The First Breath

This page proposes a creation account for the world, the event of which is commonly known as The First Breath, Bhrenor's First Breath, Bhrenor's Last Breath, or just The Breath.

The tale

Nothing is truly known about the First Breath, when exactly it occurred, who Bhrenor was, how he died or why it happened. However, the basic facts held to be true by most inhabitants of Ard are evident from the commonly recited classic poem Excelsior, attributed to an unnamed saint of the Church of the First Breath:

  Legends say when Ard was new

  Rivers ran to oceans blue,

  But nothing lived.

  And nothing cried

  Until the day when Bhrenor died.   The stone, the sea, the wind, the flame

  The stone, the sea, the wind, the flame

  They all must know, and speak his name

  There is no life, there is no death

  Without the gift of Bhrenor's breath   For he awoke the titans four

  For he awoke the titans four

  Aora, Stend, Hehter, Equor

  Strong they stood, the mighty few

  Calamity was all they knew   Their struggle shook, and shaped the world

  Their struggle shook, and shaped the world

  With every bolt and stone they hurled

  Bringing them untimely death

  Spilling all their vital breath   Where it collected, life ensued

  Where it collected, life ensued

  Seed and sinew, soil imbued

  Little things, like mice and men

  Weaker than the titans then   Living, breathing, flesh and blood

  Living, breathing, flesh and blood

  Growing like a rose's bud

  Mice are small, but many still

  And even ancients can be killed.   Now the age of men's begun

  Now the age of men's begun

  And our Calamity is done

  As brother Bhrenor was, become

  Humanity, thy time has come!

See also

• Pneuma