Myths of Thylea
The Legend of Creation
Thylea was of the Old Gods—ancient even when the world was young. Gentle and generous, she was born into a time of war and chaos among her kind. Refusing to take sides in their disputes, she lived her entire life in contemplative silence, never speaking a single word.
Yet though she was silent, she possessed a powerful resolve that the other Gods sensed and respected. Even Kentimane of the Hundred Hands—the most violent and warlike of them all—was drawn to her quiet strength. She alone of all the Gods could quell his furious temper with her calming spirit.
Eventually, Thylea grew weary of the endless strife and conflicts. She isolated herself from the other Gods, seeking respite on the farthest edges of the ocean. Kentimane—now her lover and protector—followed, turning his back on war and violence to walk with Thylea on the path of tranquility.
Alone, the pair were happy for a time. But Thylea still felt all the pain and suffering in the world like a million arrows piercing her gentle soul. In time, her joy gave way to despair until, unable to bear it any longer, she drowned herself beneath the water.
Yet her death was not a surrender… it was a glorious sacrifice. Thylea’s body came apart; her head and torso floating back to the surface to become a chain of virgin islands. Her heart burst from her chest and transformed into a great tree rising up from the center of the continent she had birthed. Her limbs sunk to the bottom of the sea, stretching and twisting into great roots that connected each island, nurturing the fertile plants and gentle animals that sprang into being on the islands’ surface.
Kentimane’s grief over his lover’s death was inconsolable. Without Thylea to temper his moods, he succumbed once more to his most violent urges. Screaming his fury at the heavens, he thrashed and raged in the oceans around the body of his lover, unleashing terrible storms and massive tidal waves that threatened to swallow the new-born islands.
Yet even after her death, a part of Thylea’s spirit remained in the great Heart-Tree at the center of the islands. She reached out—silent as ever—and brushed against her mad husband’s mind, soothing his tortured spirit with a soft caress. Sensing her presence, the hundred-handed giant transformed his grief into a new purpose. Binding himself to what was left of his lover with a solemn vow, Kentimane became the ward and protector of the islands, taking up an eternal vigil in the waters around their untouched shores.
Fed by Thylea’s generous spirit—and with Kentimane keeping the evils of the outside world at bay—life in the Forgotten Land flourished into a perfect, unspoiled paradise. And finally, the Goddess who never spoke was content.
The Birth of the Titans
In the beginning, the islands of Thylea were populated only by harmless plants and gentle animals—the flora and fauna a reflection of the nurturing spirit of the Mother Goddess that sacrificed herself to create them. A virgin paradise, the Forgotten Land was kept safe from the perils and evils of the outside world by the giant Kentimane of the Hundred Hands—Thylea’s lover and protector. And together, the two were content.
But one day, the tree at the center of the islands—the transformed heart of the Mother Goddess herself— blossomed with seven strange fruits. Each the size of a boulder, they shimmered and pulsed with vibrant, shifting colors, almost as if alive. Seeing the tempting bounty sprouting from the branches, Kentimane reached from the ocean and plucked the fruit. His fifty heads gorged themselves on the succulent flesh, tearing and chewing until all that remained were seven spike-covered pits, which he tossed into the ocean.
Instead of sinking, the pits floated on the waves, bobbing up and down. Offended by their taunting presence, Kentimane seized each pit in a clenched fist, squeezing so hard the spikes bit into his flesh and drew blood. Howling in rage, Kentimane slammed the pits down beneath the water, burying them deep beneath the muddy bottom of the ocean floor.
But the next morning the pits floated back up to the surface. Before Kentimane could seize them again, the pits burst open and the children of Thylea and Kentimane sprang forth into existence.
The hundred-handed god stared in wonder at his offspring: eight Titans born from the fruit of Thylea’s tree, fertilized by the blood of Kentimane himself. Each of the first six pits had incubated a single child blessed with a different attribute drawn from one of their parents: Strength; Beauty; Wisdom; Craft; Prophecy and Swiftness. As these six Titans grew from children into adults, they became demi-gods, each representing the aspect of their parents they most embodied.
However, from the seventh pit two Titans were born: Sydon and Lutheria, twin brother and sister. Sydon embodied his father’s raging fury, and as he grew he became the God of Time and the Lord of Storms. His sister, Lutheria, inherited her mother’s stillness and calm… but without Thylea’s compassion or gentleness, she would eventually become the Goddess of Death and the Lady of Dreams.
But all this was far in the future, and Kentimane did not foresee what his offspring would one day become. He could not imagine the strife and suffering the Twins would bring to the peaceful islands. If he had known, he might have drowned them on the spot. But instead, he scooped up his children from the waves—including Sydon and Lutheria—and placed them gently at the base of the great Heart-Tree rising up from the center of the island, where Thylea could watch over them.
Having deposited the children in the warm bosom of their mother, Kentimane returned to the sea and resumed his eternal vigil, bound by his sacred vow to keep Thylea—and now also their children—safe from the outside world.