File: jayose/Jayose Library: Song of the Lemur.txt

by Aruisia Xant-Areth

  
As history was given birth in the lands of Yliakum, the Lemurs were the only race to be graced by the light of the Crystal. They did not have the need to grow into a population, as they were created near fully matured by the will of Laanx. They worshipped and loved Laanx and Talad equally, despite the fact that only Laanx had placed her hand in their creation. The Lemurs were an extremely intelligent people who dedicated their lives to the study of beauty and its recreation in all forms of art. They would often plead to Laanx and Talad to walk amongst them, and gaze upon them in the silent admiration of Laanx’s faultless beauty, and Talad’s powerful form. They chose to live a simple life in the shadow of their gods, though Laanx had often offered them more. ""What more could we want,"" the Lemurs would say as one voice, ""what need have we for mighty structures and great devices when we have your love and beauty?"" Laanx would accept their words, fearing to fracture the Lemurs’ seemingly perfect happiness. The Lemurs saw that this saddened their goddess, so in their eighth year of existence, they prayed to her to create a great auditorium for them. She was overjoyed that her people asked this of her, so she drew pure white quartz from the ground to construct an enormous auditorium. The wondrous structure formed a pure white flower open to the sky, surrounding a huge, black-granite dais placed in the centre to honour Talad.

The religion itself was as serene as the people. In the early days of the dual religion, joy, happiness, and serenity were valued above all else. War and fighting were completely unknown. Jealousy and anger were mere wisps of fleeting imagination. Drifting song could be heard dancing in the wind at any hour, singing praises to the two gods and the wondrous world they had created. In the year after the creation of the auditorium, the structure became the ‘temple’ in which the Lemurs would sing worship to their gods, oft forming choruses of thousands. A loose religious structure began to form in the ranks of these choruses, thus creating the very roots of the Laanx religion. Laanx herself would often lend her crystalline voice to the chorus. No Lemur could claim a dry eye as her song rang through the land. Even Talad himself would cease his mighty works of creating vast spreads of fertile farmland to bathe his ears in the pure sound.

One fateful day in the tenth year of the Lemurs’ existence, the winds grew silent, the Lemurs’ song came to an end, and paradise shattered. A great gathering of Lemurs formed to sing praises to Laanx and Talad. Laanx had spoke to them, telling of a great thing Talad would do on that day. They waited for this moment to come, as they had prepared a song dedicated to Talad’s greatness. It was to be their finest work ever written. Silence was all that was to be heard as they waited. The Crystal began to brighten. It pulsed slowly in the rocky dome high overhead, though soon started gaining in speed and intensity. The Lemurs felt no fear, for this was their gods’ work, who had always protected them from all ill. Slowly, their upright faces began to show worry, rather than reverence. Every eye of every Lemur in the entire realm turned toward the Crystal just as it poured forth a blinding flash. They cried out as one as fear finally rushed into them. Another cry rose in a voice the Lemurs knew well. Fear turned to despair, for it was their beloved Laanx whose pain-filled cries shook the very air. The cries of Laanx soon became stone cracking shrieks, striking all those who gathered in the great auditorium completely deaf, and damaging the ears of all others to the point of becoming tone deaf for the rest of their lives. The ground rumbled and heaved, tossing the frail people to the ground as even the dome around the Crystal shivered and cracked. Slowly, everything went quiet as the dust settled. Silence once again fell on the land, for not even the weeping of the people could be heard.

The deaf Lemurs in the once great auditorium stood to see nothing but broken stone in all directions. The land itself was changed and buckled; creating high hills and low valleys where once was fertile field. But their eyes cared nothing for the land. Laanx, their goddess and creator, lay seemingly lifeless on the centre stage within easy view of all those eyes. Fear beyond anything ever before or after that moment filled the Lemurs. Only a few could summon the courage to approach their beautiful goddess. To their great relief, Laanx began to move. They started to call joyously to her as she stood slowly, despite their deafness, but their voices fell silent as her face turned to them, scarred and disfigured beyond recognition. Laanx saw the horror in their faces, and formed a mirror out of the air to view herself. It is claimed that the Lemurs who witnessed this were lucky to have been deaf, or the cry Laanx let out in that moment would have killed them instantly for the sheer sorrow it held. She fled blindly from them, ripping her dress to cover her face as she stumbled over the broken terrain. Without thought, the deafened Lemurs followed her. They thought nothing of their own plight. Their goddess needed them, and that was all that mattered. Talad called to the fleeing Laanx and her people, pleading for them to come back, but neither heard nor responded.

Days passed as the Lemurs followed Laanx through the new hills of the land. They began to notice stone forms pushing their way out of the soft soil, or breaking out of boulders cast up by the land. They ignored these as not important compared to Laanx’s needs. Other Lemurs who had not been deafened completely tried to tell those who followed Laanx of Talad’s great sorrow, and the new race he had created. However, they could not hear Talad, so could not feel his sorrow. They continued following and trying to comfort Laanx as she sunk deeper into despair, much as a child would do for a crying parent. Finally, they vanished into the Stone Labyrinths, never to be seen again by those they left behind. The Lemurs who could hear Talad’s pain knew they could not leave him alone either, so they remained behind to comfort him and watch his new people, which came to be known as Kran. Thus, the Lemurs parted ways, not to meet again for many generations. Snow fell for the first time in Yliakum history on that day, causing some Lemurs to still call snowflakes ""Laanx’s Tears"" in remembrance of the day they say Laanx’s heart froze.