The Twigling & the Cosmic Flame

The spheres of heaven quaked and were nigh torn asunder when tones of devastation emanated from the battle. Entire worlds were consumed in their wake when the Old Drake, Ayu-Maliff (the Tarragon of Everlasting Woes), clashed with the Great Mother. Maliff was her umbral reflection and older than the foundations of the Earth—even older than the Great Mother. For eons they warred, and with every battle, she snatched victory only for Maliff to return anew, sturdier and ever grander. He delighted in stalking her, laying waste to all she would nurture throughout her cosmic journey, but here at the root of Earth would she make her last stand. Across the heavens, the Earth's foundations sang out to her, and she would not have it plagued with the pestilence that was her ancient foe. So she called upon the voids of the low so vast; deeper than she had ever before, and the heavens trembled before her newfound might. So grand and awful was her display that even Maliff, who then could coil around entire heavenly spheres and constrict them to obliteration, was left in awe and dread. It was a sensation he had never afore felt and would not long contemplate before the Great Mother would bring him to ruin. With one blow from her bustling spear, the Old Drake burst into light and flame, brighter than a billion stars, until the root of his malevolent machinations was brought to naught. Her great work done, the wearied mother fell to the virgin Earth and slept for eons while her vital song brought beauty and abundance. Little did she know that a single spore from the Tarragon of Everlasting Woes remained, and it fell with her to the land. As her song nurtured the Earth, from it also was the stalk of his body grown anew, yet unlike the Great Mother, Maliff never slept. Even in hibernation, his mind was astir, and for eons he stewed in rage and hysteria, plotting his revenge. In his ire he did vow that upon his return, none would stand the wrath of Maliff the Horror, Maliff the Miserable, Maliff the Everlasting!

The Aurous Age was the most beautiful and harmonious age of humanity, the seed of the Great Mother, yet it was not without travail. It was in this age that the drake of old bloomed anew. Before the celestial dust coalesced to form the Earth, the Tarragon of Everlasting Woes was so grand he could devour entire stars. When the spore matured and formed his new body, it was a mere fraction of its former glory and no larger than two-hundred cubits. After three billion years, his pod ripened, and he burst from it with a rage so thunderous it shook the land. What he now lacked in size was most certainly made up for in fury, and he was more than a match for humanity. The seed of the Great Mother at that time had only known peace and abundance when they thrived in their crystal metropolises. Many of these great cities shimmered with a golden gleam, providing all with health and sustenance. Mighty engines of light fueled them, and some took to the skies above and even unto the heavens. It was truly an age of peace and wonder that the world has not seen since. The Old Drake saw their harmony as weakness, and in his fury he did scourge the land, melting their wondrous cities with livid emerald flames. Their Great Mother, still asleep, could not defend them, and they knew not of the ways of war. He delighted in their innocence, and his corrupting influence spread throughout the world. Some fled the Great Mother’s light, and unspeakable perversions consumed them; even so, her song remained strong in the land. The wisest of her children consulted the Crystals of the Ages, which were formed at the Earth’s beginnings, and recorded the first songs of the Mother. From them they learned of the ways of war and subterfuge, and went forth around the earth to spread their knowledge far and wide. They walled their cities, took up the sword, and many heroes arose and would walk the aurous path to battle the dreaded Maliff. None were victorious.

Their only respite from Maliff’s rage was that he needed rest. Every five hundred years, he would return to the innards of the earth to rejuvenate, and for half a millennium, the seed of the mother would again know peace. During these times, generations would pass, and Maliff, the Horror, would to some become a myth, to others a mere story, and to a few, a god worthy of worship. It was in the last days of the Aurous Age and before the Age of the Persistent Eye that a hero would rise to put a final end to the Tarragon of Everlasting Woes. This hero, known as the Starlight King, would also be the harbinger of the end of the age of Gildychryst .

For the twenty-thousand years the Aurous Age did persist; Maliff plagued the latter five. It was before his last hibernation that he first met the hero that would bring him to naught. Slithering through the clouds, the Old Drake made his way to the land of Hyperborea, where the Tribe of Winter thrived. A portion of them pledged their allegiance to him, and in return for his arcane knowledge, they would keep his secret entrance to the innards of the earth hidden. This was the beginning of the Tarragon Cult, which would outlive their first master and infect humanity with a web of umbral tentacles.

