Creation Story of The Jajbe, The House of Travellers

The following is a document well-used within the peninsular empire of the Jajbe, or the House of Travellers. It is their creation story, of how Kiromkumätz and Jo’qch’olomqajaw set forth to bring the world and its denizens into existence.

## The Primordial World

All is quiet: hushed and empty is the womb of creation where Nabejun lies.

This is the account of the world before eyes saw it, before ears heard it, before it was sensed.

All of these senses had yet to exist, for there was nothing to experience; nothing could be experienced except the majesty of Nabejun, who was all.

Nabejun - with nothing to experience, nothing to sense, nothing to feel - wandered; yet Nabejun found nothing.

Weary from nothing to witness their majesty, Nabejun, with a word, pulled forth their very own viscera and shaped it into a great serpent to gaze upon them.

"Truly magnificent you are to know, parent Nabejun!" The Untied Serpent exclaimed, witnessing his parent keeling in pain.

This was the first sight; this was the first knowledge.

Kiromkumätz gazed upon his parent's death, pondering on how to create for himself;

but his pondering was interrupted by another, a different god, rising from the corpse of Nabejun; Jo’qch’olomqajaw, the Leaf-Skinned God, rose from the Overdeity's corpse, so named for, as seen, his skin is that of the maize plant's leaves.

## The Creation of the Land, Mountains, and Sky

From the body of Nabejun gushed a sea of blood and monsters.

Above it, Kiromkumätz and Jo’qch’olomqajaw took the form of birds; of soaring beasts of prey.

To the sea they flew and directed these mere words at the great black-blooded beast Käminaqk’ulel, the corpse-enemy: "Perish, and become the land and mountains".

Straightaway, the monster was torn asunder, creating the first land and mountains where the brothers worked in their framing and shaping.

Then, Leaf-Skin said to the bones "Arrange yourselves, and support the sky"; while Untied Serpent said to the skin "Go forth, and become the sky" - and so, the Tatuaqän jas, Marrow Pillars, were born from the bones of Nabejun to hold up the sky.

Thus, the gods had framed and shaped the land, mountains, sea, and sky. It was merely their miraculous power, their spirit essence, that brought about this creation.

## The First Ballgame

Eventually, the deific duo grew bored with their activities on the barren plane of Käminaqk’ulel's lands.

"All we do is create, what else can we do to pass the time? This is no good, we wish for there to be games in this existence."

To this end, Leaf-Skin swam into the Sea of Monsters; down to the head of Nabejun he swam, and retrieved an eye of the great one.

Once resurfaced, Jo’qch’olomqajaw took this new eye in his possession; and threw it into the air in the manner that ballgame players today emulate.

Thus, him and Kiromkumätz played ball, relieving themselves of boredom; saving their minds from weariness.

This was the first star; its name Ajawmaj, King of Nothing.

In this manner the gods played their game; the gods passed the ball between themselves;

until Jo’qch’olomqajaw attempted to launch the ball, the first star, through the wound of Nabejun, through existence itself.

At first, the gods did not know where the ball went, for their all-encompassing sight did not extend beyond the body of Nabejun;

This filled their hearts with anxiety; it filled them with much apprehension. Nothing had escaped their sight before.

Until, the first star, the ball, was thrown back into Jaixko'l; it bounced to the ground, boiling and bubbling;

Ajawmaj then rolled up the highest mountain; the coldest place to exist and encased himself in ice, becoming the moon as we see him today.

From the wound of Nabejun emerged the thrower of the ball; the one we name Tze’tzatemq’ij, The Smiling Sun.

The gods were quite perturbed this one had escaped their sight, yet regardless invited it to their ballgame;

However, before the rules, the universal laws, could be taught; Smiling Sun had flayed Leaf-Skinned God;

Casting his skin to the mountain of Ajawmaj; it is clear that the Sun follows a game and laws of its own.

Then, Tze’tzatemq’ij set off in pursuit of Ajawmaj to continue its game; thus we see how the paths of the sun and moon were created.

