The Book of Whale

The following is the English translation of the Book of Whale, the third addition in the Inkling Sagas.

=A Crack on the Surface=

Non-divine life first appeared in Dwisgavar when Yrotli the whale spirit mated with Anepi the man-bird spirit. Afterwards Anepi returned to his own realm of Sėamau, leaving behind his lover. Yrotli was so sad that she shed a single tear which sank below the ocean and became a water spirit which would dwell in the depths for several dozen lifetimes of men. Yrotli later released a hundred eggs that were fertilized by Anepi into the great ocean. Half of the eggs floated to the surface to form islands and the other half sunk into the dark watery depths. Each egg island on the surface formed a crack in the surface and from each crack spewed life. One egg rose to the surface and from its crack spewed a flutter of feathers and wings as the first birds took to the sky. Another egg rose to the surface and from its crack erupted a shimmering of scales and fins as the first fish poured into the sea. From each egg that rose came a new form of life. The whole time Tomdwir was watching over the events from the sky and as each new species was born he gave it a name. After having named forty nine new species, Tomdwir watched as the last egg climbed to the surface. When a crack shattered across its surface there was no fury or burst of life quite unlike the others. Instead there was a silence which caused Tomdwir to watch ever more closely. It wasn’t long before a hand reached out from the crack, followed by a another hand, followed by a leg. Tomdwir looked upon the being that emerged from the chasm and declared “Well, I see you and name your kind ‘human’, as for you, I name you Dylbig.” So named was the first man. After Dylbig seven more men and seven women climbed out from the crack and so Tomdwir gazed upon the first humans. Unlike the humans that would follow them, these people had no clothes and no language and so they wandered around their egg island, then named Edinganais, naked and mute.

Tomdwir kept a watch on these humans from his high and firmamental home. He named each human as he saw them performing tasks, these tasks were often quite silly as the humans were new and naive to the world. The birds that had hatched from another egg had by this time travelled far and wide in the skies of Dwisgavar and some had perched on Edinganais and they had caught the attention of one woman. She saw how the birds chittered and chattered to each other and was amazed by this ability to share thought. She tried to copy them by making sounds with her own voice but she just couldn’t understand that she couldn’t share her thoughts by making any random sound. Tomdwir looked down upon her and named her Mennt.

One day the humans were all sitting by the coast looking out to the watery horizon. By now they had explored their island and had grown bored of it, now being filled with curiosity about what was across the sea. During their gaze upon the water, one of the women noticed an odd green shape bobbing among the waves. Filled with excitement she jamp right into the sea to grab the green object. It was only then that she learned how cold the sea was and the sheer cold caused her to gasp deeply and wildly. Tomdwir looked upon her and named her Wiši. Despite her shock, Wiši was able to return to shore with the green shape. When she got to shore she decided that she didn’t like the object and so she tossed it to the ground. Now the object caught the attention of one of the men who walked up to it and picked it up. He patted the object, he shook it about and he knocked against it with his knuckles in a primitive investigation. Tomdwir looked upon him and named him Yhügny. Yhügny soon got bored of the green object and so he too tossed it to the ground. Now the object caught the attention of another man who picked it up and realised that he could eat it for it was indeed a fruit. The hunger that filled him brought a great gushing of saliva to his mouth which poured from his lips and down his chin. Tomdwir looked upon him and named him Edinmsat. Another man had seen how Edinmsat hungered for the fruit and so he decided that he wanted the fruit for himself. He ran up to Edinmsat and grabbed the fruit right from Edinmsat’s hands. Tomdwir looked upon him and named the thief Lӑopan. Before Lӑopan could begin to enjoy his bounty he himself became a victim of theft when another man grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it in Lӑopan’s eyes. Lӑopan dropped the fruit as his hand rushed to his face. The other man picked up the fruit and ran away with it. Tomdwir looked upon him and named him Dednat. Dednat took his prize and presented it to a particularly beautiful woman, hoping to gain her favour. The woman accepted this gift and ate every last bite of the fruit with gusto. When the large meal fell into her stomach, her belly grew large and wide. Tomdwir looked upon her and named her Edinbiccda.

