Sol, Selene, & the Lux Aeterna

The legend of Sol and Selene is one of the oldest in Pleroma, repeated since time immemorial from Mountains to Swamp. It includes both a myth of creation and armageddon, and defines the perception of the sun, moon, and stars, and various ways of thought for nearly every humanoid culture, it is not frequently considered a religion as direct worship of Sol and Selene has waned in favor of things either more or less abstract for the past few thousand years. Any given worshiper of Virtue, Aesthetica, or other gods may still hold these beliefs as true or symbolic.

## Creation Myth

Before life, there was only the eternal light, Lux Aeterna. An endless sea of stars, blinding in every direction from every perspective. In such overwhelming brightness, nothing but that brightness could be considered. One being in this place was Selene, whose light was dim but had no way of knowing it, for light in overwhelming luminosity shone on her equally from every direction and there could be no shadow. Yet Selene, unlike most others of her kind (who she had no way of knowing existed) felt unfulfilled in this ocean of light, and began to move, though she had no frame of reference for movement. She moved many aeons with no change, but never gave up, and eventually found darkness, and saw that she was not just light, but had shape, shade, depth, and color. This was more novelty that Selene had ever known, so she became devoted to cultivating it. She found other bodies in that darkness, lacking her intellect but full of curiosity none the less, and she worked on them.

Unbeknownst to her, the Lux Aeterna had finally noticed her departure, and knew the direction into darkness she had gone. Lux Aeterna could not tolerate the idea of some intelligence working mysteriously out of its sight on things they did not know, so they sent one of their bravest stars out to find her and destroy her, Sol. Sol took many aeons to reach Selene, just as it had taken Selene many Aeons to reach the deep dark beyond stars, and when he found her he found that she had created already a sculpture of great beauty. The rock on which she had labored had become ornamented in mountains, oceans, rivers, and cliffs. So impressed was Sol with Selene's work, that rather than destroy it and her he promised to aid her, and shed his light on the rock, though never one side for so long as to burn it away, so that it might be power for her cunning. And together they made life. So Sol and Selene are seen as father and mother respectively, an emblem of power overwhelming that must be used with restraint, and wonderous creativity that must be protected for a future.

## End of the World

When the first peoples walked the earth, there were only two lights, Sol and Selene. But when they had been gone too long, Lux Aeterna grew furious, either that Sol had been defeated by a rock, or that Sol had betrayed them, and so pursued Selene again, this time with an army. It has took many Aeons, but slowly the stars began to appear in the sky, holes ripped in the deep darkness to the sea of light which surrounds and now marches upon Selene, Sol, and the earth. They are still distant, but they see Sol's light and cannot tire. Though Sol is mighty, he is not strong enough to fight so many of his kin, and thus the only hope for the father and mother of life is the mystery of life itself; that it may ascend, in the time in takes for the light eternal to arrive, into sons with the power of a star and the wisdom of the moon. They must be children who can defeat all the stars in the sky, or all shall be brightness once more.