Goddess of the Tælda
Light of the Universe, Radiant One, Source of all Life
Lesser Goddess [1]
Cothllyn is manifest in the physical world as the sun.
Cothllyn is the goddess of nature, the source of living energy and of light. She is referred to as if she were female, but is in fact beyond mortal concepts of gender. She is served by the Cwyth O Thær, the "creatures of light and wind". She is a peaceful and benevolent goddess whose main interest is in maintaining the cycles and beauty of the natural world.
Source: Taelda 2
Where did the world come from?
In the beginning was the One, eternal and unknowable. From the One was born the Light, shining in the void. All the dark and base parts of the universe shrank away from the Light, and solidified to become the Earth. The Light awoke, and became Cothllyn, the radiant goddess, and shone her light upon the surface of the Earth.
Eons passed. Eventually, Cothllyn became lonely, so she broke off parts of herself, and sent them down towards the Earth. These parts became the Cwyth O Thaer, and dwelt in the air and the light. Seeing the beauty of these new beings, the Earth separated off part of herself, which strove the become like that which she admired. But the Earth was a lower and baser thing than Cothllyn, and while her new creation was lighter and more fluid than she was, it could not attain the perfection of the Cwyth O Thaer. We call this creation water.
In this way, the world was born.
Where did I come from?
Eons passed. Eventually, the Cwyth O Thaer realised that the Earth was sad, for although she was illuminated by the light of Cothllyn she could not join with her. So the spirits petitioned the goddess to help the Earth overcome her sadness. But Cothllyn was so pure that she could not communicate with the Earth directly, just as light cannot penetrate the rock. So she explained to the Cwyth O Thaer that it was they who must carry out the task for her.
So it was that many of the creatures of light and wind descended to the Earth, and mingled with it, and created new forms. These forms are what we call "life", and in the joy of the new act of creation, a thousand thousand kinds of life were made, from plants, to animals, to people. So it is that though our bodies are made of base matter, our spirits are of the pure sunlight.
Eons passed. Eventually, some of the people began to forget where they had come from, and began to turn away from the Light and the beauty of nature towards other, baser, things. In doing so, they weakened the goddess herself, for they had all been ultimately made from part of her. It is because of these selfish and ignorant acts by those who have forgotten the truth that Cothllyn must now hide her face from us for half of the time, although in her benevolence she leaves the moon and the stars to provide us with light through the dark times. But each morning, we may rejoice in the new dawn, seeing that Cothllyn has returned to her people once again, and will not ever desert us.
Why am I here?
Humans were created, as all life was, from the mingling of the Light with the Earth. It is our task to tender the Earth, yet never forget that we came from the Light. We are part of the great cycles of the world, and should never allow our hubris to place ourselves over other beings. When everything is in harmony, the world will be in eternal sunlight once again.
What happens after we die?[2]
Earth and Light cannot remain intermingled forever. Through force or through the passage of time, they will eventually be separated. We call this separation "death", and it is a natural part of existence which all living things must eventually face. When it occurs, our spirits are free to soar above the clouds and stay awhile among the Cwyth O Thaer. But eventually, because the Earth has tainted our spirits somewhat, we will fall back down to Earth again, and be reborn in a new body in which we may all rejoice.
What can you tell me about magic?
The Tuathaich are those people specially trained in magic. By this we mean that they communicate with the Cwyth O Thaer on our behalf, and ask them to perform deeds to help us. While there are spirits in the water and even the rock, these are lower and weaker things, and not proper for humans to venerate.
What of the other Gods? Tell me the Truth about...[3]
Larani
Larani is a spirit of the Earth, who strives to better herself and become like Cothllyn. While foolish in many ways, she is an honourable spirit, and one who strives to do the right thing. Her worshippers may be be misguided, but this is an understanding that they must come to themselves or they will never truly heal.
Peoni
Peoni is a powerful spirit of life, and represents the mingling of Light and Earth. Because of this she is an important spirit, but not as pure as Cothllyn. The southeners worship her, and it is not wrong that they do so, for she is a vital part of the cycles of nature.
Siem
Siem is one of the most powerful of the Cwyth O Thaer, who once travelled to the Earth to guide the Blessed Folk on a long journey they had to make. He still sends dreams to us, and is rightly worshipped by the Blessed Folk, and by the northerners. It is even said that he is venerated by the Stunted Folk in their burrows of stone, although I do not know whether I believe this.
Ilvir
This is another spirit of Earth who strives to become like Cothllyn. He constantly tries to create new life, and to imitate the genuinely natural cycles of nature, but he always fails for he has little understanding of the way things really are. We should feel only pity for this misguided spirit, but his worshippers among the northeners must come to realise that for themselves.
Sarajin
The followers of this spirit have only come among us in the last few generations, and are said to come from far to the north. He is a violent and base spirit of Earth who deserves little respect.
Wajok[4]
Wajok is a spirit of water, that part of the Earth which is most like the Light. His followers understand much of the truth, but there is much they have still to learn. He is worthy of some respect, but not of our veneration.
Morgath [5]
When the Earth separated from the Light, a small part of it was afraid and hid in the very deepest parts of the world. This became the Darkness, which is also called Morgath. It's fear of Cothllyn and all that she represents leads it to destroy nature whenever it can, and skulk in the shadows, bringing misery upon us. All that is bad ultimately comes from this being.
[1] Cothllyn acts as if she were a lesser goddess, being relatively remote from her worshippers compared with demigods. The GM may determine that she is a 'new' lesser deity over and above the Ten, or that she is an alternative aspect of a civilised deity, most probably Siem. Or, of course, the GM may simply ignore me :-)
[2] We are given no information on this subject in the official source material. This is purely my own speculation.
[3] Not all gods are listed here. The Taelda have little, if any, knowledge of or contact with the religions of Halea, Save K'nor, Agrik or Naveh. They meet Halean merchants along the Fur Road, of course, but they don't necessarily know or care who they worship.
[4] The god of the Ymodi.
[5]Morgath is a figure in Taeldan mythology; they don't necesserily know he has worshippers.
To the Taelda shamans page
This document was created 8th November 1997 by Jamie 'Trotsky' Revell. Comments
are welcome.