Another of the women was filled with a great urge to leave Edinganais to explore the sea. She dove into the water but she didn’t get far before the waves pushed her back towards the shore and battered her against the rocks. Tomdwir looked upon her and named her Maniri. Maniri was battered and bruised such so that she struggled to move. The waves kept smacking her as she laid low on the shore, each incoming wave denying her of air. Luckily a man was walking by and he saw the vulnerable woman. Right away he ran out to her and he dragged her away from the sea. Tomdwir looked upon him and named him Byyüünt. A man who sat further downshore alone looked at these events and thought his fellow humans were obnoxious and intolerable and he was miserable in their company. To seek true solitude he fashioned a flint axe and he hacked away at the ground, carving off a chunk of land which broke away from Edinganais to form its own smaller landmass. Tomdwir looked upon the man and named him Aagłsi, and he named the new island Edindăokkjo. Edindăokkjo drifted away over the sea with Aagłsi as its sole inhabitant. There he enjoyed his solitude for some time.

Next Tomdwir looked down on Edinganais and watched a man attempt to catch some sea birds which had come to nest on the cliffs of that island. As this was the man’s first encounter with such creatures he had little wit of how to set about hunting them. Notions of nets and arrows were as inconceivable to him as it would be for us to see an invisible colour, or to hear a silent sound. To catch the birds the man simply tried to run up to them from behind a bush and catch one as it nested by a cliff. Unsurprisingly the bird flew off before the man could grasp it and all he caught that day was a sense of embarrassment which was not helped when he tripped during his little chase and went over the cliff’s edge. Luckily his hands managed to catch something to spare him from the fall, but his lifeline bit into his hand as he tried to hoist himself back over the edge. The man had grasped onto a thick stem covered in thorns, each thorn stabbed into his hand like a small army of swordsmen. The man was saved by that stem although he walked away with a lacerated and bloody hand. Tomdwir looked upon the man and named him Welyrahte.

Next Tomdwir looked over Edinganais and looked closer at one woman in particular. He noticed that the woman had three stark red stripes running horizontally across her belly and breast. He looked upon her and named her Dwylogri.

After some time all of the thirteen humans had learned how to clothe themselves, with the exception of Aagłsi who had isolated himself from the rest on his own island. The humans learned that they could “steal” the skin of other beasts and wear it as their own to shield them from foul weather. They had even learned that they could change the colour of clothes with the use of dyes. One woman got so carried away with dying her long garment that she wore every colour that was in existence. Tomdwir looked upon her and named her Sreėnt.

=Language=

Long after the humans had first emerged from the egg and had been named by Tomdwir, they learned how to build shelters and other essential amenities and together they established a small village on Edinganais. The men took the women as wives and the women took the men as husbands and each couple bore children. As the children grew older the village became cramped so the second generation of humans set out to different parts of the island to found new settlements. But in the days without language, much chaos and discord had come into the world among the new earthly and mortal beings which in turn caused the land itself to become unbalanced. The birds swam in the sea and drowned. The fish leaped in the air and suffocated. The rain fell to the sky. The trees grew into the ground. The fruits blossomed and rotted in one moment. The sun was deceitful to the moon. The sky was deceitful to the land. Each man was deceitful to his brother.

This chaos was settled by Tomdwir when he saw the chaos below him. He noticed that these new beings had among them no word to follow, with every individual acting fully to his own will. To give peace, Tomdwir gave out a great roar which echoed throughout all of existence. Every creature stopped and stared in awe as his wispy form descended from the sky. He presented himself before the humans who stood at the bottom of a green valley where their village lay. His wispy body became loose and heavy, falling to the land to form a deep mist. His floating head lowered into the fog and he charged into the valley, just as his head came into the valley it too burst into a cloud of mist, enveloping the whole area in a thick mist. The formless mist was then absorbed into the soil and into the people. When the mist of Tomdwir entered each human he gave them the gift of language at the expense of his own body. This gift was not free however, in obtaining language the people entered a contract with Tomdwir to use their gift of speech to give order to the land. With his body destroyed, Tomdwir became a giant invisible plane of energy which surrounded everything in existence. The purpose of this was so that everything was bound to the power of the word. The power of the word which was held by the humans. With their new gift, the people spoke of what should be, and with that order was restored. The name of their gift from Tomdwir was Sumrė.

