healing them of their infirmities, but he was hemmed in on all sides by throngs of seekers and did not know rest. So he went out onto the sea to seek respite and there he discovered Marida, a princess of the deep who was sunning herself upon a ring of coral.

Marida was beautiful beyond words. She had skin the hue of the ocean and hair the color of dried salt. She wore clothing that was woven from seaweed and inlaid with pearls. When Umirra saw her, he spoke to her with kind words and flattered her with poetry and bewitched her with his tongue. So Marida took Umirra beneath a whirlpool to the khedivate of her father and there to seek his hand in marriage.

But the khedive was wroth with his daughter and lashed out in his anger, grievously wounding her. So Umirra healed her. Then the anger of the khedive cooled upon seeing what Umirra did and he consented to their marriage.

So Umirra and Marida were wed and soon produced triplets -- sons Amir and Bhamut; and daughter Sekhat. But Marida died in childbirth and in his grief, Umirra followed -- a victim of his own hand. So the khedive cast the infant brothers out of his presence and handed them to the rulers of dry land to raise them, saying, "These are children of the land." But the daughter he allowed to remain for she resembled her mother and the khedive could not bear to part with her.

The Princes of Erenes IV: The Rape of Beleseri and the Head of Mykrojurs

Alone of all the Princes of Erenes, Mykrojurs went into exile. He mourned deeply for the death of Brand and he despaired greatly for the kings of men. So he traveled into the mountains of the Land of Eastrun and there he lived among the giants as one of renown. One day, while walking along the mountain tops, he looked into the caves of that people and espied the giantess maiden, Beleseri, living among her people.

So stricken was he with her beauty that he stole among the caves at night and carried her off to his mountain redoubt. There he lavished her with every gift that his imagination could bear. Of men, creatures, plants and minerals he made gifts, but she would not consent to receive any of them, for she said that she was promised to another.

For two years and two days he made gifts of every kind, but still the virgin Beleseri, would not relent. So it was that eventually Mykrojurs entered unto her chamber and forced himself upon her until she was made to be with child. 

That evening Beleseri told the prince of Erenes that she would want only one gift, which she would receive with gratitude. Mykrojurs was elated saying, "I shall grant you two gifts of land, sea or sky -- whatever you ask."

So Beleseri asked for her freedom and the head of Mykrojurs. Which he granted to her that day. Beleseri used the riches of her house to entomb Mykrojurs and when her son Jondul became of age, she made a gift to him of his father's head.

The Princes of Erenes III: The Seduction of Heimos by Kels

Now Kels was the wife of Lamon and the sower of chaos. She was a being of surpassing beauty and loved to dance. So Lamon hid her behind veils, lest others espy her and become enamored of her. Beside her bed he chained the darkling hounds and bid them to watch over her.

 

Now Angest was lame but had eight eyes and they were set in a ring upon his head so that he could see in all directions at once. And Angor was blind but had eight legs, which meant he could run faster than any prince or creature. Together the two stood watch on the bed of Lamon and kept Kels captive.

But Kels often fed the hounds from her own plate and so earned their trust. She was able to tame them despite their massive jaws and sharp teeth. On the night that the princes left Heimos, she was able to bind the Hounds with her veils. She bound the eyes of Angest and the legs of Angor and slipped out of the bed of Lamon. She went naked into the presence of Heimos and there, she danced.

Heimos was filled with lust for Kels and in the darkness of the night he made vain promises to her. The captain of the princes promised to spare his kindled wrath against the other princes and to allow each to go their own way into the Four Lands. When Heimos saw who it was that he promised, he chased her from his chamber promising her death.

So Kels returned to Lamon, her husband, but Lamon was wroth for the binding of his hounds and he put aside his wife. Then he cursed the men of Erenth saying, that whosoever would lay with Kels would become blind, and a eunuch forever.

So it was that Kels came to be with Ris, who was the eldest and most infirm of all the princes and beyond the siring of children.

The Princes of Erenes II: The Counsel of Heimos and the Deicide of Brand

When the chariot had come to rest upon the Aksus, Heimos, captain of the Princes, looked out upon the world of Erenth and declared that if man should heed their counsel, then the Princes would reward them. In return, the Princes would be as gods to them and protect them and keep them safe. And the people who were gathered there said, "Let it be," and paid obeisance.

Then to demonstrate their love and their trust, the Princes set aside the robes of their magnificence and the mantles of their regency; and they stepped foot upon the Aksus as if they were only the peers of men. But the kings of that time were savages and unlearned. They were jealous of the Princes incomparable wisdom and jealous of their luminous beauty and jealous of their immense power.

