ong, long ago, when the Gods walked among the lands of men
more often then they do now, Geskekelud visited the village of
Bengloarafurd in Morn Valan and spent the night with the daughter of
George the blacksmith, and made her with child. The woman, whose name
was Jaina, forever after had visions of prophesy of which she could only
speak in the language of the Vernese, which none in the village could
understand; and twelve days later she bore twin children, a daughter
whom she named Brijghalod and a son whom she named Glem. Now Glem was
always jealous of his sister, who was twelve minutes older than him, and
always would be, and had many more gifts from their father, such as
sharp claws like those of a cat, an irreverent sense of humor, and
beautiful red and black striped fur covering her flesh, whereas Glem
only had the ability to transform lead into stibotantalite (he also had
a third eye through which he could see into mens' souls, but he had not
the wit to understand them, and he thought everyone could do it); but
worst was that he hated his name because it was short and resembles the
sound one makes when one swallows. Now both children were restless, and journeyed often. One day, Brijghalod went south to visit their father and ask him why the sky wasn't orange, and Glem followed her, intending to do her ill. When she lay down to sleep, Glem picked up Mount Vio and dropped it on her, hoping to entomb her forever (people were much stronger then). But Brijghalod at that moment turned over in her sleep, for she was dreaming of rolling down a hill, and landed on a sharp rock, which woke her. She flung the mountain away from her with one hand, and it landed upside-down twelve miles away, where it remains to this day. She was startled at Glem's jealousy, for she had always been oblivious to those most familiar to her, and she confronted him, and they fought each other. They fought for twelve hours, until an eld skyle came out of its burrow and said they were making too much noise. So they went to Geskekelud at His Throne, and asked Him to settle their feud. He told them that whichever would first bring to him artifacts of all the other gods would prevail. Brijghalod thought this was silly, but she had nothing better to do, so she set upon the quest, having forgotten her question; and she never found out why the sky wasn't orange.
Brijghalod went first to the Kingdom of the East, where the King-Priest of Shagras ruled in those days. The King-Priest, whose name was Miktlhan, was much favored by his Mistress, so that he must have many artifacts of Her creation, and surely would not miss one. Brijghalod encountered Miktlhan on the road to his Keep, and they fought a duel to first drawing of blood, for there was much enmity between the First Peoples in those days. So Miktlhan drew his sword Werewindle and his seventh-favorite dagger, the one with the onyx handle, and they fought for seven hours, until Miktlhan tired of toying with her, and cut off her arm and shattered her sword and pierced her heart with his dagger. Thinking that he had won, he knelt to retrieve his dagger. But Brijghalod was not dead, for she had long ago moved her heart to a safer place, and she had not lost, for her flesh was of stone and she had no blood. The dagger broke in his grip, and he held only the handle, and he was startled. Brijghalod pricked his thumb with a shard of her sword, and Miktlhan was wroth to have lost by trickery, and bade her leave his kingdom and never to return, which she did, with the blade of the dagger of Shagras in her chest.
Brijghalod left the Kingdom of the East and traveled to the city of Zef, known far and wide for the priests of Anz who there study the invisible patterns of the cosmos. On the way she met a dealer in wax, which she knew was greatly valued by the priests for the design of their orreries. She purchased his wares with a dancing garnet and disguised herself and went to Zef to sell wax. She went to the observatorium during the afternoon prayers, when only a lay novice tended the orreries. While the novice's attention was upon selecting from the one hundred and thirty seven types of wax she offered, she pocketed a small astrolabe that describes the Persistent Obscure Epicycles, which she knew the priests would not need until eleven minutes after sunrise two days hence. Thanking Anz for making His priests so predictable, she calmly left Zef and transformed the waxdealer's wares into a geyser of green flame that she hoped would cause the Grey Men no end of perplexity.
After leaving the north Brijghalod descended into the caverns of the Underworld, but she never revealed what artifact she she acquired nor how she acquired it, so to this day we do not know.
And so Brijghalod came to the Plains of Volan, which were different then, and found to her joy that the Mother of Mothers was free with Her gifts so that she need not resort to trickery, and to her despair that all were too fragile to survive in the Mountains of Madness. She searched for twelve weeks and found nothing strong enough to bring before the Seethe of Madness. So she lay down in a field of dandelions and drowsed, for she had not slept since she fought against Glem (people were much heartier then). When she awoke she saw a Man of the Summer before her, staring at her ears (which, in all modesty, she had to admit were magnificent). He asked what she was, for he had never traveled, and she told him. He asked why she was there, and she told him. He asked about her travels, and she told him, except for what transpired in the caverns of the Underworld. The man, whose name was Gwalchafad, was young enough to be bored with the eternal and unchanging beauty of Summer, and offered to help her, so together they searched for twelve months but to no avail. But during that time Brijghalod and Gwalchafad became very fond of each other, and Brijghalod became with child. And the knowledge pounced upon her mind like a tiger upon a gazelle, and she thanked Gwalchafad profusely and transformed herself into an eagle and flew to the south, promising to return.
Thus it was that Brijghalod faced her father the Shaker of Minds and presented to him the blade of the dagger made by Shagras, the astrolabe of the epicycles made by Anz, a creation of the Lord of Time of which we now know naught, her own soul, shaped by the First Maker, and the child of her womb, born of a Man of the Land of Summer, a gift from Nirian, the White Lady. And Geskekelud told her of Glem's imprisonment by the King Under the Sea for a disparaging remark about His Majesty's favorite kraken, and told her the secret of conjuring storms with the use of very small rocks, and she returned to the Plains of Volan where Gwalchafad still stood in puzzlement, for only twelve minutes had passed. Brijghalod and Gwalchafad married each other before the priests of the Mother and spent the rest of their lives traveling together and had many sons and daughters. Their eldest son Kadalien, who had his uncle Glem's gift to see men's souls but the wit and wisdom to use it well, became the first Bard of Ro Palis, but that is another story...
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