Group 4Desert World

Casey ShorttKelsey Socha

Hailey SpurlockMarissa Swartz

The Story of Ba’het

In The Beginning

The God of the

Burning Orb,

Eloweigh, and his

wife Phay of the

Night Glow ruled

over the empty

heavens.

Eloweigh

Phay

Ba’het

Out of Boredom Eloweigh and Phay began to stamp their heavy feet and dance, stirring up a great chaos of dust and ice. Out of this chaos a world was formed. They saw that it was beautiful and called it Ba’het.

Even with their swirling world, they felt

incomplete and lonely so they pulled a great boulder from Ba’het. They wrapped their mighty trunks around and around it. When the boulder

cracked a beautiful she-phant emerged. She had long, beautiful brown fur and eyes that

shone like crystals. Eloweigh and Phay wept at her beauty and their tears became the stars.

They called her Astrid.

A Daughter

Astrid made many dolls and played with them everyday on Ba’het. She filled their world with majestic mountains, tall trees, sparkling rivers, and deep oceans. She made Ba’het a paradise

for her playthings.

Paradise

Astrid loved her dolls so very much and Eloweigh, wanting to please his lovely daughter, breathed

life from his great trunk into all of the dolls.

They became all of the creatures that roamed Ba’het.

For the ones who shared the likeness of the Gods, Phay sang the song of culture into their ears.

They became the race of the great Mamai.

The Mamai lived in the paradise Astrid had made

for them and were the ruler of all creatures. They

multiplied and soon all of Ba’het was populated with this Majestic culture, but Astrid could not keep up with the actions of all.

The Great Flood

Astrid, the beautiful Goddess of Ba'het, became very angry when she became aware of all the chaos and evil that was happening in Ba'het. She had provided the Mamai with such beauty and the Mamai weren't grateful for any of it. Astrid spoke to Wooly, her favorite and most trust-worthy Mamai, one evening and told him that there was going to be a massive flood. She was going to destroy all that was evil. She instructed him to get his wife and go to a cave that was nestled high up in a mountain and to wait there until the flood was over. Wooly did as Astrid had instructed. They climbed and climbed to the highest point on the mountain, and entered the cave.

Suddenly a giant surge of hot lava covered the land as far as Wooly could see. The lava began to rise and rise until everything was submerged in the lava. It rose so high that it was just at the edge of the opening of the cave, the heat singed every hair on the Mamai.  Wooly and his wife waited for seven days in the cave. On the seventh day, the lava began to recede. They sent out flies to see if there was land. The first 6 flies returned immediately, with no land visible yet. The seventh fly, however did not return.

The Elephai

Wooly and his wife knew it would be safe to travel down the mountain. When they returned to the bottom, everything had been destroyed. They evil had been burnt away. The beautful green grass, turned to sand. The oceans, lakes, and rivers, completely dry. The Mamai scorched, only leaving their tusks behind. Wooly and his wife were to begin fresh in this land. Discovering a few hidden oases left by Astrid, Wooly and his wife found a place to start. They buried the tusks of their fallen brethren and from the dust a new race was formed. They were called the Elephai.

Afterlife: Peace

For the Elephai that found happiness in their lives, they are sent to a wonderful afterlife upon their death.

Lush forests, rivers, streams, trees that made plenty of food to go around.

Afterlife

As for those who did not find comfort and happiness in their time on Ba’het, they are not granted into the same place that others did. They must stay on the desert world and keep trying to make the best of it. Once they do so, they may be able to enjoy the peace they so much want.

Death of a Goddess

Many ages after the destruction of the Mamai, the great goddess Astrid felt remorse.

After speaking with her parents Eloweigh and Phay, Astrid descended to the new land that lay in the wake of her destruction.

She observed the Elephai, but did not go to them.

In her wanderings, Astrid found the only source of water left to the remnants of her creation. Her sorrow was so profound that she waded into the massive lake, her wooly trunk lifted above the water until all of her sunk to the bottom.

Painlessly, Astrid slipped from the world of the living to the world of the dead.

Knowledge in Death

Astrid stared at the glory before her. She had forgotten the beauty of the original Ba’het.

Luscious trees towered above the soft carpet of greenery, pools of water surrounded the small hill on which Astrid stood.

Her trunk sought out an old favorite fruit of hers, drooping from the branches of a firm tree. The juices exploded in her mouth and dripped down her trunk as she reached for another.

Astrid wept in the knowledge of the beauty she had taken from the Mamai by reducing them to Elephai. She could not imagine being without the comfort of her wool, and never wanted to leave this paradise.

Resurrection

Behind her, Astrid heard a rumbling. Her trunk raised slightly in alarm, she turned to find Phay, her mother.

Phay asked Astrid if she has learned her lesson, and Astrid replied that she had, as tears leaked from her luminous eyes.

Phay accepted her daughter’s remorse and draped her trunk over Astrid’s eyes. The groud fell from Astrid’s feet as Phay trumpeted to her husband, calling for the rebirth of their daughter.

When Astrid next opened her eyes, she was surrounded by scorching sunlight. As her mother lumbers away, Astrid is told: “For one year more, you will be as the Elephai. Your wool is removed,

your powers no more. When the constellation born from our tears at the time of your birth is once more in line with the moon, you will be allowed home.”

Knowledge in Life

And so Astrid lived among the Elephai, hairless and powerless in a land unfamiliar to her.

She learned the lives the Elephai led, full of longing, but also full of new life and new ways.

Astrid listened to the ancient members of the Elephai, descendants of Wooly and his mate, and learned of the guilt felt by all Elephai.

She never revealed herself to her new friends. As the foretold constellation crept ever closer to the moon,

Astrid had dreams from Eloweigh, telling her to return to the lake she had drowned in.

Astrid left the community she’d come to call home, listening to the songs of mourning sung in her wake.

Return to Paradise

Astrid ascended to the home of Eloweigh and Phay, resuming her original form and regaining her powers.

Having learned far more in her travels than she could ever have from observation, Astrid ruled the Elephai with greater respect and wisdom than before.

Once a year, when the constellation born of her parents’ tears is in line with the moon, Astrid returns to walk among the Elephai as one of them, bringing them joy and bringing a great harvest of all that will sustain them throughout the coming year.

Pantheon

Eloweigh: God of the Burning

Orb He was there in the

time before Ba’het and is known as the “Bringer of Light” by the Elephai.

Pantheon

Phay Goddess of the Night

Glow. Known for having

the “Song of the Night”.

She was there in the time before and the Elephai say she can see into the soul.

Pantheon

Astrid Daughter of

Eloweigh and Phay. The Beautiful

Goddess of Ba’het. Bringer of the Yearly

Harvest. Known as the “Great

Sister to the Mamai”.