"If these Princes of Erenes come among us," they said, "we will have no more power forever."

So the kings of men attacked the princes and speared Brand, who was as a son to Heimos, the captain of the Princes. This kindled a great fury in Heimos who put on his robe of magnificence and the mantle of his regency. Then he raged with thunder and lightning and slew all of the kings who had come to him to pay obeisance.

Then the Princes of Erenes gathered around and their grief was great for the broken body of Brand, but the fear of their captain was even greater. 

"Let us each go out into the Four Lands, and tame the lords and kings of men, for they know only evil which they have learned from the Vyrum. Let us therefore go among them and show them a better way."

But Heimos could not be consoled in his wrath. He placed the body of his son, Brand, on a pyre made from the chariot and burned it upon the Aksus, while the princes slipped away in the darkness to fulfill their plan.

Mykrojurs went to the Land of Eastrun. Lamon went to Northrun, Umirra went to Southrun, Ris went to Westrun.

The Princes of Erenes I: The Dawning of Glory

For ages out of mind, the gods looked with disapproval upon the corruption of the Vyrum. For the Vyrum had broken the Sovrans and lived as a curse. When the gods could countenance it no longer, they deemed that mankind should rise up on the face of Erenth and so, upon a chariot of lightning, the Princes of Erenes came in the year 3565.*

*Most elvish scholars dispute this early date for the advent of the Princes of Erenes. No sage places this date earlier than 3740 and most point to 3744. 

Roll 004

3706    Seleseer the Pious

Then came Seleseer.

The Rolls of the Lords Continuous

The Tandis List: List VI

The Tandis Lists are the compiled lists of all of the Old Bears since the First Gathering of Rangers in 3278ey. They are kept by Tandis of Peakshadow -- a well-respected historian of the Fraternity.

In the 37th century there was:

3708 Mellondir of the Mistwood who was the Old Bear for nine Gatherings and was slain in single combat by Bregas the Foul in Harminia.

3798 Ywan of Shu who had been kidnapped in his youth and sold at the slave markets of Uruda.

The Dawning

In the year 3744ey the pretender gods revealed themselves to mankind and began to raise new nations and to perform great deeds of wonder. They won the hearts of many and men worshipped them.

Rise of the Humans

During the period between 3600ey and 3730ey the human race, long neglected by the elder races, slowly prove themselves capable of coalescing into tribes and nations. They eventually become strong enough to become noticed by the Elder Races.

While the humans are engaged in open warfare one with the other, the elder races take no part. What remains are over two dozen warring tribes. 

In Westrun, a treaty is signed between the Rane of the Elves of Mistwood and a human king. A similar treaty is signed between the Dwarves of Oromir and the tribe of the Sud. The Dwarves build the humans a city called Peakshadow, one fit for a human king. Not to be outdone, the Dwarves of Dynkyr build the city of Rath. This period lasts until the Dawning of the Gods

A History of the Tribes of Man in Westrun

At the dawn of the 7th Age in the 30th Century, Westrun was home to two distinct subgroups of humans, the Nandi and the Tren. By the end of the 40th Century they had been joined by the Meni and the Fahr. Together these four people groups and their struggles create the Eight Kingdoms of Man in Westrun.

NANDI
The Nandi roamed from the Silverlodes Mountains to the Dagger Sea in tribes. Most of their names are lost to history. Those names that are still familiar -- such as the Nadi, Sahna, Numin, Shina, Anis, Duvi -- come to us as place names. Sak and Rath now give their names to whole kingdoms in the modern era. There are many, many more which have been lost to antiquity.

All of the Nandi were hunters and gatherers who made war with one another continuously. Tribes rose and fell, splintered and merged. Life among them was an ongoing struggle for survival against the unyielding land, the elements, and especially the elder races which still tarried from the previous ages. It was not until the common threat of the Goblinkind, that the Nandi were able to unite and eventually coalesce into states under the Eight Kingdom's Pact.

TREN
While the Nandi were roaming in hundreds of nomadic tribes, the Tren, were another race of so-called civilized men. Once held captive by the Dragon Prince of old, they were eventually entrusted with the matters of their captors and in due time inherited the entire Principality of Treft from its exiled ruler. Though they could not maintain the height of Treft's former glory, they were able to hold the walls of its capital city against those slavering Hordes who would rise against it.

After the Dragon Prince was exiled, the Tren lived under the rule of a long succession of their own unpopular monarchs. A rebellion saw to the death of their last king, Etru III, and the Nine Elders who remained banished the monarchy. In its place they created a system of government in which each property owning inhabitant would be permitted to cast votes in a general assembly. Thus the strange democratic government of that city/state was born. The date of that government's founding is commonly given as 3600EY.

