Birth of Entame

**The Birth of Entame** is a myth told as an origin story of the minor freshwater demigoddess Entame, the Aran'akto conceived by Klakelaya and Poma.

## Myth

A human fisherman by the name of Poma was fishing on the east coast of Kentotra without much luck. It began to storm, but he noticed a coral spirit caught in one of his nets. Rather than abandon it, he dived under the water to rescue it. A great wave soon washed his boat away, and he was alone at sea and soon went under. However, the man's act of selflessness so moved Klakelaya that she washed him ashore on a desert island to spare him. While he was initially unaware of Klakelaya's involvement in his predicament, he did his best to make the island habitable. In time he grew weak and sickly, for he had no water to drink besides the unpredictable rain. Klakelaya appeared before Poma to reassure him that he would not die in this way. She then shoved great amounts of saltwater up at the skies, requesting an overwhelmed Olakoye to lengthen and intensify the rainy season.

However pure her intentions were, this action lead to catastrophe on the mainland, where intense flooding devastated crops and homes. Klakelaya grew quite attached to Poma, as did he to her, and the two got along quite well once Poma recovered his health. But all good things must come to an end, and Olakoye stopped the rainfall upon realizing the destruction it caused. Feeling guilty, Klakelaya conceded and allowed Poma to return home. Klakelaya retreated to her undersea palace and sulked there. For many months no rain fell at all as she neglected her duties and ate exotic foods to try and quell the sickness she had developed, which she could only justify with her recent heartbreak. In reality, Klakelaya had never seen nor experienced a natural birth, so she did not realize she was heavily pregnant with Poma's child.

One morning, she awoke as usual, but something was different inside her. Her coral spirits did their best to attend her until, with a great and indescribable wail, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. As overjoyed as she was confused at this occurrence, she swam to the shore, frantically requesting for Poma to be brought before her. He too was pleasantly surprised to discover he was a father, and they named their daughter Entame.

As Entame aged, she proved to be an adept, water-breathing swimmer with an alarming amount of stamina due to Klakelaya's genes. Switching between her godly mother's undersea palace and her human father's small village, she lived through the drought that surrounded her conception. As a result of the chaotic weather, the rivers and lakes-- of which there were already few-- had dried up, struggling to return and provide consistent freshwater and fish to the landlocked regions. Entame felt somewhat responsible for this predicament despite her lack of actual involvement, and she set out to make things right.

Working day and night, Entame organized networks of rivers and streams across the island for Kotamotu to dig up. She laid out a weather plan with Olakoye, organizing the upcoming rainfalls to better sustain the freshwater bodies. She brought Klakelaya's fish and Mazakyel's animals back little by little. After all the heavy planning, the rivers were ready to fill up again. Entame had the idea of filling them all with saltwater and having Olakoye purify it; however, Olakoye could only purify water that was in the atmosphere, and she could only transfer water through the sky. Not accepting defeat, Entame asked to take matters into her own hands.

Impressed by Entame's determination, Klakelaya granted her immortality, and Olakoye granted her the ability to purify saltwater. Once Klakelaya brought in the saltwater to fill the rivers, Entame swam across the region and turned it all into freshwater. At long last, the environment had recovered from the drought, and Kentotra's landlocked regions could eat and drink as they pleased.