In the beginning the world was blindness and light, and the god Toklokmok created the first Sound. And with that first sound he brought with him the first Echo, and he created the soothing darkness around us.
And in the cool, deep places of the world he placed the People, and he gave them ears to hear the Sounds of the earth, and he gave them steady feet, and he said to them, “This place in the world is to be yours, for you are unworthy. Go you now into the darkness and find sustenance, for until you have proved yourself honorable in my hearing, you shall enclosed by the Earth.”
And the people went forth, and they tamed the mighty beetle kiklata, and they tamed the slithering snail lexita, and they found the silverhead serpent and put it to their own uses. And the people ever resented the god Toklokmok for imprisoning them in the darkness, and they resented their neighbors above who lived in the terrible shallows.
Gonkol the leader said, “Toklokmok has placed in the shallows a fungus which contains the light of Creation, and it absorbs our enchantments, and it weakens our spells. He placed the fungus there to keep us out.”
“Destroy it!” cried Gonkol’s people, and they tried, but into the light they could not go, for it burned their eyes and their skin. And his people retreated from the shallows.
“Toklokmok, why have you punished us?” cried the people in their hurt. “Why do you forsake us to the darkness?”
“The darkness is no curse,” said Gonkol. “The darkness is our blessing. It is cool and comforting and it does not burn our skin. Here in the darkness we have everything we need: metal for tools, stone for building, coal for eating, moss and insects for nutrition. We have our hands and our ears, which Toklokmok has given to us. With them, we will create a mighty empire such that Toklokmok must declare us honorable.”
And since that day, the people have embraced the darkness as their friend and guide, and dream forever of the day when they may show Toklokmok the powerful works they have built.
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