MENI
The year 3413EY saw the settlement of the Meni in Westrun under the leadership of Tal the Just. The Meni were refugees from the principalities that lay across the Dagger Sea. A one hundred year long struggle between two of the more powerful city/states had come to its end with the total defeat of Lanaria. Thousands of Lanarians were slaughtered. Many more were evicted and forced to live as wanderers -- their fields were salted, their noble city destroyed. To this day, many Lanarians still wander the Provinces in caravans with a reputation not altogether wholesome. Others made their way East and South by ship.

Several hundreds of Lanarians heeded the call of Tal -- a lesser son of the old ruling house. Together they migrated across the Dagger Sea and settled on Westrun's shores. Once landfall was made they intermingled with the Nandi they encountered. Their descendants were less nomadic, preferring to settle up and down the coast before eventually spreading inland on the plains. The inland group of Meni founded the kingdom which still bears their name: Menea. Those who spread Southward along the coast eventually divinized Tal their founder. They grew from a monarchy into a theocracy.

FAHR
Many long decades after the settlement of the Nandi, in the year 3300EY the first of the Fahr from Northrun came down and founded Wanderhalt and began to settle on the Southern slopes of Mount Oromir. By 3400ey, Sudhall would be raised and this settlement would eventually grow to become Peakshadow. The Fahr of Sudhall and the Meni moving north from Menea intermingled and eventually give seed to Bolden. The people of Sudhall intermarry with the Nandi of the plains and in time came to see themselves as a different from the Fahr of Northrun. Under the Eight Kingdom's Pact, the massive Northrun holdings of the Jarls of Wanderhalt swear fealty to the Lord of Sudhall and become the Kingdom of Colonia.

The Many Gods of Southrun

The pious pagans of Southrun maintain that two brother gods, Amir and Bhamut, once ruled over Southrun. For six centuries the Brothers held sway over all the Land.

The day came when the Brothers became rivals. For they had a sister named Sekhat, who was greatly desired as a consort by each of them. And the two of them came to blows over which of them would be able to wed her. And the fury of their rivalry caused great tribes and nations to go to war. And it came to pass that Sekhat, who tried to preserve the peace of her brothers, was slain in their conflict. So each looked to the creatures of their domain for wives.

For his part Bhamut took many creatures of the animal world and had his offspring by them. These became beasts of great cunning and strange power. While Amir took mortal women and slew many of them with his seed. But some of his wives survived and produced many offspring for him. All of these offspring were immortal and extremely powerful -- gifted with many of the powers of their sires, but also given to all the failings and passions of their mothers.

Eventually, both Amir and Bhamut grew tired of war (some say they were slain by the machinations of the Dark Elves). They have left the temporal world in the hands of their volatile children and can be seldom bothered to pay attention to the affairs of Erenth, let alone interfere in them. 

The sheer number of their offspring means that every tribe and family has its own preferred god or goddess, with most of the rest being benignly neglected. While they will not sacrifice to the other deities, the Southruner is careful not to blaspheme or disparage them -- for he believes (under the Law Which Cannot Change) that any one who does so will suffer curses for seven generations.

The lists below are far from complete. These are the well-known offspring of the brother gods. In addition to a great number of siblings unrecorded, each of these demigods have further bred with other creatures and mortals, and with each other, giving rise to lesser and least categories of beings with divine blood.

The Lineage of Al Amir

• Djazzar -- The butcher is a particularly bloody and violent culler of life.
• Hadeeqah -- The gardener is known for his love of plant life and green areas.
• Bohairah -- The god of lakes and water. He is responsible for the rise of the oasis and all well-watered areas.
• Jabal -- The master of the mountains is considered to be the keeper of the borders between the Khard and the coastal Sultanates.
• A'lana -- This goddess is considered the messenger of the various gods.
• Naqaasha -- This goddess is capricious and given to strife, anger and conflict.
• Hajaam -- He is a warrior god given to attacking first and maintaining a good offense as the best defense.
• Haraqah -- The burning-one is the keeper and originator of fire.
• Raqasa -- Depicted as a young belly dancer, she is a goddess of fertility, allure and desire.
• Halama -- This goddess is the master of dreams, hope and vision. He is called the Dreamer.
• La'eba -- This god is depicted as a small, naked, and often dirty child. He is the god of merriment.
• Wa'ada -- This goddess is a matronly and wizened woman, austere and grim. She is invoked to bear witness to contracts and agreements.
• Abhara -- The patron of sailors and travelers across the sea.
• Kataba -- The patron of scholars and learned men, Kataba is faceless and usually depicted with ink-stained fingers.
• Rahabba -- The goddess of hospitality and the protector of travelers, pilgrims and nomads.

