Markel stared out the windows, looking in awe of the thunderstorm
light show flashing and crashing over the steel skyscrapers of his
hometown.  He imagined each crash as gigantic gods fighting over good
and evil, each blast of thunder a body thrown, each light flash, the
spark of metal sword on shield.

"You should be in bed, son," said
the boy's father from the door frame.   Markel jumped from his window,
his footed pajama covered feet nearly slipping on the linoleum floor in
a mad rush to get tucked in by his father.  Ororitz tussled the hair of
his little boy as Markel snuggled into his bed sheets for a good
night's sleep.  

"Daddy...would you tell me a story before bed?"

"It's getting pretty late for a story." Ororitz said just as lightning flashed white hot, thunder boomed
explosively, and the power cut out.  Hearing Markel yelp at the
storm's fury, he decided a story would be a good way to calm his son enough to get him back asleep.

"What kind of story would you like to hear?"

"Tell me about how the world started, Dad."

Ororitz cleared
his voice, putting on the best narrator voice he could muster.  Had to
make this interesting, you know.  "Well, about 4 billion years ago, the
Earth formed from a disk of dust, the dust packing together into--"

"No, dad." Marken crossed his arms in overly melodramatic pouting.  "That's not a story, that's science class.  Tell me the STORY about how the world started."

Ororitz
smiled, and picked a story he had heard from his own great-grandfather,
supposedly passed down for generations.  Maybe it was time he passed
the story on.

"Alright then...the story about how the world began...."

In the beginning was the egg. And in the egg was a dove, waiting for its shell to crack and be
free to spread its wings.

When it hatched, the egg exploded with such force that the sun was
born along with the dove. With the dove was born six men who would tend
to the egg the dove would leave behind, Tehr. And when Tehr was created the six men left to
tend to it, ploughing its fields, nuturing its soil.

The dove laid another egg, Mes, but with no men to tend to it, Mes
became lifeless and dead and is still seen in the sky overhead to this day. The dove flew into the darkness, joining its
four sisters, never to be visited by man again.

Eventually, as the men of the dove nurtured Tehr, the egg began to
crack. As the dove of Terr moved in it's shell, rivers flowed from the cracks
with all the fishes of the sea following. The breath of the dove
created the sky, with the plants springing up to savor the air. The
dove's talons formed mountains on the shell, from where all the
creatures of the earth overran the land.

The men of the dove counted all the fish of the sea, the plants of the
land, and the animals of the mountains. And of all the fish, plants and
animals, the men found the most clever and cunning to help tend the
egg: Man.

The men of the dove took clouds from the sky, adding them to Man to
give them thought and reason. They took the light of the sun, which
made him pleasing and intelligent. And the men of the dove gave man a
piece of themselves, which made his soul. And the soul gave them a
name. The Arios.

The men of the dove taught the Arios of the fish in the sea, the
plants in the air, and the animals from the mountains. As the Arios
thrived, the men of the dove settled in the mountains of the Northwest.
Man tended the egg on their own in the delta of the southeast. The Tehr
fed man, and Man fed the Tehr.

As the time went on, the Arios forgot about the men of the dove. Among
the Arios, a city formed made up of five clans of the Arios: the
Ehrem, the Suunon, the Avah, the Tua and the Pera, with the original Arios in the center. The clans created
towns of their own, tribes of their own, and clans of their own.

In time, a man came to the Arios, Livis, a man of
the dove, King of all Men. But he was just one of the six from the
dove, and his teachings spread only to the Arios, who were convinced he was a
god. Unable to reach the other tribes quickly, Livis created an army of
just the Arios to destroy the men of the dove in the mountains.

And yet the Arios trembled at the thought that they, as men, would go
against gods. But when Livis flew into the air, and showed them his
powers, he convinced them that as he was as one of the six of the
dove, they were but six against thousands of the Arios.

On the night of the march to the northwest, the skies over the
mountains trembled in fury, and the smell of rain tinged the air. Livis
flew into the air, proclaiming that the men of the dove were preparing
for war against them. As then a blue strike of lightning encompassed
him, he fell dead breaking his legs.

The lights over the mountain continued for days, and the normally
gentle weather became violent. The Arios were first fearful of the
lights and rising waters, but as the hours passed, they mustered up
their courage and sent runners to the five tribes, once clans of the
Arios, to tell the tale and request more troops.

And yet the lightning continued, and the waters rose and became
violent. The Arios gave up their plans for war, and began plans for
survival, but the waters overwhelmed them and destroyed the town of the
Arios utterly, sweeping them into sea.

The men of the dove came down from the mountain, and surveyed the
damage. each remaining tribe recieved a man of the dove, who grieved
the deaths of the Arios, allowed through the distraction of the Men of
the Dove while judging Livis.

As one of them had directly provoked Man attempting to usurp their future
for himself, they would no longer allow themselves to control man's
future, and sealed this promise with the rainbow after a storm.

The five tribes of the Arios became alone, and with only sparse contact
among them, the tribes attempted to rebuild the city of Arios. And while
the city began to thrive yet again with the former clans of the Arios,
the Pera could not be found. Soon afterwards, three sets of envoys to
the Arios City from the Ehrem never returned.

And we, the Tribe of Ehrem, became lost

Neotia ended his story and saw his son, Ayrtos, was fast asleep.  He
readjusted the hide blanket over his sleeping forn to keep him warm.  While the old
yurt loaned to him by the leader of the Adhgye was adequate
for his family and a few others in his envoy, it was drafty,
especially with the cool winds coming in off the lake.  he smiled proudly at his son as he tussled Ayrtos' hair.  "Goodnight, son."

The sun had only just set in the West, but there was still much work ahead of him. 
He would need all his diplomatic skills to gain permission to have the
Ehrem settle at the lake among the Adhgye.  Winter was coming.