Forging of Anam
The Age of Mortals began with the Forging of Anam, the epochal event for which our calendar is named. It is the holiest of seasons, and during the five-day season of Anamas, we retell his story. We soulforged hold special reverence for Anam. He made us. We consider him the first of our kind.
Anam never brought anything but grief for us orcs. But this is an Anamite-majority Zone, so there's no avoiding the myths. But I do love me a hearty Anamas feast! My favorite story is when the Progenitor cuts out Azgorth’s right eye and gives it to Anam! That's always a crowd pleaser at the Anamas Pageant!
The Forging of Anam tells the story of a god made not to rule, but to serve as the divine advocate of mortals, and patron of the human race in particular. His creation marks the beginning of the New Lozarian Calendar. The abbreviation "FA", stands for Forging of Anam.
Making a God of Justice
Before Justice, it was the Age of Monsters. The gods walked freely upon Erathia, treating it as a playground and a battlefield. Mortal lives were nothing more than sacrificial pieces on the board, currency to spend in the games of the divine.
After creating the world and seeding it with life, the God of Creation, Diben Maraud, departed to wander the planes. For millennia he left Erathia in the care of his brother and sister gods and their divine offspring.
At first, they honored their stewardship.
But slowly, across centuries, small disagreements became rivalries. Rivalries grew into vendettas. Vendettas ignited into wars. The gods split into factions, and the War of Fools began with the death of the first Sun God.
Amidst the chaos, Diben Maraud returned. He beheld the sunless sky and bloodied seas of his ruined world. His heart filled with wrath and despair.
The Progenitor raised his staff and cracked the sky with a single blow, ending the war in the heavens.
I left you as wardens of my divine creation. It is not yours to destroy. Now I will forge one who will remember.
He summoned them to the shore of the ocean, where land and sky meet the sea and the sun.
He ordered them to kneel before him. From each who lifted arms in war, he took something.
- The color of one's hair.
- A voice that spoke truth.
- A hand strong from war.
- An eye burning with ambition.
- The seminal power to multiply.
There by the ocean, on an anvil of iron, he forged these parts together into a living soul.
Last of all, he plucked out his own left eye, for Diben Maraud had also failed through his absence.
He gave that eye to his creation, the first Soulforged.
Clad in white armor and crowned in gold, the new being rose from the anvil.
Thus was made Anam, god of a new thing: God of Justice.
I have little use for the gods of mortals, but I saw the rise of Anam firsthand. The lands of Loz grew up with me, and around me. The God of Justice made the world better through his being. I am glad to have witnessed his epoch. But like all things, even a god's time has come and gone. I remain. I watch.
The birth of a diety of justice, born not of divine prominence but the admittance of a divine fault and failure, I do enjoy that take a lot. It is an excellent story and most definitely getting tucked in my collection :) I thank you for sharing it!
Thank you! This one's a foundational myth in my world that I just never got around to until now.
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