Silymism

Silymism is a religion in Eldham's Onthukhan region. The religion is identified with a triangle with an illuminated dot in the centre symbolic of the Three Sisters unitedly drawing their power from the super-energy Silym, a formless god that operates through the Three Sisters. Even though Silym is the supreme being from which the entire universe and the gods themselves originate, followers of the religion like to worship the primary deities Ashtar Goddess of Death, Imu Goddess of Creation, and Emreir Goddess of Protection and Slayer of Evil.

Creation Myth
The universe in the beginning was empty. Nothing existed except for a strange energy emanating from a single point from the core of the inky void. This energy would later be called by scholars as the Silym. In time, Silym would gain its own consciousness - a floating mass of formless energy - and finding a vast sea of nothing would create what is now the known universe, flooding the emptiness with gases, stars, planets, moons and various kinds of anomalies. But that alone was not enough. Silym saw that by creating the universe, he had only littered the emptiness with mere lifeless forms. He noticed that parts of him had begun to corrupt and were gradually straying farther away from his centre. When this corruption reached the surface of the Earth it took the form of Usars, immortal demons of mammoth proportions. These creatures of darkness battled against each other, relishing in the pain and suffering of others, without respite. They never fell, and their injuries were mended in a matter of moments. They felt no empathy, nor did they have any sense of kindness. They were devoid of virtue. The universe had life, but at what cost? Everyone was busy fighting and the world was consumed by the fire of fruitless violence without a hint of it ever stopping. In a last ditch effort, Silym created the Three Sisters from his divine energy and commanded them thus: “You three are born from me. I shall name each of you differently for that is what will make each one of you unique and distinguishable from the other. Ashtar, Emreir and Imu I shall call each of you respectively. The Usars have for long devastated the soil of the Earth. To Ashtar, I give the responsibility of sweeping the land clean of this blight. Wipe these demons from the Earth. To Imu, I give the responsibility of birthing new life. And to Emreir, I give the responsibility of protecting all life from evil. You three are born from me and so shall be respected as gods among all.” So the Three Sisters departed, having received their blessings from Silym. When they reached Earth they saw what the Usars had done. All the lands were consumed by a great inferno and the ocean was crimson with blood. Seeing this Ashtar’s wrath grew. In a fit of rage she hurled a giant rock almost the size of a continent at Earth. When the rock hit, it set the world aflame. The ocean, scared out of their wits, swallowed the lands that moved and shifted, extinguishing the fire. For billions of years, the Earth simmered from the heat caused by the impact. Then one day when the planet had cooled down enough the second sister Imu said unto Ashtar: “Tell me sister, have we not waited longer than we should? The Earth is habitable enough to sustain life now.” To this, Ashtar said: “Go forth sister, sow the seeds of life on the Earth and command them thus to proliferate.” At once, Imu flew to Earth. First she created the gods of the ocean and the rivers and commanded unto them: “From me you are born like I was born from Silym, divine source of all energy in the Universe. I name you Kaymos and Gamon. One of you shall take charge of the rivers, the other the ocean. From me you are born and so shall be respected as gods among all.” Saying this, she commanded them to order the waters to recede from the surface of the Earth. They obeyed. The waters pulled back and placed themselves suitably to create rivers and the ocean. Rivers would run through lands and meet the ocean. The ocean themselves shall separate the continents and surround the islands. Then Imu created the sun and the moon. One of them she named Kalos and the other Eclecia. She commanded Kalos to be fixed in one place and illuminate the Earth and make the planet habitable with his heat. Then Imu instructed Eclecia to go around the Earth. She instructed her thus: “You are my jovial daughter, you are to go around the Earth, every day. But you are never to show the other side of your face, for that is the side that you will show only to your husband, with whom you shall meet and make love every two to five times a year. I appoint Kalos, the god of the sun, as your husband.” Next she created Uldartish, the god of rain, thunder and clouds and commanded him to rule the skies. Ultardish at once alighted his cloud but was unable to move them. He decided to split the clouds into many to make them light but that did not help. It would seem that the clouds that were suspended over the Earth in the blue skies would need some kind of force to move. Uldartish, thus asking the divine blessing of Imu, informed her thus: “O divine creation, sister of the Great Three. Like you asked of me, I have made the clouds that disperse rain and thunder over the domains of the Earth but a complexity has come upon me. I command my clouds but they cannot move of their own accord.” Imu heard his prayer and answered at once: “It is not weight that impairs the movement of your clouds, great one but the lack of something to push it. Thus I give unto you wind. He was made from you and shall be your son. You may call him Xixx.” So having said his thanks to Imu, Uldartish departed, ordering Xixx to move the clouds across the length and breadth of Earth. At last Imu created the rest of the gods and goddesses and gave them each their own names and tasks. She also named the Earth and commanded that she be known as Wasu. Now the creation of the gods was complete, there was someone to overlook almost every aspect of life. Imu proceeded to the next stage. She created seeds and spread them across the Earth’s lands to create trees, crops and vegetation. Then she created the fowl and the fish and commanded them to live in the sky and the water respectively. But the lands were still empty without anything walking about them. So she created men and women from the bones of the Usars (banished from life by Ashtar), long buried in the soil which had overturned and smothered their remnants as a result of the giant rock’s impact. Soon, the creatures sprang from the Earth and leaped to their feet. They looked around and saw Imu standing amidst them, clothed in white. A divine light emanated from her. Thus, Imu said unto the men and women of the Earth: “Men and women of the Earth, heed my words. You were born from the Usars, bloodthirsty demons. Know that this new life is not a gift to you but a test. Since you have sinned and lived in sin in your previous lives, you are to live on this mortal plain in pain and suffering. But to cope with that I hereby give you the gift of emotions, sympathy, empathy, kindness, goodness, forbearance, love, peace and fleeting happiness. Share these among the rest. Help and guide those in need and stay far from sin. You shall draw inspiration from all the gods but free will is conferred upon you, so how you lead your life is up to you. Think not of death to be eternal, for you shall again return to life, in a different body, with different features, as a different person to live and suffer among your own until you have attained Gnanur (freedom from suffering). The only way to attain Gnanur is by adhering to the Codes of Living and leading a virtuous life. Then and only then will you be freed.” And so ending her speech, Imu told unto men and women that the lands they shall live in shall be known as Earthand that there are many others like that that they will discover soon. Finally, she laid down the Codes of Living and instructed all men and women to abide by it. Before taking her leave, she issued a final command to each and every god with an air of strictness. She said unto all of them: “Remember O great gods and goddesses of the Earth and the Universe that you are the first progeny of all that will come after you. You must maintain your own dignity and be kind to all men and women and bless them. You must not fight among yourselves for you are looked upon as role models among men.”

The Tale of Kalos and the Humans
One day Kalos was observing Wasu doing his yearly revolution when his beams fell on a group of people praying for protection from the cold. Seeing this, Kalos felt pity for the children of the Imu who had toiled so hard to bring order back into the universe. He asked Wasu, the Earth: “O cruel Wasu, how could you deafen yourself so from the prayers and wails of these poor humans. Where has your goodness gone? Had you also plugged your ears when Imu advised all the gods and goddesses to be kind to all life?” And Wasu to him: “Great illuminator of the skies, what can I do? I am but a ball of land and water revolving around you. My skin is thick and cannot emit heat like yours, my bowels only pour forth boiling lava and toxic fumes, both highly dangerous for the delicate human form."

Kalos thought for a moment.