## The Creation of The Others and of Animals

Upon this event, Kiromkumätz and Jo’qch’olomqajaw stopped their game, then considered and spoke among themselves:

"We have created this world, yet there exists much beyond our grasp still. One of us has been harmed as a result. This is not good."

Thus, they decided to make numerous others to oversee all aspects of their world; children and siblings to help them align their creation and create the first dawn.

It is here that much of the rest of the gods were made through the creators' miraculous power; it is here that the creators pondered further as to the denizens of Jaixko'l:

"For us we have made brothers, sisters, daughters and sons - yet these ones do not look up to us in the way desired by a true parent. Neither do they provide the words required to sustain us. This is no good."

Upon this agreement, with their words they framed and shaped the beasts of the land: the jaguars and eagles came first; then the serpents, the deer, the hares, the pumas, the birds, the fish, and all the other animals afterwards.

For them, the creators made homes:

"Here, you jaguars shall have the low trees and the caves to sleep in. And you, the eagles and birds, you shall soar in the skies above, nesting in the highest branches. The rest of you of the land, you shall have the shrub and foliage as food, as well as to hide and make your home in. To the fish goes the sea, wide, sparkling, and beautiful; here you may cover yourselves against the preying of the eagle and jaguar."

Thus the animals of the land and their homes were framed; thus those that we hunt were shaped.

## The Fall of The Animals

Seeing their creations roam the land they made, Kiromkumätz and Jo’qch’olomqajaw commanded them thus:

"Behold us, creatures of the face of the earth! Gaze upon our majesty and praise us with your words! For we are your creators!"

But what resounded from the throats of the beasts were a series of cries unrecognisable as words; they roared and hissed, growled and bleated, barked and chirped.

"Not one of our animals gives praise to us in the way we desire. Their speech did not turn out very well. This is no good," the gods lamented;

"You shall become the prey of those that come after, to be used as food, as dress, and as livestock" they dictated to the animals.

Thus, the gods with their words consigned the animals to be the prey of subsequent generations; they banished them to become the environment around us that we use and exploit.

## The Creation of The Effigies

"Who shall state the words by which we are to be sustained? We shall try again to create lesser beings to do this. This time, we shall frame and shape the denizens of the world out of strong and sturdy wood; so that they may write of us for ages to come," the gods considered among themselves.

Thus, from the wood of the trees effigies were made. These effigies looked much like us today, yet they had no faces; they could not understand the heart of the gods' requests for sustenance.

Regardless, they fulfilled the requests; the tree-effigies lived in houses within clear parts of the jungle, they hunted and exploited the Animals, and they created idols as well as books of words to appease the gods, yet they did not understand them or love them. The effigies looked roughly as men, yet they had no blood or blood flow, no hearts nor minds, they walked in step at all times, and their faces were merely masks.

"Brother serpent, these ones do not appear to love us as children to their parents - yet they perform the actions we wish; what are we to do?" inquired Leaf-Skinned to his brother; "They do as asked, we shall frame and shape those that shall replace them in the meantime" The Untied Serpent answered.

Thus the gods left the effigies to their own devices; creating the future generations of earth-dwellers;

Focused on this, they did not notice for the increasing power of the effigies, as the effigies continued their creation of words and images of worship.

The effigies escaped the gods' divine sights as their words were hollow, without feeling, and thus without the power to properly sustain the gods.

So when they returned, the effigies had built themselves bodies of metal; bodies of a hardness surpassing any other creature under creation. The effigies had also dared to reach for the heavens in their uncontrollable multiplication; they had begun to inhabit the moon itself so that they might become closer to the gods and their words better heard.

The gods once again considered among themselves: "These effigies' words are hollow, and not nourishing for ones such as us. Further, they dare to scratch the heavens instead of staying in their appointed place, and are much too numerous to be acceptable. This is no good. Indeed they must be disposed of, for they are a mistake."

## The Fall of The Effigies

Then comes the end of the Effigies; when the gods call upon Baq’wächkaqulja’, The Eye of Storm;

These gods included: Tunejinamik, Drum-Thunder; Tok’q’osij, Flint-Striker; and Juluxlabal, Cave-Breath - their purview is the sky and its weather - and they did thus:

The effigies were first pulverised by Drum-Thunder's playing and his song, the sounds of his drum and singing toppling the effigies, their buildings, and their works;

"These works reach to the heavens; they scrape at our floor - this is not the place of mortal creations, and so they must fall," he sang.