=A New Generation=

Dednat and Edinbiccda had one daughter named Edinfjȯȯt and two sons named Ost and Jăgüüstö. Byyüünt and Maniri had two daughters named Uduunt and Jaliint, and two sons named Unstrėip and Ansiithok. Welyrahte and Mennt had one daughter named Aslasahti and one son named Jarac. Aslasahti was unfortunate to have been born with stunted left hand, her thumb and index finger were but little nodes. Her deformity did not detract from her beauty and where she struggled in some tasks requiring dexterity she excelled in others. Edinmsat and Dwylogri had one daughter named Hėralm and one son named Bog. Both children were noted for their legs. Where Hėralm had long and elegant legs, Bog’s left leg was weak and could not bear much pressure. Yhügny and Sreėnt had two daughters named Dotmylo and Dotminald. The sisters were known for their crafting talents. Dotmylo made the first arrow which allowed the humans to hunt with greater success, and Dotminald made the first ring which allowed the humans to adorn their fingers with fancy gems. Lӑopan and Wiši had three sons named Hwapcant, Pylnat and Edinnyr. When the children were still young, Wiši died when she eaten by a sea serpent while swimming in the sea. Having been left with three young children, Lӑopan sought to find a new mother to help him raise them. There was a shortage of women in such early days so Lӑopan stooped to challenging Yhügny for his own wife Sreėnt who herself had two young daughters. Lӑopan resorted to killing Yhügny and made it appear as if he had been attacked by a large beast. Lӑopan then wooed his widow and eventually took her as his second wife. With Sreėnt he had a daughter named Ürren and a son named Dotousgjo. As Sreėnt loved colours she always dressed her daughter in bright and light colours which were extravagant to those people’s tastes.

=Dülder=

When the new generation grew into adulthood they began to feel that Edinganais was becoming too cramped and so some built the first boats and sought out a new life elsewhere. The brothers Ost and Jădüüstoi had taken Uduunt and Ürren as their wives, their sister Edinfjȯȯt remained single. The siblings and their wives set out to sea to find new land, Ürren’s brother Dotousgjo went along as he found no wife for himself on Edinganais. They were at sea for several days before they saw a landmass emerge from the horizon and all were happy to see it. They landed on the beach and wandered around for a short while to see if this place could be their new home. What they saw pleased their eyes and they decided to stay. As they forced their way through a forest they caught the attention of an angry local, for they had unwittingly landed on Edindăokkjo, home of Aagłsi. Aagłsi sat in a tree and watched the intruders walk below him. The solitary man leaped from the branches and he pounced at Ost, sending him to the ground with a thud. With his knife held against Ost’s throat, Aagłsi looked mad as unlike the other humans he had not yet gained the use of clothing or language. But as soon as he came into contact with Ost the gift of language spread to him also, allowing him to tell the intruders to leave his island. Ost managed to wrestle Aagłsi off of him to bare his own blade. Aagłsi now saw that he was clearly outnumbered with little chance of winning this fight so with hesitance he dropped his blade and asked what the new people wanted. Ost explained that they wished to find a new home away from Edinganais and that no violence was desired. Aagłsi and the new people then made an agreement. Aagłsi was to let the new people take control of the island with Ost as their king and in return Edinfjȯȯt agreed to marry Aagłsi. Edindăokkjo was then divided into regions where each man would assume authority with the title Gsati while recognising Ost as the king. Aagłsi’s own region was the largest and he made sure to claim the area which where a special type of tree called bnuabi grew. The bnuabi tree had sap which satisfied all hunger and quenched all thirst.

