ORIGIN - Lore Library

CYCLE 120 — Current time: Apr 03 2025, 01:59 AM

Origin Cave Lore Library

Ahh... yesss, hello stranger... I am the Lorekeeper... have you come to hear a story?

Please, let me tell you a story a little numbat once told me...

An excellent choice... A little numbat told me this story once, about the great mushroom in Eridanus... worshipped by a cult... strange how such things can form from a single belief... Ahem, let me see if I can recall it.

"A long, long, long time ago, before you and me, before the crystals of Orion, before the waters of Pisces, even before the bones of Canis, there was nothing. All was darkness, as empty as the void, and the world was still. Then, with a flash of light, came the first being in existence: a mushroom. It was tiny, and glowed silver, healthy and strong.

For eons, it sat, alone, waiting to fill the world with its Brothers and Sisters. And then, with a great yawn, the light stretched - and from within, a great cloud of spores burst forth, filling the world, and wherever they landed, a new life sprouted. All of these tiny lights were connected to the first by streams of white light, glowing beneath the new ground, and with each successful creation, the silver mushroom grew stronger and taller, more beautiful than ever.

As the lights grew, so too did the world, and soon, other lives took shape. First came the earth, covering the light that connected the mushrooms. Then, water, carving rivers through the earth, brought about tiny shoots of green. The plants flew up past the mushrooms, but they didn't mind - they knew that they were the first, the true originators, and everything else had them to thank. Soon, Eridanus was born, full of life, rich with food for the lights. Then, the fungi found something: a rock, buried in the earth, entangled in their bright connection, covered by roots. With a great burst of light, the mushrooms thrust the rock up to the surface.

And within that rock, sat the first of us. It was blind and deaf, unable to do much but cry. The screams garnered nothing from the earth, nor the water, nor the plants, for what could they do? But lo, the silver mushroom heard the first of our pleas, and sent out a great rush of Her magic. The shock wave broke open the rock, and let us out into the caves, and with Her guidance, the world grew once more. First came Orion, with its great, towering structures, crystals shining down to remind us that our caretaker was watching.

Then came Polaris, with its massive Spire and its humming energy, and so it went, on and on, until the cave was sprawling and overflowing with life. The silver mushroom was so proud of her creations, so overjoyed, that she offered to grant each of them a wish. The earth and the plants wanted the same thing: to remain in Eridanus, where they had been so happy. Water, however, wanted its own realm to claim, and so She sent it to Pisces and Cetus, where it stayed, split in two but fulfilled.

Finally, She asked us: what do you want? You could have anything; power, wealth, your own place in these caves to call your own. And we looked up at her, and then around at each-other, and all the things She had helped us to create, from the wondrous stories carved into the tunnels, to the city of Orion, even to each other - and as one, we replied. "You. We only want you." And the All Mother smiled, and granted us our wish, connecting us to her through the lights."