Where do we come from? Why are we here? Every civilization asks these questions and has its own answers. In Tolmira, the answers pivot around two primal forces of creation, and the nine gods which succeeded them to ascendance. We offer this week a look at the early creation of the world, and one of the gods which is credited--and blamed--for much of what goes on within it.

The world began with Fire and Water, primal forces of creation. Together they conspired to create the world and everything in it, beginning with the lesser gods who mortals worship today. In all things they were of one mind, until they forged what was to be their final creation: Man. Humanity was unique in its ability to worship--to recognize its creators and revere them. Both believed they should be revered above the other, though their parts in creation had been equal, but they also knew they could not fight amongst themselves for such a conflict would destroy all they wrought. They decided instead to allow the newborn race of man to choose for itself which god would be worshipped above all--or so it seemed.

Water, ever shifting and treacherous, was unwilling to leave things to chance, and so he stole from his counterpart the Fires of Creation and gave them to humanity to win their favor. Infuriated beyond all reason by this betrayal, Fire took to the sky, fleeing to the opposite end of the world. Without the heat of fire to warm him, Water froze solid--along with all that was left upon the world, including what remained of the humans. Locked within the ice, the fires of creation dimmed within them. Realizing his error, Water gathered what he could of his own frozen essence and departed the world as well in search of his lost companion. Fire saw this and believed he had come to quench her, and began to flee. Water, desperate to make amends, chased after. So it has continued ever since, and so the Moon has always chased the Sun.

Since the Chase began, the Sun has remained distant from both the mortal world and the world of the divine. As such, she is rarely actively worshipped, and within Tolmira worship of the Sun--even within unified temples--was outlawed entirely when war first broke out with Hallilh some 250 years ago. The God-King of that land claims to be a direct conduit to the Sun, but few within the Empire lend much credence to such claims.

The nine deities of  the Tolmiran pantheon are inextricably linked--even the most distant of them cannot easily be understood in isolation. But there must be a beginning to all knowledge, and Thieron is as good a starting point as any for a newcomer to the supernatural powers of Rhyth.

THIERON, GOD OF CRAFT AND TRAVELERS: For a being known as "God of Wisdom", Thieron has made some very bad decisions.
    
Before the world was made, Thieron was known only as the God of Wisdom, for his future domains had yet to take on any meaning. As the God of Wisdom, he was often turned to for advice by the other gods-- So often, in fact, that he rarely had a moment to himself, and no other god shunned his company completely. This did not bother him at first, for he was a patient deity, as befitted the god of wisdom. Even the patience of a god may be strained, however, and as time wore on he began to grow weary of catering to the needs of his younger siblings.
    
It is for this reason that when Lahan Riyashal called upon the gods to complete the world, he was the first to answer. His belief was that as the creation of the world began, the other deities would become absorbed within their projects and leave him to his. He was mistaken. As creation went under way the other deities began petitioning him more than ever, asking him for advice on their own projects; asking him to mediate their petty disputes; asking him an endless stream of questions that left him with no time to take part in the creation of the world himself.
    
By the time his patience eventually gave way and he began turning visitors away, it seemed that the world had been completed. This saddened him deeply, but he did not give up hope or become vengeful as Yssindarya did. Instead, he set out across the newborn world, hoping to find something-- anything-- left unfinished. The more he traveled, the more he grew to appreciate the wonders that the other gods had created-- And the sadder he grew as he found that there was nothing in need of completion. It was during this time that Thieron became the God of Travelers.
    
Now it happened that one day Thieron heard a noise, steady and rhythmic and seeming to follow him no matter where he went. Surveying his surroundings, he could find no source for this sound, and the harder he searched or try to escape it, the faster and louder it became.  Eventually, exhausted, he collapsed to the ground-- and came to a realization. The sound he heard was his own breathing.
    
So it was that Thieron learned he could make noise. It was not long until he had spoken the first words, sang the first songs.  And if music was hidden within him, where else might it be found? Seeking sound within the stones he found that when struck together they left marks, or chipped away at each other--and that other things could be cut or marked in the same fashion. Soon he had made the first tools, the first instruments. He had discovered something altogether new and unintended--the means of creating from that which already was.  He had discovered *craft*.  Stonecutting, painting, composing-- These things lead later to metalworking, weaving, writing, and all other forms of craft. It was at this time that Thieron became the God of Craft.
    
For a time this contented him, and he created wonders unrivaled to this day, though their form and nature are lost even to legend. But in time his melancholy returned, for he was alone--since he had shunned the other gods, they had done the same to him. It was then that he noticed the race of man; primitive and bestial as they were, and saw within them his chance to leave a lasting mark upon the world. From the humans he took the finest specimens he could find, who were placed within a deep slumber and turned to clay beneath his hands. For one thousand days and nights he worked at what was to be his grandest creation.  When he was done he called to them by their new names, and one by one they awoke, humans no longer.  Thus were the elves born upon the world of Rhyth.
    
Devoted worshippers of Thieron are fairly rare--some humans still blame him for their enslavement, while most elves are still bitter at his "betrayal". There are no temples dedicated to his name, though a few monastic orders dedicated to him operate hospices dedicated to aiding impoverished or inexperienced travelers. His followers rarely demand tribute, for they say he is sufficiently honored by every new voyage undertaken, every inspired dream set to the page, every clash of the smith's hammer upon the steel.