Maliff descended into the Stygian forest of winter, where the trees grew twice as large as even the Old Drake. The largest of them grew three times his size, and their diameters spanned sixty cubits. The mighty Gelgagas trees were they called, and their foliage was white and various shades of blue. Their pallid bark emanated a slight luminance, and at night they lit the forest. The leaves and needles of some were larger than a man in his prime, and the trunks of such haughty specimens were so grand, a single one could be used to craft three large ships. Most notably, the wood from such trees maintained a chill, even at the height of summer. Many used this wood for shields, armor, and dwellings to protect themselves from Maliff’s emerald flames. The Gelgagas forest was a home befitting the beast, one of grayish skies and foggy murk, and many around the world in the latter days of the Aurous Age would sing;

From the north will a howl decry

a portend of our demise,

for in the land of summer’s end

will Maliff, the Miserable, rise again!

Swiftly wriggling around the mighty trunks, Maliff made his way to the hidden canyon that was shrouded by the Gelgagas forest. This was the opening to the inner world, yet as he was about to enter the crevasse, he heard a song calling out to him. It was the song of the Tribe of Winter, who pledged their allegiance to him, and it meant only one thing. They had procured a meal so that he might rest without hunger. For a hundred generations, this portion of the Winter Tribe offered their babes as sacrifices to the Old Drake, and it was a delicacy he would not forgo; his slumber could wait. The inner juices of human babes, particularly those within their skulls, he found most favorable—almost intoxicating. Only when they died of extreme fright were they the most delicious, and so he turned away from the crevasse and with great speed fled towards the song. He unfurled his frills and made his visage as distorted and frightening as possible. The taste of human babes had him salivating, and a deep maniacal laughter overtook him as it shook the forest grounds. Soon he could see the four black pillars that massively stood at the corners of the altar. At the center of the pyramidal shape that formed it, large mounds of scorched bones did sit—the bones of countless human babes upon which he had feasted. When he reached the altar, he put on a fierce display of undulations and emerald flames that rippled with thunderous lightning—enough to frighten a thousand babes to their demise. How many did his men procure for him this time, he wondered? When he had finished, he looked down to see all that had fallen from fright, and to his dismay, he saw only one. This babe was also still breathing, and it bounced and giggled about with joy, as if it was pleased by the horrifying performance. So again the Old Drake undulated and rattled in a most terrifying manner, and again the boy bounced and giggled.

“Annoying little twigling, why does it not perish?” Maliff thought.

His bark like scales rattled as he slithered down to the altar. His head was nearly larger than the entire edifice, and with his five eyes, he got a better look at his prey. The babe ceased his playing and rose to meet him, seemingly without fear. Maliff realized it was unlike the other babes that he had feasted upon, for this babe did not possess the alabaster skin of the Tribe of Winter. Instead, the jet of onyx with an iridescent sheen was his complexion, more akin to the Tribe of Summer. Judging by his attire and leafy locks, he was also not a commoner, perhaps a princeling? "How did such a creature make it this far north?” Maliff thought, for he had yet to acquire devotees among the Tribe of Summer. Perhaps his men abducted him for his pleasure. If so, he would have to reward their efforts to corrupt his enemies. He had never eaten from the Tribe of Summer; he wondered what it would taste like. With a blackened femur from the mound in his hand, the boy jumped and giggled while pointing it at the Old Drake. Maliff presumed it was using the bone as some sort of plaything, goading with it in an effort to get him to perform again.

"Stupid little twigling! Maliff is no trifle; I am not here for its amusement; does it not know it is standing upon its own grave?" He thought, but then he remembered that the babes of humans are quite incapable of such reasoning. They were a word he greatly despised; they were innocent.

“Very well, if you will not perish at the sight of me, I will simply roast you with my emerald flame and devour you whole. My gut shall be your grave, little twigling.”