Ost and Uduunt had two sons named Ȯstalăăd and Dovo, and two daughters named Skohcenpsi and Unvylh. After King Ost’s time his own region was divided into two smaller regions where his sons ruled as Gsatis. For time afterwards the sons of Ȯstalăăd and the sons of Dovo would wage war against each other for power. Skohcenpsi took Dotousgjo as her husband and in his region their descendants lived. Aagłsi and Edinfjȯȯt had one son named Mĕidkuno. Mĕidkuno inherited his father’s demeanour and was repulsed by prolonged contact with other humans. He made an exception when he took Unvylh as his wife. When Mĕidkuno became the Gsati of his father’s region he grew paranoid that the other Gsatis would try to conquer his territory due to its incredibly invaluable resource. His solution to avoid such a conflict was to do as his father did and divide his region from the rest of Edindăokkjo. Mĕidkuno drove behemoth stakes into the ground every few miles along the border of his territory. This caused a great crack to rip across the land and separate Edindăokkjo from Mĕidkuno’s land. This happened with such force that the resulting island, then named Dülder, would drift with great abandon over the seas and the bountiful bnuabi trees would sustain the descendants of Mĕidkuno for time to come. With Unvylh, Mĕidkuno had one daughter named Tivhȯ, and two sons named Uunti and Terr. Tivhȯ’s voice was pure and sweet and whenever she sang a delightful echo rang in the air like phonic honey. Uunti and Terr were like two antlers on the same deer. Both men loved a good brawl and as children they were forever scrapping and they were close and loyal to each other. When the brothers reached adulthood they had to find their own wives elsewhere as the only women on Dülder were their own mother and sister, so they set out to sea in search of wives but they had their fair share of trouble and mischief along the way. Whenever they stopped by a place they would speak of their songstress sister and soon word spread all over about the beautiful maiden with an enchanting voice in Dülder.

=Uunti and Terr=

Wussles
Filled with the want of wives and the want of exploration, the two brothers Uunti and Terr set out from their native Dülder on a boat to find new lands. The waters of Dwisgavar first lead them south to Wussles, a long and thin island. After the brothers reached its shores, as Uunti was dragging the boat up the beach, Terr gawked above to the canopy of a rich and thick forest. The leaves of each plant beamed with a rich and powerful green, the flowers emitted an explosion of colours and wonderful smells. The gentle wind caressed the branches of the forest, causing every tree to lull in a delightful arboreal chorus. Terr picked as many flowers as would fit in his sack so that he could make dyes and perfumes from them while Uunti made himself busy gathering fruits and berries. The brothers could have been mistaken for finding paradise itself. They spent many days and nights on Wussles enjoying the delicious fruits. The more that they ate the local fruit the more they seemed to laugh. The more that they ate the local fruit the more the trees seemed to move and dance. Their minds felt heavier and heavier but the taste was too good to resist. One day while stepping over tree roots, the brothers looked above and saw what looked like a rainbow bending and dancing in the sky. At a closer look the sight was proven to be a large flock of colourful birds flying above. Some of the birds flapped with such gusto that some of their pretty feathers came loose and waltzed to the ground. The brothers collected as much of these feathers as they could. After several more days of eating the mysterious fruit the brothers’ minds were foggy and heavy. Their careful steps became clumsy stomps while they wandered without direction. Near the centre of the island they found a cave and curiosity encouraged them to enter. Terr noted how the stalactites and stalagmites looked like sharpened pikes and how odd that they only occurred near the entrance and along the sides of the cave. Uunti noted how wet and slimy the cave walls and floor were. The two walked a little further before they felt the ground shift under them. From the ground rose a serpentine and muscular heap of flesh, a tongue. In horror they realised they had unwittingly walked into the mouth of a giant beast who was happy to devour them. They ran out of the cave and to their boat as fast as their legs would take them and they wasted no time in getting back to the sea. So much for the paradise of Wussles.

The Unnė and the Aslaanė
With heads now sober Uunti and Terr continued on their journey. They sailed further south until they reached another land. The brothers landed on shore and looked around them. Here there were no melodic forests or colourful birds but after the last experience the rather bland vegetation was a comforting sight. It wasn’t long before the brothers were greeted by the native people. A small group of human like beings walked along the coast towards Uunti and Terr. This race of people weren’t quite the same as those that originated in Edinganais. They were exceedingly tall and fair. Their skin seemed to glow with a dim aura that coated each individual. When they spoke it was with no earthly voice but rather a divine chanting. The tall cherubs spoke to the brothers, each of them speaking the same words at the same time; “Welcome to our fair isle of Vintĕs, home to we who call ourselves Unnė, come you visitors from beyond the horizon and be our guests.”

