Të

Të
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Të is considered the Father god, responsible for the creation of life on Eó and the gods that watch over it. Të's demesne encompasses the gods themselves, and Ritual magic. He has no disciples, save for perhaps the dragons, though such a relationship has never been confirmed.

The moon of Tëlo is named in his honor, and is believed to be his home in the physical realm, and as such is widely used as a symbol to represent Të. Dragon iconography is also frequently used in reference to the god. His sigil is a twenty-sided icosagon with a sapphire moon inlay.

Të has a counterpoint, known only as Clo'ae, who was once worshiped alongside Të in a dualistic nature, with Të representing structure and Clo'ae representing soul. This plurality was ended, however, when the Dragonknights of Tëlothi-Ka destroyed all temples and records of Clo'ae, and put her followers to the sword. Only small, nomadic tribes of humans, and some Wildkin cultures, remember the elder goddess.

## The Beginning

### Myth of the Cult of Të

The scriptures written by the Cult of Të claim that the universe was once a great, endless pit, a devoid hole from which no light could pierce through. Within this pit, which had devoured all that can be devoured, Të first opened his eyes, and when he saw the great void, reached up and pulled the walls of it down, allowing the universe to grow. As the realm grew stable, he poured his essence into it, forming the basis for Eó as it exists in the present.

*And so Të became The Father, and grasped the edges of reality, and with his efforts, gave material to the immaterial, form to the formless, and substance to that which had been insubstantial. And so he did climb from the inverse space and became Të the Architect, creating the Plane with each step, himself inverting. Nothing to everything, everything to nothing, the tail devoured by the dragon.*

— Rho Khet, *"Sermons from the High Fane"*

### Myth of the Tribespeople

Older, aboriginal tribesfolk recount the story of *Dûr,* or "nothingness", into which Të and Clo'ae emerged, birthed from a world behind the stars. In her womb, Clo'ae carried the Old Fyre, the flame of existence, which grew cold in the void, and began to flicker. Të breathed deeply, and exhaled the world. The newly formed Eó was cold, so Të plucked out his eye and set in the sky, where its light warmed the barren earth. It was then that Clo'ae was able to release the flame, which spread color to the sky and life into earth. So beautiful were the colors, that Të's eye wept, the tears creating the rivers and seas.

*They were children of the far stars, which had grown cold and dark. Mother Clo'ae and Father Të brought the last starlight, the Old Fyre, in The Old Mother's womb, so that it could be safe in the darkness of* Dûr. *But it was so cold that the Old Fyre grew dim. So the Old Father breathed out the world, and set his own eye in the sky, so his light could warm the soil.*

— *Stories of the Tribefolk, 2nd Edition*

## The Old Pact

### According to the Cult of Të

The most widely held beliefs about the Old Pact state that after Të had finished crafting Eó, he stepped onto its surface so that he may see it clearly. What he saw pleased him, though he feared that the world would fade away without him to maintain it, so he next created eight souls by pulling out his heart eight times, and these souls became the gods. With the gods assembled, Të pulled out his heart one final time, creating the first human, a woman named Kêt. According to the religious text, *Sermons from the High Fane*, Të knelt before Kêt, kissed her feet, and said:

*"'Thou art pulled from my breast, Kêt, Mother of Man,and shall inherit the blessing of soul. Thou who are of the same substance as the gods and yet are apart from them, shall birth the races of man. I grant you mortality, and its bonds will set you free. I grant you the spark of creation, alone of all my children. And for so long as thee and thine children bear this burden, I shall honour this covenant, and grant you my divinity."*

This has been widely interpreted as Të reallocating Kêt's divine soul in a way that allowed her to have children, an act of creation that the other gods cannot emulate. As a price, however, Kêt and all of her descendants, were afflicted with mortality.

### According to the Tribesfolk

The Tribesfolk of Tëó have a wildly different recounting of the Old Pact. According to the oral traditions, when Të and Clo'ae had completed the universe, it was a barren place of stone and water, devoid of all life It was then that Clo'ae used the Old Fyre to bring life to the world, adding fish to the sea, beasts to the land, and plants to both. The Old Fyre became naught but an ember, having been used to create the world. Neither of the Elder Gods could stop the Fyre from dwindling, in spite of the warmth from Të's eye. So, together, they created the first human, Kêt. Të crafted her bones from the stones of the earth, and her flesh from the sand. Clo'ae poured water from the sea into her lips to give her blood, and breathed into her lungs. Finally, they placed the dying ember of the Old Fyre into Kêt's heart, and the body came to life, though she remained asleep. Finally, each Elder God pricked their thumb and placed a drop of blood into her mouth, creating her soul.

*"When Mother Kêt woke up, she felt the Old Fyre in her heart, warming the blood of Old Father and Old Mother. When she drew her first breath, she knew they were numbered, for Old Mother played a trick with her blood, and made her mortal. Old Father wept for his child, and made Old Mother leave this world. He could not take away Old Mother's trick, so he made a pact with her and her children, and taught her the Old Ways, and promised to bring her soul up to Tëlo when her body returned to the world."*

— *Stories of the Tribefolk, 2nd Edition*

Accounts begin to merge at this point, with nearly all people believing Të departed the world to live in his home on the moon, Tëlo, and allow his creation to live and thrive.

## The New Pact

The the 759th year of the Era of O'Të, High Mage Rhan Stargleam, the greatest Ritual Mage the world, discovered a ritual that would resurrect his wife, who had been dead for over decade. Until that point, the only people who had ever reversed death were very powerful Disciples, and even in those cases, the deceased had only been dead for minutes at the most.

The details of the ritual have been largely lost to time, but later experts, after researching Old Pact Ritual magic, would claim that it would have been a gruesome ordeal, likely involving multiple human sacrifices. Regardless, Rhan completed his ritual and restored life to his wife.

Once this act was committed, Tëlo, the Sapphire Moon, grew dark, as if made of coal, and all Ritual magic ceased to function. This had widespread ramifications, as innumerable seals, protection charms, and other static Ritual effects simply stopped working. Demons were released, transportation gates became useless, and all other things that humans had grown dependent became worthless.

As society crumbled, the consolidated power of the Empire of Qet, where the Wildkin had banded together against human abuses, took advantage of the situation and declared war against the human nations. In the first year of the Era of Madness, it is estimated that nearly one quarter of the human population succumbed to a combination of disease, famine, and warfare.

Humanity lost another quarter of its population over the next decade, as various wards in charms that had ensured prosperity in the fields could no longer be depended on. Food shortages were rampant, and starvation ripped through what had once been mighty civilizations. Things didn't stabilize until approximately year 40 of the Era of Madness, though by that point most nations were mere shadows of their former glory.

In the year 96 EM, a human named Kada Moontongue was born to farmers of the Kingdom of Eronocles. Kada's mother had descended from a long line of sages, and was taught the old ways of Ritual magic, in spite of their obsolescence. She taught this to Kada, her only child. Kada was deeply fascinated by Ritual magic, in spite of its non-functionality, and by the time he was fifteen, the concept of the Meta-Ritual began to form in his mind. It wouldn't be until well into his adult years, however, when he managed to execute his vision, enact the first instance of Ritual magic since the Era of Madness began, using the ritual to invoke Të himself, though how this manifested has been hotly debated by scholars.

Nobody is quite sure about what happened when Kada activated the sigil, but when the dust cleared, Tëlo shone blue once more, and on the site where Kada initiated his ritual, a diamond obelisk had been created, with platinum runes detailing the New Pact, as well as the Ritual of First Blood.

Since that time, there have been no known interactions between Të and Eó.