And so the Old Drake drew flame from his bowels, and it rushed forth from his mouth. The boy saw what was nigh, and he hid behind a makeshift shield he cobbled together from the wood of the Gelgagas trees. It was not Maliff’s hottest flame by far, but it should have been enough to roast the boy alive while keeping his meat tender. Though when the flame subsided, the boy rose from behind his shield and looked upon the Old Drake with stern determination. He tightened the grip on his shield with his left hand, and with his right, he raised a sword fashioned out of twigs he found upon the altar floor. Shaking the twigling sword at Maliff, he beckoned him to battle like he had practiced the action a thousand times, like he had been trained for just such an event. At first, the Old Drake was shocked by the pup’s bravery, and again he erupted with quivering laughter. The boy dropped his shield and sword low and gazed upon the cackling Drake with puzzlement. In Maliff’s amusement, an anger started to rise, one that despised defiance, but it was soon replaced by something he again had never felt afore. Was it respect? No, for there were few he respected. Some did rise to bring forth such a sensation; the Great Mother was one, and the hero Alluft the High of the Winter Tribe, who took his sixth eye, was another, but it was more than respect. It was an emotion that called upon him to protect, to nurture, and to give unconditionally. It was a feeling that he had already come to despise, but before he realized what he was doing, the Old Drake again drew forth his flame, yet it was not his emerald fire for which he was known. It was the fire of celestial hues, of numinous dust, and of bursting potential. It was the flame he had rarely shown anyone, not even the Great Mother. It was the hidden flame of transfiguration that the dark sacrament of Organiss, the Old Drake, kept locked away; the flame of Fyra-Uuuun. From his bowels did this new flame flare, and again the boy drew up his shield. Yet this flame was not hot; it was exceedingly hot. It encompassed the boy, surrounding him with celestial light, twisting and winding around him while engulfing his being. A column of the twirling flame shot forth into the sky, parting the clouds with lightning and wind. When it all subsided, the boy was encapsulated in a toroidal pod that was translucent and shimmered like starlight. He was preserved in this celestial egg, awaiting rebirth, and the Old Drake coiled around it to protect him. He continued to laugh until he too would finally rest, for upon releasing the cosmic flame, his mind would no longer be forever astir. Yet this would also bring forgetfulness, for would he remember all that transpired? Would he remember why he gave up the cosmic flame? What manner of hero and foe would this twigling become, he thought, as he drifted off into the dreamless void for the very first time.

It was in the Aurous Age that the greatest hero of old did rise, born from the seed of the Great Mother and imbued with the cosmic flame of the Old Drake. Many heroes would come and see far, but he would see further. Many would perish donning the gray of wisdom, but he would be wiser. He would travel to the stars and back to find that which cannot be found, and his throne would be the seat of hope, yet he would wear the crown of sorrow.

It was in this age that all the world would sing

of the birth and toils of the STARLIGHT KING!

Glossary:

Tarragon: A plant dragon, the mightiest of which is Ayu-Maliff, the Tarragon of Everlasting Woes.

The Great Mother: Tellura-Zeil, The MetaGaia, is the embodiment of the four Noble Sacraments of Organiss. She was born in the meta-forest on Organiss and trekked across the cosmos to spread the light and song of Fyra-Uuuun. The foundations of the Earth called out to her, and it is there that she made her second home as she brought life to the forming planet.

The Aurous Age

(Other names: The Gildychryst Age, The Age of Ages )

The first and golden age of civilization known for its many millennia of peace, advanced technology, and grand crystal cities that gleamed with a golden aura. The ending of this age saw the rebirth of the old Drake, Ayu-Maliff, and the Starlight King.

The Age of the Persistent Eye

(Other names: The Age of the Black Sun, The Age of Tumult)

The Second Age of civilization where a member of the Sumere-Rup “The Planet Movers” watched in the sky. Eldrick Axi-Rix, or what has become known as the planet Saturn was closer and larger in the sky. He looked down upon humanity and despised them with his giant hexagonal eye, and became the second master of the Tarragon Cult. It was in this age did the Great Mother rise from her slumber to defeat this foe along side the Starlight King.

Ayu-Maliff (Aw-U-Mal-eef): The cosmic plant dragon (Tarragon) born in the meta-forest on the old celestial sphere Organiss. He was the dark Sacrament of Organiss, born before the great mother and keeper of the Cosmic flame of Fyra-uuun. He followed the Great mother to the foundations of the Earth where they battled for supremacy. He nearly perished, but a portion of his being persisted and he was born anew from the Earth where he plagued humanity in the latter days of the Age of Ages.

Fyra-Uuuun (Fee-ra-oon): One of the twelve primordial and sentient celestial spheres that were several magnitudes of order greater than the average star.

Gelgagas Trees (Gel-gaw-gaws): Massive frost trees in the stygian Forrest of Hyperborea. The wood from these trees were used for protection against Maliff’s Emerald flames because of the permanent chill it maintained.

Organiss: The primordial world born from Fyra-uuun. The giant Meta-Forest covered it, and It birthed the Great Mother, the four noble sacraments, and the fifth dark Sacrament Ayu-Maliff.