To Sin Against Death

A brave and accomplished hero, Sankari sets out to summit Kuomalan Istuori seeking to fight God for the life of their beloved, Tietäjä. God casts Sankari down the mountain with such force their landing leaves a crater, so they decide instead to sneak into Nukkumaa through the caves within the mountain and smuggle Tietäjä out under Its nose. They consult the spirits, who tell them to wear the skull of an animal over their face so that God will believe them to be already dead.

Following this advice, Sankari manages to sneak Tietäjä out of Death's realm, but they find the person they once knew to be changed. Tietäjä is distant, passive, their eyes hollow, and they are in constant pain as their body continues to decay despite the return of their spirit. They beg Sankari to end their suffering, knowing that Death would be more pleasant than this stolen life. In most tellings of the story, Sankari grants Tietäjä's request but, unwilling to be parted again, takes their own as well; according to {TBA}, after returning Tietäjä to God, Sankari goes on to become their first priest, offering to ease the way to Death for those who sought an end to their own miseries.

The true existence of Sankari and Tietäjä is questionable at best; as archetypal figures in Naamalainen mythology, the likelihood is that they are both composites of the deeds and reputations of a number of forgotten figures in the ancient world. Certainly there was at some point a first agent of {TBA}, but the claim that this individual was Sankari is largely dismissed by those outside the cult.