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The Volcano gave birth to Edda-Mah, and once born, she fell asleep. But her slumber was restless, and she tossed and turned, and as a result shards of crystal were broken off her body, and they were scattered on the slopes of the volcano. As she slept, she dreamed, and so great was her power that her dreams took solid forms, each crystallizing its body around a shard of hers.
First she dreamed shadows, the dark that hides.
Then she dreamed smoke, the heat of her fire.
Third she dreamed blood, the flesh that holds the life-force.
Fourth and last, she dreamed ice, which binds the others together.
And the shadows fled over the plains, but they were caught on the sharp shards of crystal.
And the smoke descended and sought to conceal itself in the shadows.
The blood flowed in great streams that drenched the smoke and the shadows.
Fourth and last, the ice fell from the sky, and bound together the other elements, congealing them around the crystals.
And the Dreams got up and walked, and hearing her name, they turned their faces to the Volcano.
Having dreamed the Dreams into being, Mother Mah was exhausted, and her sleep became deeper. Again her dreams manifested, but this time they were nightmares, fearsome beasts, mindless and ferocious in their thirst for blood. She dreamed beings with sharp rending claws and things with teeth that crush bones. She dreamed things that see into the shadows and things that spat fire from their vicious maws. Finally, in her deepest sleep, she dreamed the Muspah, the Final Nightmare, made of all the terrors of her previous dreams. The Muspah appeared, numerous and powerful, and after killing their weaker predecessors, they set after the Dreams.
Right after their creation the Dreams were weak and vulnerable, and the endless perils of Freneskae killed many of their number. They called themselves by no name, and all walked as one group, huddled together for protection. They had no laws to guide them, and they knew no Rituals to shield them. Burned by the searing ash and the flowing lava, crushed and buried by earthquakes and chased by the dread Muspah, the Dreams sought out their Creator so that she might teach them how to protect and defend themselves.
All together, they made a pilgrimage up the mountain. On a ledge near the top of the mountain, close to where the Ritual Marker now stands, Mah appeared to them, and they pleaded their case to her.
“Mother Mah, creator”, they said, “You dreamed us into being, and you must have had a reason for this. But now the searing ash and lava burn us, the earthquakes crush and bury us and the dread Muspah chase and kill us, and whatever your purpose is, we cannot fulfil it. Please teach us, your children, to protect and defend ourselves.”
And Mother Mah answered:
“I am your Creator. I have made you, and now I shall teach you how to protect and defend yourselves, so that you may live. Now I shall teach you how to fend off the dread Muspah and to soothe the tremors that shake the earths. Perform the Rituals as I set them, and none need be rendered by the beasts and none shall be swallowed by the breaking ground.
Go down the mountainside and there you will find a stone fashioned in my image. This is the Ritual Marker, the site for your sacred rites.
When the grounds tremble, divide into pairs, a male and a female in each. Let them join in flesh, let them join in life force, and from their energies and from the energies of Mother Mah, they will create another one of your kind and the grounds will settle. This is the Ritual of Enervation.
When the terrible Muspah rise from the ground, choose one of your tribe and place him upon the Marker. Slay him there, and his fleeing life’s force shall kill the beasts. This is the Ritual of Rejuvenation.
On the mountainside below I’ll set a Marker, and let that place be the Site where you hold your Rituals.”
And on the mountainside, a Marker appeared, fashioned in her image. This place is the Site where we hold our Rituals.
After establishing the Rituals, Mother Mah taught the Dreams how to shield themselves from the lesser perils:
First, Mother Mah tried to teach them to flee danger to the Shadows, but only a few of them could learn this skill. They became the first shadow-walkers, and all those who can enter the Other Realm are descended from them.
Then Mother Mah taught them how to weave their power into clothes so they might shield themselves from the searing ash.
And Mother Mah taught them how to weave and pitch tents to shelter them from the winds and the fire from the sky.
And Mother Mah taught them how to find safe and stable places to erect their camps, and how to see the signs that it was time to leave.
And Mother Mah taught them how to make fire and to hurl it from their hands, the red fire and the dark.
And Mother Mah taught them how to create shields to stop the lightning and the landslides,
And once she had taught them all they needed, Mother Mah returned to her Cradle atop the Volcano, and she spoke to them no more.
When she was gone, the Dreams went on their way, and they lived as she had taught them. For all the tribes –for coming down the mountain the Dreams had become three separate groups –the Teachings were the same, but the Laws that sprung from the Teachings were different. Only the Laws of the Mahjarrat were as Mah had intended them, but the Chelon-Mah and the Mahserrat wilfully misinterpreted her will, and their Laws were flawed. Having chosen to live Ahi-Maheritkeh, Outside the Laws of Mah, they became our enemies, and have remained so to this day.
And thus we have lived ever since, and thus we have practiced our Rituals since, and thus we have fought the Ahi-Maheritkeh since, as was decreed by Edda-Mah.