K Tathis

There are no memories of the time Before; we swam and ate and bred no different than any other beast of the land or sea or air. And Koreth was content with what simple worship we could offer. His sister, K’Tathi, Lady of Secrets, was not, for while our simple minds could understand Koreth’s blessings, she was left with no one to initiate into her mysteries.

And K’Tathi stayed in her underwater caverns and brooded, and the skies turned black and the winds blew hard and the waves grew steep. And it stayed like this for three turnings of the sun, though the sun was hidden by stormclouds, until she came to a decision. “Brother,” she said, rising to the land and calming the seas. “Between ourselves, we can make another race, strong and sure, able to follow both the Dark Path and the Light.” Koreth, Clever-handed, agreed with alacrity, and they turned to the bounty of the seas from which they sought to create their chosen people. And, lo, we were brought forth from the Sea of Shining Waters; transformed by their combined powers as the land is transformed by the wind and rain and sunlight.

At first, our footsteps were unsteady and unsure. We had been swimmers, not land-walkers. But the Twins had agreed that neither was to have sole dominion over their children; we were to swim in her underwater grotto with the same freedom we walked upon his shores, equally able to worship the glory of Koreth and the mystery of K’Tathi. Of all races, we were to be admired, as we had been crafted not by one mind, but by two, each magnifying the other’s strengths and diminishing the other’s weaknesses.