The Lineage of Al Bhamut

• Asad -- The Lion, god of war, power and savagery.
• Samak -- The Fish, god of contemplation, silence, sea voyagers and armorers.
• Qett -- The Cat, mother goddess and patron of defenders and of children, enemy to Af'aa. She is invoked as a surety for hospitality.
• Dob -- The Bear, god of wrathful vengeance and righteous anger.
• Hesaan -- The Horse, god of strength and nobility
• Af'aa -- The Snake is a being of unparalleled cunning, he is the god of liars and assassins.
• Ta'lab -- The Fox is a creature of great mischief, he is the patron of gamblers and actors.
• Gazal -- The Antelope is the patron of generals and the brave. He is the rival of Asad for the affections of Qett.
• Qerd -- The Monkey is often seen as another incarnation of La'eba and is the god of merriment and of debauchery.
• Kalb -- The Dog is the god of servants and soldiers. He is fiercely loyal and a protector of the weak.

The Third Book of Bao Dan: The Way of the Horse

Before the Year of Falling Fire, the Sea of Grass was unknown, for it was covered with snow just as the North Face of the Ice Rift is now. In those days the Ancestors of men lived in tribes and hunted the Margon as they wandered back and forth across the Steppes. They did not know the Way of the Horse as yet, and did not make war or herds. Rather, they followed the Margon and ate of them as they would and made Gergs from their furs, tools from the bones, and bows from their tusks. So the Huang Spirits slumbered and troubled not the Ancestors of men.

The Margon, it is known, carry Winter in their bellies and when they were hunted down the Winter left with them. So, the Dragon of the North Wind ceased to blow and the snows began to melt. The Sea of Grass began to rise upon the steppes and lakes were left behind in the shallow places. From the Ice Rift, the nine mighty rivers began to flow to the Southern Seas. There were fertile places in those days, but the Ancestors of men did not know farming and most of the grasslands were hard and neither the hoe nor the plow had been invented. So it was that the Ancestors of men suffered greatly until the horses came.

Before the coming of the horses, there were Buso that fled from the Falling Fire. Once they had known peace with the People and had kept to the rocky places of the mountains among the Kala and the Oni. But when the fire fell, the Buso came down from the Pillars of Heaven and made their way across the Steppes eating and slaying all they encountered. So the Sea of Grass was watered with the blood of the Ancestors of men.

Then the Huang Spirits were roused and bid the West Wind to bring the horses. These were they which could eat of the grass of the steppes and turn it into milk and meat. The Ancestors of men began to husband the horses and to herd them. They milked them and made cheese, they slew them and hung meat. They rode them to escape the Buso and they made Gergs from their stretched skins as they once had made them from the margons of old. This was the beginning of the Way of the Horse, which is the way of Chaos and endless war and also the beginning of the People.

Of itself the Way of the Horse is not weak. Rather it is like the way of a child when compared to the Way of Order. The way of the child serves the child until the child can reason and take stock of all that he is and thus become a man. The Way of the Horse is like the milk mother of the child who leads it, but only until it is grown. For the man who is grown, does not act like a child any longer and should not follow the way of the child. He should follow the way of an adult, which is the Way of Order.

The Books of the Archmagi of the Dweomersecte vol. 2

3709 Seleseer the Pious -- a human curate who became obsessed with locating the axis mundi of Erenth -- what he believed was the source of all temporal power and a gateway to the celestial kingdom itself. He tricked his way into the Archmage's Seat.

It is said by some that he opened the Rift Between Worlds which brought the immortal six Vastirah to this plane, who were later worshipped as the First Order of gods.

Seleseer also made himself the head of the Priesthood when the Grand Temple was instituted. HE believed it was his duty to control and guide, then eventually actively oppose the cults which began to arise. The enmity which he stirred between the Dweomersecte and the Grand Temple would last for centuries. While his opposition to the cults was motivated by a devotion to the Ere of All, later members of the Dweomersecte continue to oppose even the renewed worship of the Ere of All after the God War of 5107.

Seleseer was abnormally long-lived for a human. Not having ascended to the Archmage's seat until he was near sixty and remaining on it for 103 years. He was killed by Veraxis, Priest of Heimos in a magical duel on the plains of what would become the Kingdom of Bolden, but was then controlled by the Tribe of Sud.