Parevia, Lan'tha, and the Asteroid

In the days of gods, when the planets around Iradae and Lan'tha had just formed and had begun to cool, Parevia had set out to divide the days and years of each of the system's planets. As she set the year of the fourth world, an asteroid fell out of its own orbit and struck the fourth world, tilting its axis severely. This disrupted Parevia's original plans, and in a fit of rage she took her scythe and carved up the asteroid into minuscule pieces. This initiated a lengthy period wherein Parevia deliberated on what to do now that the fourth world had been severely tilted.   In that time, Lan'tha seized on the opportunity and began to craft a new ecosystem. Parevia stood back and watched while Lan'tha patched up the wounds, thinking what to make of this new development. Lan'tha pulled the Ice Flats Substance from deep within the earth and set life on a path toward evolving there, and Parevia realized that her seasons needed to support these creations. She began to structure her timetable for the fourth world accordingly, stabilizing its seasons to the best of her ability and taking personal responsibility for its days.

There are actually numerous asteroids that have struck Mudewei over the years, including two that led to the formation of Mudewei's natural moons (data suggests one set the axial tilt, which may be the asteroid in question, and another changed the planet's rotation in some way). However, the story seems to be based on an impact that took place much later (tens of millions of years into the past, rather than billions), which led to the formation of the crater lake known as the Ice Flats. This impact also altered the planet's tilt and wiped out most life at the time, creating the conditions that would lead to the evolution of life as Mudewei knows it today.

Among other things, this tale is a "just so" story to explain why the Ice Flats exist, and is the foundation of the Stenza week (see Parevia and the Demarcation of Time).