Before the Grangari and the Lions, before the beasts, the trees, and the wild-wheat, even before the Beast-Gods inhabited the land in between the Bulwarks, it was a barren field of cold, hard water. Towers of this hard water pointed out of the earth, reaching for the sunless sky. Like in winter, snow would fall, but it wouldn’t melt before it reached the ground, and it would gather in white piles above the hard water. It may be hard for any of you to imagine such a scene, but The Elders see visions of it in their sleep. No life could survive in this cold wasteland. Until, one day, a fragment of a shooting star crashed into the center of this land, shattering a hole in the hard water. The energy of this impact carved this ancient land into our Granger. Like dropping a rock into a bucket of water, It curved the terrain, turning the flat field into waves of hills and valleys. It melted the snow and liquified the solid water. All of this melted water flowed into the hollow center of the land, into where the star shard had landed. This lake and the steaming Founding Fragment can still be seen today if you climb to the top of the Bulwarks’ foothills. The Founding Fragment still burns from the impact, boiling the water around it.
Over thousands of years, as the star began to cool, some of its primordial ash fell and pooled in the water beneath it. The star bled white, yellow, and obsidian. Each color of this star dust clung to others of its kind, eventually forming three growing clumps. After substantial time, these clumps took life and became the Beast-Gods. Rathanni, the Radiant, formed from the hot white ash, was the first to awaken. The yellow ash pooled to form Solarri, The Young Sun, while the black ash formed Umbarri, The Luminous Moon. While far less powerful than the ash that formed the Beast-Gods, some of the star shard’s primordial dust is still swept from its glimmering faces by the wind. It collects in pits found all across Granger. We harness this dust to create our sacred fireworks, honoring the shard with colorful remembrance.
The Beast-Gods swam to the land and began to walk upright, standing heavily upon large paws. Rathanni, with his resplendent white fur, was the oldest and the wisest. He was the largest and possessed the most strength. With an even temperament, he guided his brother and sister after they awoke. Solarri was smaller, more angular and lean. He had glowing, golden hair. Lacking Rathanni's patience, he was an eternally restless immortal, quick to anger and quicker to forgive. Umbarri was black as the night sky, but she was endowed with a long, white mane. It flowed from her head past her long neck, covering her back and shoulders like a blanket. Umbarri was the smallest of the Beast-Gods, but her grace and beauty were unmatched. Possessing an enamoring charm, she was as compassionate as she was fierce. All of them saw out of narrow, blood-red eyes.
The Beast-Gods roamed the newly carved land and found only dullness in its quietude. So, as the star shard bled to form them, the Beast-Gods bled themselves to the lake. Their divine blood pooled and formed into all manner of life. The birds, the fish, the insects, and the beasts, as well as the seeds that became the wheat and the trees, were born into a dark, empty land. They spread quickly and filled Granger with the rich sound of life. The three Beasts-Gods watched over their creations with contentment. Rathanni would guide his siblings as Umbarri cured their creation’s sicknesses and Solarri culled rampant populations to keep them in balance with the land.
Life flourished for tens of thousands of years, until a frigid wind began to blow over the Bulwarks. The powerful wind swept across the land from all sides, sapping life of its vigor. The wild-wheat turned grey and dropped to the ground, while the fish suffocated in their rivers as the water hardened around them. Then the beasts perished, followed by the rest of the Beast-Gods’ creations. The Beast-Gods themselves were pushed to the brink of death, their divine energy stolen by the bitter wind. They retreated to the star shard, hiding behind its wall of steam. They soaked in the warmth of their celestial mother, but the wind grew stronger.
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In desperation and foul moods, the Beast-Gods clashed with one another for the star shard’s warth. Mighty Rathanni slit Umbarri’s throat. Then he broke Solarri’s back and threw him in the lake. Umbarri and Sollari’s blood flooded the star shard and the lake. The star shard drank the divine vigor in and began to burn ever hotter. With renewed strength, the shard pushed the frigid wind back behind The Bulwarks.
In lonely grief, Rathanni retrieved the bodies of his lifeless siblings and mourned their loss. Atop the peak of the star shard, high away from the steam, he held Umbarri’s body up over the lake. Illuminated by starlight, her white mane’s reflection in the water rose high into the night sky, forming the watchful moon. Afterwards, as Rathanni honored Solarri, his golden body formed the blazing sun, shining with the same vigor that Solarri had in life. On that fateful day, Granger was lit with its brilliant golden light for the first time.
Rathanni swam with the bodies back to the land. Here, he lay them down on the ground and carved their hearts out of their chests. Their hearts remained beating. He crushed their convulsing hearts over their bodies and let the last of their blood flow over them and into the earth. There he left them. Over the course of years, the limbs of Solarri’s carcasse detached to become the Sols, and the limbs of Umbarri became the Umbras. Then, Solarri’s torso grew into men, and Umbarri’s torso grew into women. This is why Grangari and Lions are sacred, why we hold dominion over the lesser beasts, the lesser life. We are the collective reincarnation of the two fallen Beast-Gods. Within all you boys is the quick and vigorous Solarri. Within all you girls is the graceful and charming Umbarri. Never forget your divine heritage. This is why we must commune with our cousins. Through the consumption of the heart and flesh, we bring the flesh of the Beast-Gods together once more. By participating in Communion, we are given the great honor of reconnecting with our ancestry. In victory, we are granted the opportunity to feel the full strength of the Beast-Gods that birthed us. In defeat, we are given the privilege of returning to our roots, to be reabsorbed into the land, reincarnated into our next life. Most Grangari will die this way. It is natural and honorable. Do not be afraid, death is the course of life.
After honoring his fallen siblings, Rathanni swam back to the star shard. There, he bled himself once again into the lake to recreate the lesser life that had existed before the frigid wind’s incursion. Then, Rathanni, weary from his wounds, melded with the fallen shooting star. From here, he watches over us all, guiding his land and his creations. He heals our wounds. He keeps our fields full of food. Granger is a land of abundance only thanks to him and his fallen siblings. He wards disease from us. But, he will wield sickness selectively to maintain balance. If you commit a crime young ones, if you lay with another Grangari while you are part of a partnership, if you murder a fellow, you will find a death far worse than what you will find in Communion. You will be damned. Over the course of a few slow, agonizing days, your skin will turn black and fall off of your bones. Your vigor will be sapped and scattered to the wind, never to find another life. But, if you follow the guidance Rathanni, in his glorious wisdom, lays for us you will live a life in harmony with your pride, one without hunger or disease.
There is one final part to this story young ones, and it is one that has yet to happen. The sun and the moon, the burning star shard and Rathanni’s radiant flesh, all in concert they push the numbing winds back past the Bulwarks. But, The Elders have seen it, someday the frigid winds will overpower Granger once again. On this day, Rathanni will bleed himself one final time from within the star shard and reincarnate. The Elders have not seen what will happen after Rathanni’s rebirth, but they know that it will coincide with the death of the Granger we know.
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