Taychendi Cosmology holds that the universe is divided into three parts: Dhivumanhu, the heavens (its name meaning “the world of the gods”), Cerachmanu, the infernal planes (literally “the dirt prisons”, or more accurately the prisons under the world), and Narmanhu, the material plane (literally the Great Soil/World). There are many different conceptions of Dhivumanhu, one being that there is a wide collection of different sub realms, another being that it is a formless place of light, fire and magic, and another being that it is a great floating island, paradise on earth, where all things are bountiful.
The Taychendi believe that universe is powered by the collision of many “cycles” – the cycle of the sun and moon, the cycle of birth and death, the cycle of the rains etc. The two most important cycles however, are the Cycle of Glory, or Puratnamaka (the cycle of warlordism) and the Cycle of Cycles, or Puratnapura. While the former is key to the operation of the current age, the latter is important for the cosmological history of the world – according to the Puratnapura, the universe’s history can be divided into Five Cycles. Each of these is dominated by a single “ruling group”, who dominates the world, and also involves some sort of process that drives the cycle towards its completion, or rotation, and transitions the world onto the next cycle.
Cycles[]
Cycle of the Storm (Puratnarvala)[]
The Cycle of the Storm is seen as the first cycle, where a group of beings, either the storm serpents or infernal beings, ruled the world, wherein life was immensely chaotic, disordered, and brutish.
In terms of the start of the cycle – and the beginning of the universe – there is a general agreement that the world began as an empty void, which evolved into a primordial ocean, dominated by cyclical storms, and the void above. This is seldom considered a cycle of its own, though when it is it is seen as a cycle of order. The Ahartadyami state that the first great gods – the Elusive Ones – created the world and then left their creation for reasons unknown.
The most popular formulation of the Cycle of the Storm is that the Vussanadhru, primordial sea-serpents, discovered how to master the storms of the primordial ocean, and became the winged storm-serpents, ruling over the skies and the areas of the ocean near to the surface of the water. After the cyclical storms become rote, the storm-serpents, who thrive off of chaos, raised continents from the ocean, and created the elves to fill it. Dependent on the storm-winds for any sort of sustenance, life in the cycle of the storm was miserable. Elves wandered a desolate wasteland and wanton murder, violence and cannibalism were rampant. Even this grew dull to one among the storm-serpents, however, who gave the gift of fire to the elves, who used its power to rise as gods on Halann, slaying and driving off all of the storm serpents – those who fled into the void (or to some recent Taychendi thinkers, the Shadow Plane) became twisted by it, morphing into shapeshifting void serpents, or the Drathanadhru – the dragons. The storm-serpent who gave them fire remains among the gods, later becoming known as the Stormjester Serpentine.
Others believe that beings who are now recognised as infernal created the world. Formed from the void, these beings (not gods as Dhivumanhu did not yet exist) created the world, or Narmanhu. These infernal beings created many things, the basics of life, though under their chaotic dominance life under them was brutish and dangerous, as storms of flame and rock and of rain and thunder lashed the world. Eventually, the soon-to-be-gods discovered how to harness the power of their demonic overlords – fire – to overthrow them. This formulation is generally used as the basis for the belief that the world is both inherently chaotic and inherently terrible. Some believe that the new gods created the infernal planes (the Cerachmanu) as prisons in which to house these demons and now-infernal creatures.
Cycle of the Gods (Puratnadhivu)[]
In the Cycle of the Gods, a race of empowered living gods ruled over Elvenkind from their capital, forging a nearly perfect world, spreading the light of divine magic (notably not arcane magic) everywhere. It was a time of peace and plenty, though corruption seeped into the world over time, undermining the rule of the gods.
One formulation (built from the infernal variant of the Cycle of the Storm) has the ambitious hearts of elves corrupt the lay people, who desired power and conspired to steal the divinity from the gods. The masses thus launched an uprising against the gods – after a long war, the gods decided that the masses were not worthy of their gifts, and so took their capital and split it from Narmanhu, creating Dhivumanhu, the world of the gods. Those who do not believe in the infernal origin story say that the infernal planes/prisons (the Cerachmanu) were created to house those who had successfully usurped godly power before being defeated.
