Long ago, before the stars were born, there lived a god and a goddess of infinite power and beauty. They spent time beyond reckoning wooing, loving, and comforting each other. But as is the way with love, they grew tired of each others affectations. Zalzrum, the god, one day grew furious with his wife, Zalmrum, when she refused to follow a command he had given.
My most eternal love, Zalzrum cried, why do you object to my commands so? Are they so difficult to follow, so cruel to bear, so horrible to endure? You are my one eternal love, what can I not do for you that would make you happy?
She replied, I am Zalmrum, I am woman. We have spent ages beyond time in each others embrace, loving, cuddling, and wooing. There never has, and never will, be a love as powerful and as mighty as ours. But I grow dissatisfied. I am a woman, and ageless and unending as we may be, I come to that we join together so that we may form new things, beings, places, for us to love. Is our power not infinite? Does time itself not stop its beat, to stop and listen to the sounds of our love? Can we not create, so that we may have others to love, and have more love given unto us?
Zalrum paused in his love making, taken aback by the intensity of his wife’s plea. He saw the wisdom in her thoughts, and knew that with a family their time together would grow ever more special, and that their love would never grow dim. You see, hidden from his wife, Zalrum had been harboring thoughts that his wife would not be able to please him forever, but with the addition of others, of new life, and new places, he could disappear, then return to his eternal love more happy than ever. Zalrum agreed to Zalmrum’s ideas, and together they created the cosmos.
They forged the stars from their tears, planets from their hair, they light and heat into this new universe from the intensity of their love for each other. The labored on their universe for time and time and time. Finally, when the stars were right, and the flow of heat and light was proper, and the planets were balanced, they turned to each other and began their most important task. The creation of life.
They labored together, creating the low forms of life first, the plants and the mushrooms, and the insects, so that the stronger and more powerful life would have plenty to eat; the lions, and bears, and eagles, and wolves were next made. The two looked at their world, and were pleased. A cycle of life existed, and it existed to please them, to give glory unto them, when the sun grew the plants, they sang with the joy of their creators so that the higher life would consume their joy and amplify it, so that they would give even more joy unto their lords Zalzrum and Zalmum. As they left this planet behind, Zalmum was taken aback by a simple, terrible, thought and paused. His wife and heart did not notice his hesitation, and sped onward to the next planet. Zalzrum returned to this first planet, and decided that he needed to create something else. For even now, Zalzrum was afraid that his wife would not love him, and in the way of men he decided to sew the seeds of a new love for himself. Thus, the Za’zum were born. This fledgling race of beings was put above all others, and was given the ability to think, and create, and love those who were not their creators, and to propagate at their own desire. Zalzrum looked at his children, smiled grimly, and left to find his wife.
The two lovers continued this process throughout all of the stars of all of the worlds, and every time, in her beautiful motherly love, Zalmrum would race ahead to the next world whilst Zalzrum would seed it with his corrupted spawn. And time and time and time passed, until all of the planets of all of the suns were full of life and glory for their creators. But Zalmrum sensed something horribly amiss on the first planet she and he ever seeded, and with all haste she fled there; Zalzrum lagged behind, knowing that his creations, which he had hid underground, had finally risen to the surface to take their dominion of all things there. Zalmrum was aghast at these beings, and threw her full fury upon them. Zalzrum arrived in the midst of his destruction, and flung himself to his creations’ defense.
Darling, Zalmrum asked, why do you protect these foul beings?
I have created them, my love. For I grew afraid that I would not love you as much as I once did, so I created these beings to serve as substitutes for both you and I. We would find new lovers, new loves, and new worlds to create, just as you said we would.
Zalmrum grew angry with her husband, and vowed to destroy all of these beings from all of their planets. Zalzrum pleaded that she should spare but one planet, as a reminder of their folly. She agreed, but to keep the beings in check she forced them to live on the surface and made the very air they breathed poison unto them, so that they could not grow too quickly, and so that they would forever be reminded of their status as failed beings created by the gods of their world. The two gods left this world, forgot about this world, forever cursed by Zalzrum’s infidelity.
So cursed, the Za’zum began their new life on this new planet. Hostile beings awaited them at all turns, unknown to all save Zalmrum, she had turned the animals and plants of the world against the Za’zum. But the Za’zum were a hardy people, the energy of their creator still flowed through their veins, and they took it upon themselves to conquer these beasts and these plants. They wandered the planet, slaying and conquering all beasts who opposed them with the power of their god. Soon, they discovered that the energy of the goddess also flowed withing the blood of these beasts. The ritual of consuming the blood of beasts soon began afterward, and the tribe came to be known as the Za’Zamum. With the power of both the god and the goddess flowing within them, they soon discovered the Holy Mount. This mountain rose so high that it pierced unto the realm of the gods themselves. This is where the Za’Zamum settled, to rebel against their creators and destroy the cursed air, and restore themselves to rightful rulers of all that they could ever see.
They settled at the foot of the Holy Mount, creating homes for their families, and resources for their farmers. They captured many of the beasts of the realm and set to enslaving them; the mighty wolf was the first to become a pet of the Za’Zamum and they were pleased. See, their priest said, this a beast created to be one of the lords of this world, yet he is nothing more than a pet to us. This is a sign of our superiority, of our dominance and glory!
The people cheered their priest, for his power of the god and goddess was clearly greater than all of the rest, and he had tamed the mighty wolf. If anyone were to know the truth of the path of their people, surely it would be their priest? A great celebration was had on that eve, and the mighty wolf was carved into many pieces, his fur was used to clothe the tribe, his fat was used to oil their leathers and doors, his meat was preserved and stored so that they may feed their new pets. But above all, they drank of his blood. All of the tribe drank of his blood, and the power of their goddess flowed within them in Unholy perversion of their goddess. They feasted and had orgies drunk on the power they wielded. Despite their gains, their goddess was wise and powerful and she knew that eventually these beings would rise, and they would try and overcome their cursed position in the world: the evening of their domination of the wolf, the clouds parted and down swam a cold, dark, mist. It filled the lungs of every third member of the Za’Zamum, and those who were spared were cursed to watch a third of their tribe die, their skin falling off of them in waves, as they desperately scratched at the horrible itching that plagued them.
Only the priest, high on the Holy Mount, was spared the horrors of the evening. Not immune to their suffering, he descended the mountain and came to minister to the people. He told them that, powerful though they were, their arrogant use of the goddess’ power attracted her wrath and they were as of yet not strong enough to fight her off, and break the chains of their yoke. He admonished the tribe, and told them that the power of their god and goddess must be gathered, yes, but must not be used on frivolous things such as happened last evening, lest they wish for their numbers to be decimated again.
One of the youth, a young boy who was cursed to be unable to gather the strength of the goddess, whose name was Vuften, of the clan of wolf tenders, rose to question the priest. O Powerful Priest, he began, we of the lowly lot in life, the farmers and workers, use the power of the goddess every day, how else would we sew our seeds, or carry our wolves to market, or fell our lumber? You would ask us to cut off our very arm, in fear of this goddess. Yet you, will you give up your power? Will you stop your attempts to usurp her until you are sure we have enough power?