Such a welcome was hard to resist so the brothers followed the Unnė to a large city. Each building was made from solid thick bricks that gleamed as though they were made from light. They walked over flat paths made from the same material which had incredibly complex and mesmerising patterns carved into them. The brothers were lead to a great hall where a glorious feast was taking place. A large table stood in the hall, at the very end of which sat the leader of Vintĕs, King Un. The king sat in a gigantic throne that seemed way too large for him, he looked like small child with his feet dangling over its edge. Un sat Uḥnte and Terr close to him on his throne for there was plenty of space on the giant seat. Both parties had many questions for the other. During the talk with King Un, they learned that Vintĕs was occasionally pillaged and raided by an awful and horrendously looking people called Aslaanė from the nearby island of Stonhas. Un described in detail of how decrepit monsters would rampage through the city stealing treasure, raping women and killing men. Terr was very sympathetic towards the king who spoke with sorrow. Terr asked what the king did about this problem. Un replied that he was preparing the Unnė to launch an attack on Stonhas to repel the ugly invaders. Uunti butted in that he and his brother would be happy to assist the king in this battle. King Un smirked slyly and accepted this offer.

The next day the brothers set out with the Unnė in a fleet headed towards Stonhas. They had the honour of traveling in King Un’s own boat. Uunti gazed over the Unnė that were onboard, in particular at the women. “Do you think they would make good brides for us, brother?” “As pretty as they are, they are so unlike us and so alien that I doubt they could bear the child of a mere human like us, plus their skin glows all the time. Imagine trying to sleep in a bed with that light, you would get no sleep!”

The brothers chuckled quietly to themselves. The fleet arrived at Stonhas and the small Unnė army gathered by the shore. Uunti and Terr stood by King Un, with a brother at either side of him acting as bodyguards. Stonhas was a barren land. In place of forests were charred tree stumps. No grass or flowers grew on the land, a marshy mud coated the land for miles around. After a short wait the enemy arrived. Truly the Aslaanė were as ugly as King Un had described them. Each soldier in the enemy’s army was short but impressively muscular. The skin colours of the Aslaanė ranged from dirt brown to putrid greens and grays. Each had a body resembling a human but some had heads like a wolf, some had heads like a goat, some had heads like a rat and a few had all three. Some had tails, some had long claws, some had small deformed limbs protruding from their torsos. The smaller of the Aslaanė darted to and thro and they moved quickly and ferociously in a depraved manner. The larger ones carried their bulk with slow heavy thumps where a man would have steps. Some walked on all fours while some dragged their bodies through the mud with stunted useless legs trainling behind, frothing at the bit and baring rotten teeth at the opposite army. The more terrible looking ones had horns that grew like a deformed, crooked tree from their heads, others had fangs that stabbed their own faces. The most unfortunate few had horns that jutted from their mouths in place of teeth and teeth that sat awkwardly on the head in place of horns.

The two armies clashed and mixed in a bloody battle. Swords bit into flesh and dismembered limbs went flying, not that the Aslaanė looked any worse for it. Uunti and Terr stayed by King Un’s side just outside of where the battle was happening. Anytime an Aslaanė would attempt to kill the king the brothers defended him with great courage. As the battle went on the Aslaanė were making way through the Unnė army and they began to overwhelm them. A rush of monsters charged King Un. The king was terrified and with great selfishness he pushed the brothers right into the enemy in hopes it would slow them down. King Un yelled out retreat and made his way back to his boat. Any Unnė that was left alive followed suite and they set out back to sea…leaving the brothers stranded on Stonhas. As mighty as the brothers were, the Aslaanė overwhelmed them and took them prisoner. Uunti and Terr were bound in rope and carried away. After some time they were dumped on the ground before a behemoth of a beast. His limbs were as thick as tree trunks and his height made even the Unnė look small, with the head of a giant boar he made quite an awful sight. The towering being was King Aslaa of Stonhas. He was very curious about what these two creatures bound in rope were. King Aslaa asked the brothers what they were. “We are humans, our names are Uunti and Terr of Dülder. Please spare us O mighty one.”