Then, Flint-Striker's used his words to melt the metal forms of the effigies; their faces were seared, their legs betrayed them as they and their creations fell from the sky, and their bodies became as liquid:

"Without hearts nor minds, you are not suited to bodies such as these; they do not befit you - therefore they must be melted to slag and repurposed," he said.

Finally, Cave-Breath unleashed a torrential downpour of rain upon the effigies; the effigies were swept away and into the caves by the flood of his words:

"Your bodies shall prove useful for those to come; their remains are swept into the caves, through which those in the future shall roam for materials for their own use."

Thus the effigies were pulverised; thus the effigies were melted; thus the effigies were swept away and became as minerals.

## The Shapes of The Serpents

Once more, the gods thought on their framing and shaping of the new generation;

"This time we shall make the new denizens of the earth out of malleable clay - they shall be able to shape themselves at will and have minds of their own, such that they may name us and praise us all the better."

Thus, the gods dredged forth clay from the bottom of the sea; Untied Serpent then bled himself into the pliable material, and the gods gathered and shaped it into the form of men.

At once, the clay began to change its own shape; it moulded of its own accord - and settled in the form of a great winged serpent;

"Excellent!" exclaimed the gods "Now say our names! Speak them aloud! For our ears hear and our eyes know your sight!" they commanded;

Upon their command, the winged serpent stated their names; the dragon gave praise to the gods that created it - nourishing the gods;

Pleased, the gods went back to their own devices in preparing the first dawn.

## The Pride and Fall of The Serpents

For a time, all is calm as the gods make their preparations for the first dawn; all is steady in the journey to the rising sun;

Though as the dragons multiplied, the gods with their magnificent sight noticed in them a pride; a belief that they were better than the gods, and could expand to other realms of existence;

For a third time, the gods discussed their creations:

"These serpents amass in power as they age; they are gluttons for knowledge and have no end-point to their lives. Further still, they seek to replace our ordained duties. This is no good. We will have to start yet again."

And so, the four pillars of the sky were called upon: Kab wächukut kaj, Zenith Sun North; Nik’aj aq’abik'ikiem, Midnight Moon South; Kiäq q’equmrelibal q’ij, Sunrise East; and Ixq’änilu-qajibal q’ij, Sunset West by name.

"Pillar Deities! Awaken from your columns! Lead the ballgame of stars that we shall play on the earth to wipe the slate clean, for our Leaf-Skinned brother shall teach you!"

It is thus that these deities were awakened from the Marrow Pillars, and taught the ballgame by Jo’qch’olomqajaw as they descended to the earth; they fell from the heavens to wipe clean the dragons of this age.

So fierce was their playing; so fierce were their strikes, that the serpents of clay were rent apart by them; further, from the balls that had become as stars in play upon the lands, spawned a new breed of deity: the Jixixikch’umil, Screaming Stars;

The Screaming Stars further ripped and tore at the clay forms of the dragons with their claws; they tore off and collected the dragons' hands, bones and feet to adorn their eyestalk-wrapped forms.

During the game, many dragons fled for the caves, with few escaping the deific plays as the caves collapsed atop them from earthquakes; some dragons joined in the game, submitting to the gods and agreeing to their reality; it is these ones that were retained as the gods' lawkeepers.

Thus the serpents were obliterated from the face of the world, thus the slate was wiped clean once more.

## The Creation of Humanity

As the time for Smiling Sun's ascent neared, the gods still were not pleased with their attempts at lesser beings;

They considered, they thought, and they resolved:

"We have made the same mistakes many times, for all of our new creations save the animals were much too powerful; they challenged the divine order of the universe. This time, we shall stay our ground and get it right, and let our mistakes be just that, letting them pass as leaves in the wind. But what material shall we make this generation out of?"

Therefore, the gods parted ways to search for potential materials for the creation of humanity.

