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Before there was Sky and Sea, before the [[Sky-Father]], before the [[Moon-Sister]], even before the beloved [[Earth-Mother]] herself, there were the four [[Horjinic Muses|Muses]]: [[Creation]], [[Alteration]], [[Organization]], and [[Destruction]].

Creation was an ever-shifting form: one second appearing to be a beautiful woman, next a soaring eagle, then a great sunrise, then the purest blue. She (for Creation chose to be female most of the time) began existance as we know it with but a thought. She created the great ball of earth that became the foundation for the earth. She created the oceans, the mountains, and the most basic of animals. When she was finished, she turned to her sister, Alteration, and said: "I have made this; what would you do to make it better?"

Alteration, who chose the form of a sphere of immeasurable detail, said nothing, but immediately took the simple forms of life and changed them into the animals we know today. Jackalope and roc, sandworm and bullette, hydra, dragon, shark, tiger, wolf, squirrel, oak...all were her invention, her amendment to Creation's simple forms.

But the world was still not complete. The plants and animals had no spirits to accompany them, no souls for their shells. So Organization--who appeared to be a limitless repeating reflection--stepped forward and infused each with spirits. To the animals with serrated teeth and sharp senses, he gave the instincts of the predator: savage hunger, murderous desire, and vicious solitary will. To those with flat teeth and social inclination, he gave the instincts of the prey: communal ideals, peaceful desire, and measured social structure. To those he could place in neither group, he gave both instinct of predator and prey. And in the ones he favored most, he instilled not just instinct within the beast, but spirit as well. For most creatures only had spirit accompanyment; but the greatest had spirits within.

Finally, Destruction--an ever-burning ball of flame--said, "I have but one thing left for this world," and his flames brushed the earth. But instead of burning the newly created Earth-Mother, his touch caused all the creatures to suffer death. But Destruction was not cruel; his only claim was to their bodies: their spirits were allowed to return to the Earth-Mother and choose another form after their physical passing.

With that, Creation moved into the northern skies and said, "I will watch over this place as if it were my child." She remains there to this day: some call her the Aurora.

Alteration moved into the sky and grew smaller, though no less detailed. She spoke: "This world is not my own, but I helped in its creation. So, I too wil watch, but I will watch from afar, and not always." She also remains there in this day, as the Moon-Sister.

Organization moved into the minds of the ones he blessed with intellect, spread out across them to better learn how this world he had had a hand in creating worked.

And Destruction moved into the sky along with Alteration, also growing smaller, saying, "I too will watch this world, but I cannot focus my eye on any one part for long or all before me shall perish. So I shall rotate the earth, watching one part at a time, to keep the beasts from perishing."

And Creation's final act was to instill the very earth with a spirit in much the same way that Organization had blessed the intellected. We call her the Earth-Mother.

[[category:Hunters of the Stag]]