Another formulation has a conflict eventually break out within the gods, which leads to a great war that leaves the world – previously one great continent – sundered into many different landmasses. This formulation became more popular after first contact with Cannorians, as some Taychendi folded ideas about a Godswar into this myth (though they are widely believed to be unrelated by many scholars).
Secluding themselves within Dhivumanhu, a place sometimes said to be located beyond or within the sun, they say that only those who prove themselves worthy may ascend to godhood. The connection between fire and magic is severed, and it is left as a purely destructive energy.
Cycle of Dragons (Puratnadhru)[]
The Cycle of Dragons corresponds with the period of elven history in which they were enslaved by dragons. After the gods left, the world fell into chaos, and so the void serpents, or dragons, see their chance for retribution, and return. They conquer the planet, carving it up amongst themselves. They terrorise and enslave the elves with their fire breath, in a cruel mockery of the old gods of fire, scorching large parts of the world and creating the world’s deserts.
Life is once again chaotic and terrible for the elves, as the dragons then turn to fighting amongst themselves, using the elves to fuel their wars. Meanwhile, the elves work in secret to overthrow the dragons – while most do so in favour of the old gods, there are some among them who wish to steal the immortality of the dragons, as well as their source of power – arcane magic. These elves use their power to overthrow the dragons, and then enslave the rest of the world, becoming the Slaver-Nobles.
Cycle of the Slavers (Puratnadanra)[]
In the Cycle of the Slavers, the Slaver-Nobles establish a regime of order through the world. While professing to worship the gods, their new-found immortality (there are various different ideas about whether or not all elves were immortal, or if it was just the Slaver-Nobles) means that they shunned ascension, instead preferring to find glory on Halann. Over time, they grow increasingly decadent, mistreating their slaves and embarking on grand expeditions to conquer other worlds.
Tacenie and Aercel[]
There are two popular conceptions about the nature of Tacenie and Aercel. In the conception popular among the Yodhanpir, Thekvrystana, and non-Mudaliar influenced Kalavendhi, the Slaver-Nobles created Aercel first as their capital, and then Tacenie in emulation of the dragons, which becomes the new capital. Slaver nobles rule over both, though there is conflict between those in Tacenie and Aercel.
The Larankarha and Mudaliars believe in a significantly different formulation, where Tacenie – along with other communities hidden in the clouds (a belief possibly drawn from cloud giant sightings) – were built by those fleeing the Slaver-Nobles, who rejected immortality and were adherents of the gods. Tacenie and Aercel were locked in an uneasy truce, with Tacenie descending from the skies occasionally to trade with Aercel.
End of the Cycle[]
There are also various different ideas about how the Cycle of the Slavers ended. One idea has, when they see that the Slaver-Nobles are no longer worthy of their power, the gods interceding, punishing them by causing great ash storms, tsunamis and earthquakes and blotting out the sun – they also strip the Slaver-Nobles of their immortality, rectifying the previous imbalance where nobody desired ascension.
Another idea, generally building off the school that has Taychend be the last remnant of a wider civilisation, and that has the Slaver Nobles ruling over both Tacenie and Aercel, has a great war between the Slaver-Nobles breaking out, culminating in a massive battle to the north that ends in an explosion that consumes much of the rest of Aelantir, causing great ash storms, tsunamis, earthquakes etc and which results in them losing their immortality.
Another idea (building off the Larankarha conception that Tacenie was built by godly refugees) has a war between the godly of Tacenie, the slaves, and the Slaver-Nobles breaking out. Losing the war, the godly of Tacenie cast a great spell, stripping the Slaver-Nobles of their immortality but causing calamitous great ash storms, tsunamis etc. With this advantage the slaves and Tacenie overthrew the Slaver-Nobles. The Mudaliars further this thought into another formulation that has Ebenanth’s Wars be the last stage of this conflict, with the final Mudaliar uprising against the Council of Warlords who took charge after Ebenanth’s death being the official end of the cycle of magic – to the Mudaliars, the Cycle of Glory and current calendar begins in 70AA, not 1AA.
While the similarities between known events in Precursor history are obvious, it must be noted that the actual details of the Taychendi myths relating to those events differ wildly from anything accepted by wider scholarship, often featuring people, battles, events, themes and dynamics that are nowhere to be found anywhere else. Instead, they reflect the post-Ruin history of Taychend far more than its pre-Ruin history. Unfortunately, persistent investigation has shown that the Taychendi possess just about as much knowledge about the distant past as most other groups - very little.
