Mah

**"Mother"** **Mah** was the youngest of the Elder Gods, as well as the weakest[source needed], and was responsible for creating Zaros[source needed], Seren[source needed], the various Mahmuspah tribes[source needed] and the Muspah. She was the only known Elder God to have deliberately created life for purposes other than protecting Elder Artefacts or building worlds.

## History

During the previous cycle of the universe, Mah was creating planes along with the other Elder Gods[source needed]. For some reason, Mah became fascinated with life in that cycle, creating butterflies[source needed]. This was something the Elder Gods had never done before, and therefore Jas assumed an illness had befallen Mah. She was corrupted at the start of the current cycle[source needed]. Seren suggests that one of the other Elder Gods, possibly Wen, was responsible[source needed].

Unlike the other elder gods, it is said that she preferred to work on her own. During the current revision, she was thought stillborn by the other Elder Gods and was left abandoned on Freneskae[source needed]. However, she survived and took residence there. The lack of Anima Mundi severely stunted her mental capacity[source needed], and she created Zaros and Seren to be her dolls[source needed]. Zaros eventually came to resent Mah, and he departed Freneskae[source needed], while Seren stayed behind, attempting to care for her creator as best as she could[source needed].

According to Mahjarrat legends, she is said to have created the Mahjarrat[source needed] atop a volcano, which led the Mahjarrat to call her Mother Mah. Ancient Mahjarrat were said to take a pilgrimage to the volcano in order to speak with her and learn magic, construction and other aspects of survival. When she slept deeply, hordes of Muspah are said to have spawned from her dreams, with the only known way to stop them being performing the Ritual of Rejuvenation to awaken her. When she got angry, she is said to have created earthquakes and avalanches, with the similar Ritual of Enervation, or reproduction, being the only way to calm her and prevent it.

Each day, Mah became weaker and weaker due to the lack of anima[source needed]. She slowly fell comatose[source needed], having frequent nightmares[source needed]. Her nightmares would cause creatures to form, as well as cause earthquakes and other assorted natural disasters[source needed]. Occasionally Mah becomes semiconscious[source needed], but did nothing but hurt herself and damage the world around her[source needed]. For these times, Seren taught the Mahjarrat to drain Mah's energy and create more of themselves[source needed]. This would return her to sleep, easing her pain and preventing destruction[source needed]. Unable to help Mah any further, Seren left[source needed].

Both Mah and the Muspah had not been sighted for thousands of years before the birth of some of the younger Mahjarrat. Despite this, both the Rituals of Rejuvenation and Enervation remained part of Mahjarrat culture while they remained on Freneskae. Upon being approached by the Menaphite gods Icthlarin and Amascut, the Mahjarrat voted to leave Freneskae for Gielinor. During this time, Amascut went into Mah's volcano,and a "great bellowing roar" came from it and rocks rained from the sky.

### Fate of the Gods

After countless nightmares and dreams about Zaros and Seren, Mah finally awakens in the Sixth Age of Gielinor. During this time, the World Guardian travels to Freneskae to either help or sabotage Zaros. Mah begins to stir, first unconsciously sending Muspah to attack the adventurer during a nightmare, before finally becoming fully conscious. Screaming in a fit of unparalleled rage, she tries to attack the adventurer and Zaros, but the latter teleports them away to safety just before Mah could crush them. Mah later falls back into a comatose state.

### Children of Mah

A few years into the Sixth age, the remaining Mahjarrat realize that their energy is draining at an alarming rate despite having completed a Ritual of Rejuvenation only a few years ago. Zaros, Zamorak and Seren, each individually, also note their energy is being slowly siphoned from them. Zaros, having returned to Gielinor, confronts the Mahjarrat at the ritual site in The North and offers salvation and freedom from their Rituals of Rejuvenation. He asks the Mahjarrat to meet him on Freneskae at the Ritual of Enervation site. There the Mahjarrat find that Mah has dreamt a monstrous ritual stone into existence that pierces the clouds and also "pierced through the Abyss and into Gielinor," as an attempt to reclaim her energy and siphon it back across the worlds. As Zaros, Zamorak and the other Mahjarrat prepare to siphon the last of Mah's energy, which would nullify the rituals they had done for so long, Mah's night tremors reach their peak. Zaros asks the player to head up to where Mah dreams and intercept anything she might spawn.

The player finds Seren with Mah near the ritual stone. The Mahjarrat ritual has destabilized Mah, and Seren can no longer soothe Mah. Seren tells the player that if she tries to stop the ritual Mah may descend into terrors and untold destruction of Freneskae. She asks the player to enter Mah's nightmare and find a way to calm her.

