The Begin Times

• Told by the Prophet Kabra Ly'Zakerdot: [1]
  

Some people say the gods created man. Other people say men created the gods. But if the gods made man, who made the gods? and if man made the gods, then who made him? So the wise say that the truth is somewhere in between. Maybe gods and men created each other. No, of course it doesn't make sense. Why should the beginning of our world make sense? The rest of it doesn't.

The first two gods were Mors and Viviantia, and they were in love. They married and dwelt together in the So Saran Isles, the mildest and most pleasant of the many lands of the world. The men who lived there worshipped them but otherwise paid them no mind.

Mors was god of death and Viviantia goddess of life. Mors got Viviantia with child, and he prophesied that they would have a daughter who would unite life and death as one. And they would name her Semisa, which means "resurrection".

But the spider thought otherwise, and so their first child was a son. They named him Los, and he was god of justice. And the mother and father of the gods saw that it was right, for without justice there can be no judgement, and without judgement no resurrection.

So once again Mors got Viviantia with child so that the prophecy might be fulfilled and the destined daughter born who could unite the poles. But again the spider thought otherwise, and Viviantia bore twin boys. They named them Loki and Ikol, and they were the gods of chaos and tranquillity. And the mother and father of the gods saw that it was right, for only in the conflict between chaos and order can the will be truly free, and only from freedom can come resurrection.

Once again Viviantia became heavy with child. But long had Mors and Viviantia gone without their hearts' desire, and too long had the twin poles of life and death gone without reconciliation. The spider wove discord between Mors and Viviantia, and they quarreled, and they parted in enmity.

And so Semisa was born alone of parents who loathed one another. And so although she was the union of life and death, and although from her era on death brought new life and life brought new death, the union was bitter, and the living fear death above all else, and the dead fear above all else to return to life. Instead of loving death as the transcendence of life, the living view it as its ending, and instead of viewing life as the complement of death, the dead view it with loathing.