The king’s expression seemed more curious than angry. “Humans? I have never heard of your kind before, what were you doing fighting alongside the Unnė?”

Terr explained how they arrived at Vintĕs and what King Un told him about the Alsaanė, of how they harassed and slaughtered the Unnė. “Ha! I would expect nothing more from such a lying coward!” The brothers gave each other a quick glance of confusion. King Aslaa then told the men of the true relations between the two islands. “Long ago” the king explained “We Aslaanė lived on Vintĕs and called it home. We built our city there and I ruled a peaceful reign there, some might call it a golden age. You might have even seen my old throne there. I built it tall and wide so that I could sit in it snugly, tell me, does that swine Un sit on my throne?”

Uunti nodded hesitantly. “What more could I expect of the thief. Well our golden age ended when those demons called Unnė arrived on our shores. They ran through our city killing anyone they saw. There was so many of them that we were forced to retreat. The shining scum weren’t happy with just our city so they drove us off of Vintĕs altogether and banished us to live in this sorry barren excuse of an island. Even that didn’t satisfy them. See the Unnė, pretty as they are, are utterly useless at crafting. We Aslaanĕ however are masters of every craft. So when the Unnė need an item instead of making it themselves they raid our shores to steal what we made, all the while murdering and torturing innocent Aslaanė for their own sick pleasure. Truly the Unnė are as evil as we are ugly.”

The brothers were rendered speechless by this revelation. Not only did they feel bad for these people but they had been tricked into slaughtering a number of them themselves. They felt truly and utterly guilty. Terr broke the silence and spoke with a humbled voice “King Aslaa, I can’t express how filled with regret we are that we were led to kill such an abused people. We acted as the Unnė did even if by trickery. If by your own judgement we are guilty then kill us now.” The king was taken aback by this honesty and regret. He understood that the brothers were only doing what they thought was right.

“I will not kill you, in fact I will release you on one condition.”

Uunti replied “Anything.”

King Aslaa told the men that they could repay their deeds by assassinating King Un. Aslaa had his men create the finest swords they have ever made. Each sword was made from moonlight and they glowed with a slight dim light like the bricks of the city on Vintĕs. The brothers were instructed that if boths swords were plunged into King Un at the same time then the king, along with the rest of the Unnė, would perish. King Aslaa had one final word. He cut off his left tusk and gave it to the brothers. “When you meet with King Un, show him this and say that you killed me in battle and took this tusk as a trophy”. The Aslaanė made a boat for the men to travel to Vintĕs with swift and epic speed.

Uunti and Terr arrived at Vintĕs in the same moment that they left Stonhas. They walked up to the great hall and shouted out for King Un. Un poked his head out and looked very confused. “You’re alive? Impressive…”

“Yes we live and here we give you a trophy, the tusk of Aslaa, slain in battle against us.” Un nearly fell over with surprise and he invited the brothers into the hall to celebrate with a feast. When the merrymaking was loud and hearty it presented an opportune moment to strike. Uunti and Terr made their way towards the throne where King Un sat with his legs dangling over the edge. Each brother grabbed a leg and pulled the king to down to the floor where they buried their swords in his gut. A great painful wail rang not just from Un’s mouth but from every one of the Unnė and after a moment all of their bodies exploded in a blinding light. King Un and the Unnė were dead. With that the Aslaanė were able to return to their homeland and King Aslaa returned to his throne which fit him snugly. Aslaa was incredibly grateful towards the brothers for their actions. He tried to persuade them to stay but they insisted that they leave for they had yet to find wives. “Very well. But before you leave, know that you can keep those swords and the boat we made for you, also accept this gift”. The king handed over his tusk again, except he had carved it into a horn. “If ever you are in mortal danger, blow on this horn and the Aslaanė will come to your aid.” The brothers left Vintĕs on good terms and once more they set out to sea only this time with a faster boat and with the horn of Aslaa.