The player enters Mah's nightmare and attempts to drive back and combat her nightmares. Her first fear consists of the Muspah, which the player defends her against. The next fear is of the Mahjarrat themselves, which the adventurer also defends her against. Her final fear is of both Zaros and Seren, which is also quelled. Seren realises that Mah's core is corrupted by a spiral of blue crystal, an icy corruption like a scar, that she sees running through her deepest essence, torn into her core, and says "you are like this because someone close to you willed it." She tells the player that Mah's sickness originates there, and that Mah's energy is irreversibly depleted by the ritual and that she will never wake up again. Seren realizing that it is too late to save Mah, and now understanding that Mah has lived an agonizing existence, mercifully kills her. Seren is heartbroken by the loss of Mah and blames Zaros for his role in her destruction. Later, a saddened Zaros tells the player that he senses something dormant residing within Mah's remains, which will be useful for his future plans. After the ritual, the various nightmare creatures Mah dreamt manifest into corporeal beings.

## References

Main:Divine Beings

1. ↑ Zaros, "Fate of the Gods", *RuneScape*. "She is an elder god. The youngest of five."
2. ↑ Sliske. Sliske's Endgame. "Oh I don't think so. Without your mother's power you are nothing but a pointless, saggy dishcloth. How different your life would have been without your quite unearned divine inheritance. Why, if only you had been created a little later, you would have been born a Mahmuspah. How about that? And what kind of Mahmuspah would you have been, Zaros? A very dreary one, I think. A boring, pointless, dreary thing devoted to nothing but planning and thinking and planning and PLANNING! And no one would listen to a word you said because no one would care, and you wouldn't have the power to FORCE THEM TO! Why, that sounds a lot like Wahisietel doesn't it?"
3. ↑ Wahisietel. Wahisietel's memory. "... the mythical figure who supposedly birthed the first of our people in the cradle atop the great volcano."
4. ↑ Wahisietel. Wahisietel's memory. "When Mother Mah fell into too deep a sleep, she would dream great hordes of Muspah to attack us..."
5. ↑ [source needed] {CiteNPC |npc = Ali the Wise|loc = Tale of the Muspah}}
6. ↑ [source needed]Eriddyn
7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILhUxGCGYcY
8. ↑ Jagex. Above the Lore pilot - *RuneRadio interview* Mod Osborne *Above the Lore* podcast, 25 April 2013.
9. ↑ Wahisietel. Wahisietel's memory. "We have just one figure in Freneskaen legend, paltry when compared to the menagerie found on Gielinor. This is Mother Mah, the mythical figure who supposedly birthed the first of our people in the cradle atop the great volcano."
10. ↑ Wahisietel. Wahisietel's memory. " Our ancestors were said to make the perilous pilgrimage to the top of the volcano and speak with Mother Mah, who taught them magic and construction and other secrets of survival."
11. ↑ Wahisietel. Wahisietel's memory. "When Mother Mah fell into too deep a sleep, she would dream great hordes of Muspah to attack us, and only the Ritual of Rejuvenation could rouse her and prevent our destruction."
12. ↑ Wahisietel. Wahisietel's memory. "When Mother Mah became angry, she would shake the world and cause earthquakes and avalanches, and only the Ritual of Enervation could calm her."
13. ↑ Wahisietel. Wahisietel's memory. "Certainly by the time of my birth it had been many thousands of years since a Muspah was supposed to have been seen, and any who made the perilous trek up to the volcano to search for our goddess did not return."
14. ↑ Wahisietel. Wahisietel's memory. "The Ritual of Rejuvenation had become an intrinsic part of our culture, one that I believe served more as a tool of political control than of religious purpose. Of course, voicing such progressive thoughts would have been me next in line, so I kept them to myself. While I cannot deny that seismic activity occurs, I am not convinced that it was a necessary component of procreation, nor that the Ritual of Enervation had anything to do with its natural cessation. It had simply become our custom to breed during earthquakes."
15. ↑ Bilrach. Bilrach' memory. "Then, the strangers Icthlarin and Amascut appeared and told us of a world with weaklings, assaulted by an implacable foe. They needed the help of beings as mighty as we, and in return offered us places of great respect and influence. "
16. ↑ Bilrach. Bilrach' memory. "This prompted a debate - the greatest I had seen in my short life - about whether to stay or to go. The sides were evenly matched in number, but with both Temekel and Azzanadra in favour of leaving, the subsequent violence left Salisard dead and Abrogal atop the marker stone. ... With the matter agreed, the Mahjarrat tribe made preparation for travel and gathered up our meagre belongings.
17. ↑ Bilrach. Bilrach' memory. "I do not know what Icthlarin thought of this, but his companion Amascut seemed dismayed by our ways and walked out of our village towards the volcano. We did not see her again."
18. ↑ Bilrach. Bilrach' memory. " Before we were finished, a great bellowing roar came from the volcano. I do not know if it was Mother Mah, but I cannot imagine what else it could have been. Great rocks began falling onto the village, shaken loose from above, and there was no time to consider the Ritual of Enervation. We had no choice but to evacuate immediately, and fled with Icthlarin to his world."