In the eons after the First War was fought and lost by
Mar, he secluded himself from the other gods, seeking to hide the shame of his
loss of the Throne of the Void and the hand of Ssita. While he laid hidden
Ariga, who had longed for the young god for some time, went to him with her own
loneliness. She nursed him back to health and as she brought him out of his
melancholy, their loneliness blossomed into love.
They were soon betrothed, sealing it with a kiss. Ariga,
in her joy, created the Great Southern Forest around the spot where she and
Mar’s love first blossomed. She fashioned guardians out of the very trees and
tasked them with keeping this spot holy and sacred to the couple. The forest
was as vibrant as she was. Still in her youthful form as a young girl she felt
no greater joy than when she was with Mar, and the forest blossomed when they
spent time in each other’s company.
Yet for ages uncounted the couple remained betrothed. The
forest Ariga had created remained vital and green even as she went from youth
into the form of a maiden. As time went on and Ariga waited she grew in wisdom
and understanding and passed from a maiden into that of new mother. Childless
however, she continued waiting for Mar to formalize their betrothal into
marriage. The Great Forest aged too. The trees went from a vibrate green to
deep reds and yellows, giving up their fruits and nuts for harvest.
And yet still she waited.
She waited through the births of Bahu and Tiala. Watching
their love bloom and the short passionate courtship they shared.
She waited through the birth of the dragons, noble
creatures that they were. She watched as they divided themselves into factions
and beseeched their parents for peace.
She waited through the creation of the dwarves. She
watched the dragons accept stewardship over the dwarves. She then watched with
wonder when the mortals divided themselves into factions like the great
dragons.
As she waited in the form of a new mother, though she had
no child, Mar grew distant. When Ishari was born, a wild passionate young
goddess, it was her that Mar went to, seduced away by the goddess of lakes and
rivers. Tempted away by the new goddess, Mar went to Ariga and broke off their
betrothal.
Shattered, Ariga wept. Ariga aged. As she aged, the
forest below did as well, losing its foliage and leaving the trees bare. Ariga
went to the world below to hide her shame, seeking solitude on islands far tothe south of the mainland that Tiala had told her about. It was on the largest
island that the sorrowful goddess hid. Hiding her face in her arms and weeping
out her sorrow.
How long Ariga stayed there none can say, for the gods
reckon time differently than mortals do. But small lakes of mud had formed from
her bitter tears. In desperation to stave off the loneliness that she felt she
sculpted small dolls from the mud, all in the form of Mar. These reminders did
nothing to quell the pain, and her weeping began once again.
Small comforting pats upon her cheek moved her from her
grief. The little dolls, three in total, had gathered around their weeping
mother’s ancient face and were set to comfort her. Willing away the pain they
surely felt emanating from her. It was this that woke her from her grief. These
imperfect replicas of Mar peered innocently up at her, seeking only to quell
her suffering.
These beings made her smile, even if for but a moment.
She gathered up more of the sticky mud and fashioned dolls in her maiden form
giving each to the models of Mar that she had already created. She watched them
for a time. And for a while they were amazed at the new world around them. Soon
however they began to seek respite. Searching across the island and finding
nothing to stave their hunger the little dolls came back to Ariga, and pleaded
with her. “We hunger, but there is no food, please show us how to find it?”
Ariga was alarmed by this for she had no need of food
herself. She reflected for a short time and realized that if the forest bloomed
as it had when she had been young they would find an abundance of food. She
changed her form, thinking of the joy she had shared once with Mar, and taking
some happiness from the small people that she had created. With these thoughts she
grew younger, moving from crone to maiden. The islands began to grow green and
the plants that had remained dormant sprung with life.
Ariga showed the people which plants she had made to eat,
which plants to use to build shelters with, and what animals could be hunted
safely. Their hunger sated the little dolls danced, sang, and coupled with each
other joyfully. She watched them have children, grow old with age and wisdom as
she had done. And eventually die, grieving the loss of their dead with bitter
tears. She then watched their souls gathered by Daras who returned them to the
Realm of the Gods. As Ariga watched with wonder at the beauty she had created
through her sorrow, she grew youthful again going from maiden to girl, and far
to the north the Great Forest blossomed once more.
She wept again, this times her tears were joyful. She
named the people Tama’arig, or Ariga’s children. Before returning to the realm
of the gods Ariga gathered up many of the people that she had created,
spreading them over all the islands of the south. She promised them that this
was their place and they would be protected from the lands far to the north.
And so it was until the slithering children of Ssita came.
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