There are stories of where the People came from, of kings and heroes of ages past, but the question comes, where did the Land come from? The World?
To that, we must cast our imaginations back, to before there were people of any kind. Once there was nothing, no land or sea or sky. All was one, neither hot nor cold; light nor dark; hard nor soft; male nor female. All was as a sea of mud in every direction, formless and void.
All was Gygo.
How long it was this state is unknowable, but eventually Spider-Eyed Crow came in from the Dark Beyond Dark. Seeing all was Gygo and yet desiring for a place to rest, he whispered to that which was without form, and taught it To Be. Such that it was that light separated from dark; water from earth; hot from cold. Thus it was that the shape of the world was sketched from the void, such was it that Gygo separated into Gwy and Goya, the First Spirits. Born of Spider-Eyed Crow's teachings and from the Gygo, these spirits sought to continue, but they were incomplete and their works soon crumbled.
Seeing his creations at work, Spider-Eyed Crow sought out to teach them, but when they beheld his visage they were frightened and hid away. Ashamed at having created beings which feared him, Crow tore off his own face thrice, so that he could be Teacher, Trickster, and Devourer and thus speak more easily. Thus it was that he taught the First Spirits further.
Neither male nor female and yet incomplete, upon tutelage Gwy and Goya found that their creations could only be completed with the aid of the other. Thus were a new generation of spirits begat, who in turn learned from their parents and from Crow, continuing the division and differentiation. The sun and moon and stars populated the skies and mountains, rivers, and rivers populated the surface. Male and female came to be, each needing the other, and the world was populated with plants and animals.
And then the spirits did look upon the world and they said, "We have made this garden, but can it remain this way?"
And Crow did say, "Not without wisdom."
"Are we not wise?" The spirits asked of Crow.
"Do you think you are?" Crow asked in turn.
The spirits considered this and then said, "You have taught us much, so surely you must have taught us wisdom." And so it was that the spirits gathered together mud, that which was closest to the original Gygo, and moulded it into their shape, whispering to it to remember all that Crow had taught the World since he had come from the Dark Beyond Dark, and giving their blood unto their creation. Clay became flesh, the blood of spirits became the lower spirit, and the whispers of Crow became the upper spirit. Descendant of all spirits, she was Gygowyn, and she was incomplete, for she was made without a partner. The spirits went to recreate their creation, only to discover that they had used up all the Gygo in the world to make Gygowyn.
Seeing that she would be forever alone Gygowyn cried, "I am without a partner, and thus cannot continue."
The spirits then did say, "You are born of the clay of creation, of our blood, and of Crow's wisdom. We shall provide our spirits if you provide the shells, and your children shall be of male and female and shall continue."
So it was that some of the spirits volunteered to be devoured by her, to enter into her womb so that they might animate new flesh and spring forth as the First People and thus provide both male and female. In doing so, they forced a gap that would remain forevermore, where extra spirits might wander in as Third Souls.
The First Man, Arxyn, was born this way, and he did say, "This world is now complete, for we are wise and will maintain this garden that we have made."
Sitting nearby, Crow did chuckle softly to himself, and whisper, "My lessons are not complete."
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Okay, because there has been some confusion:
When taking actions, the provinces only budget based off the the assumption of
(Current Econ) - (King's Econ Consuming Actions) - (Their Actions) >= 1
Thus if the current Econ is 4, and the players take 3 Econ worth of actions, the provinces will not take any Econ consuming actions, even if the players actions would pay out Econ by the midterm. If the provinces have Policy actions that would be upgraded to be Main level actions and would thus cost more than at the Secondary level, this is also used as part of the assumptions that go into planning out what they do.
Also, as a reminder, if you voted previously for the turn's actions, you need to revote because the tally now starts from this threadmark.