## The Discovery of Maize

It was by the great worm, fox, raven, and resplendent quetzal - four in number - that the discovery of the white and yellow maize is made;

They came to Kiromkumätz with the kernels in their mouths, and showed him the way; they revealed the path to the new flesh of humanity for use by the gods.

To the Mountain of King Nothing the animals led;

Where there was discovered maize sprouting from the charred and flayed hide of Leaf-Skinned God.

## The First Maize-People

Kiromkumätz took the maize of the flayed one, and gave it to his sister - Abäjkumätz, Stone Serpent, to grind into paste;

Into this paste Untied Serpent drew his blood, sacrificing much to bring this iteration into existence;

The infused paste was then framed and shaped into the first maize people; it was reformed into the Titans.

From these titans it was immediately apparent that they possessed far to much spirit essence to be acceptable as the denizens of the world; their miraculous power rivalled that of the gods due to their large bodies;

Therefore, the gods used their words of power to behead the Titans; the Titans were turned into the stony mountains that separate our peninsular lands from others.

Thus a swift end came to the Titans.

## The Retrieval of The Bones of The Titans

So it was that, to create new humanity, Kiromkumätz ventured into Ulewojer; he ventured into The Lands of Past Times, in order to retrieve the bones of the Titans;

He entered the caves that led to Ulewojer; first diving into one of the cenotes leading to the ruins of the past;

Then, after surfacing, he found himself in the Great Cigar; this shaft is comprised of sharp outcroppings of stone with the embers of the underworld blowing upwards. it is here that we all must descend to reach life after death.

Cutting his hands and feet, Untied Serpent descended into Ulewojer, maintaining his grip such that he wasn't blown back to the entrance; it is at the bottom that he found himself faced with his next challenge: The Mountain of Spall;

This mountain of obsidian flakes must be scaled by the dead to reach a crevice in the ceiling, where they progress to the crossroads of Titans.

Scale the mountain is just what Kiromkumätz did, sloughing off much of his flesh in the process; his flesh was separated from his body as he climbed, and finally grasped the ceiling;

This is where The Serpent lost his way, for here is the crossroads of Titans, a vast junction of four roads, made from the overlapping bones of Titans; here he gathered the bones of the Titans for the next maize-people, yet he became lost, for he was convinced by the Lord of Ulewojer, Q’uplajikämikal, Snapping Death to travel the wrong direction, assured that it led to the surface.

Untied Serpent's travels down this road led to a toothed cave, where he could see light ahead, yet when he approached it the cave snapped shut, crushing the bones The Serpent was carrying, and him too had he not turned himself into an ant - dragging the splintered and snapped bones outside;

The Serpent was tricked by the snapping god of death; he was deceived and the bones had been splintered.

## The Framing and Shaping of Giants

Thus it was that the bones in their splintered state were mixed up; they were jumbled and jostled, making them indistinguishable from eachother;

Regardless, the gods set forth in their framing and shaping, soaking the bone splinters in limewater then grinding them to a fine paste, which they moulded into the form of giants of many differing varieties;

The result the gods still were not pleased with, for they were still much too large for their liking; they still contained much spirit essence and nothing even beyond the horizon was out of their sight.

"These ones shall become our worshippers, yet the process is not complete. It is good that we have dedicated ourselves to maize, yet the giants possess our sight and host much miraculous power still. This is no good. We shall quell this, then finally we shall be ready for the first dawn," the gods said in agreement.

## The Creation of The Final Maize-People

Thus it was that the gods agreed to to cut short the giants' legs and partially blind them using their words; each god would go forth and shape their own form of humanity from the many different varieties of giants;

The result were many different races to the gods' liking:

Eye of Storm created the dwarves, residing in the mountains from which clouds spill;

Kiromkumätz created the Aasimar, minor vessels for various gods' miraculous power;

The Wahy, spirit-counterparts of the Gods, created the Elves, our intermediaries between the Earth and Realm of Dreams;

and finally Jo’qch’olomqajaw created the humans, us as we are today.

Thus it was that the first four races of the world were created;

Thus it was that the first dawn was finally witnessed by the creatures of the earth.