As a result, following the discovery of the rest of Aelantir, as well as recent scholarship, the most popular conception of the cycle is now built off of the more indisputable facts of Pre-Ruin history, namely the “great war between Tacenie and Aercel” formulation, where the Slaver-Nobles were distinct from the precursors in Tacenie, and vassals of a larger Precursor Empire, which was indeed ruled by immortal elves. Eventually, the ruptures in the Precursor Empire, not amongst the Slaver-Nobles, led to the War of Two that caused the end of the cycle through the fall of Aesadas, and the subsequent uprising against the Slaver Nobles. Nonetheless, even this has been subjected to significant debate - nationalist sentiment has begun to cast the Precursor Empire as the primary “antagonist” of the era, whose machinations and rupture cast the world into chaos once more, and who were even more godless than the Slaver-Nobles – the Mudaliars, however, spearhead a more positive outlook on the Empire.
Cycle of Glory (Puratnamaka)[]
Despite some formulations that have the cycle of glory beginning with either the ascension or assassination of Ebenanth, the First Emperor, or the Mudaliar uprising against the post-Ebenanth council of warlords, the majority of Taychendi believe the Cycle of Glory begins with the Day of Ashen Skies, when most of the Slaver-Nobles were overthrown, and “proper worship of the gods” is restored.
This is the current age – a naturally chaotic age, though one in which ambition may once again drive elves to greatness.
There are varying beliefs on how it will end:
- The Ahartadyami believe that this cycle will end with the return of the Elusive Ones (a group of higher gods), who will once again usher in an age of order, the Cycle of Return.
- The majority of the Oren Nayiru believe this cycle’s end was heralded by the return of Nayiru, which occurred around 1516, and was signalled by the arrival of his heralds, the Jaherian Exemplars. They believe that the cycle will then definitively end with the subsequent mass uprising of the oppressed faithful against the tyrants of the world and the subsequent conquest and ordering of the world, what they refer to as “the War for Dawn.” Among the Oren Nayiru, there are differing views on whether the dawn will be actually be a true “cycle” (the Cycle of Dawn), and eventually end, or be a final, blissful age.
- The Monastical faction of the Oren Nayiru, who split from the mainstream of the faith after the Kamrayakval’s War, believe that Nayiru has not yet returned, and that the Exemplar’s arrival only acted as the necessary condition for them to realise Nayiru’s truth. They believe that by persisting in their fortified hill-top monasteries they can survive until the eventual true return of Nayiru, who will subsequently order the world and usher in a new cycle.
- Some – particularly the Gophirans – believed that the cycle of glory will be ended with the ordering of the world by an empire of elves. This was a guiding principle behind the Second Gophiran Empire. By becoming the ultimate warlords, they hoped to usher in a new cycle where physical military might orders the world (a “Cycle of Iron”).
- Likewise, some believed that Ameion was in the process of ushering in a new cycle of order, focused on a Kheionai-dominated Taychend (and perhaps world) – a position some Ambhen politicians were keen to promote, though others saw this as counterproductive since it relied on “Taychendi superstition and religious mythology”.
- Adherents to the Hero-Cult of Laskaris the Conqueror (Jaherios Lykos most famous among them) are also notable for their placement of Laskaris and his descendants in a central role in this process, as they believe an elf of his blood will one day found a great empire built on a perfect synthesis of Taychendi and Kheionai culture, that will usher in a new age.
- Some fringe Taychendi artificers believe that the cycle will end when weapons technology finally advances to the point that it destroys the world. This will be a “cycle of order” – as in, "death will order the world." This cycle, the Cycle of Annihilation, will be short, and eventually fall to a new cycle, the Cycle of the Second Storm. This will lead to a recurrence of the cycles, which is a belief present elsewhere, though one that only truly gained traction when the destruction or wholesale devastation of the world – a second Ruin – moved from the realm of the comically unthinkable to that of the implausible, but terrifyingly possible.
- In the latter 19th century, some anti-mechanim Taychendi thinkers have theorised the Cycle of Annihilation will be brought about by a mechanim uprising, who will establish a global empire before collapsing – the living would then emerge into the Second Storm. These are not generally taken seriously.