Designing Ancestry: The Yelein

"Our people craved the land and divided it with flowing life. We designed the currents and dug the depths that pierce the earth in caverns that even the dwarves have not seen, feeding trees to which even the elves do not tend. We are few, but our design gilds this earth."

- Drasius, Who has Wept and Lives

Serving the Sea, the Yelein planned the waterways beneath upon the shores. William Blake, Newton 1795

Alongside the origins of the Dwarves and Elves is the myth of the Yelein, a giant people said to have been crafted by a tempestuous goddess, the Sea. She made the Yelein grand in stature, so that they might stand within her embrace and yet peer out from her realm. She wanted her creations to be inspired by how far her waters filled, how immense she was; endless to the horizon. Though at first fashioned simply to witness the Sea with awe, the function of the Yelein turned to worship at her behest: a notion instilled when the Sea first saw the endless clarity of her sister, the Sky, and the subtle implacability of her brother, the Earth. Seeking adoration, the Sea demanded ritual and honors, turning the Yelein into obedient zealots. Their ceremonies granted chaotic motion to the oceans, birthing tides and storms. Unsatisfied by even the thunderous waves and maelstroms of dreadful supplication created by her people, the Sea degraded the Yelein's worship into enslavement, as her ambition pined into bitter jealousy over her siblings' domains.

In her desire to expand her claims, the Sea mobilized the Yelein to dig her oceans into the land, attempting to annex any territory unguarded by the Earth, spreading her power like a vile weed rooted impossibly deep. For in the Ancient Days, the trenches of the Yelein filled with water and flowed inland, a novel and strange sight to the newly generated Elves and Dwarves, who themselves were set to task by their immortal creators. It was then rivers were made. What was dug up and cast to the side by the Yelein was stolen by the youthful Dwarves, piled high and molded into mountains. The Yelein bore no concern though, and in truth were glad to be rid of the debris that would fall back into their channels, making work repetitious. The Elves were less clandestine and beckoned the Yelein to bring their waters forth, for the Elves learned where land and water meet, life may grow. Great groves sprung from the winding paths scored by the Yelein, as the giants followed Elven song and verse willfully. Long rivers formed from such work, and tributaries emerged. The artful creativity of waterfalls, tranquil lakes, and dotted pools were the blessings of Elven influence, whereas the grottos and underground seas came from the encouragement of Dwarves, who wished to keep their theft and works concealed. In these relationships, the Yelein knew friendship; the Sea's jealously turned to hatred and her attention left her siblings for their children. In rage, the Sea slew her people, murdering the greatest among the Yelein first, salting the ocean's waters with prolicidal blood. The poisonous water was to kill what drank it, wither that which rooted into it, and erode all that was built above it. At first such reckless vengeance against the Elves and Dwarves succeeded, but like all selfish evil, it was blinded to its own demise.

Increasingly, as the Yelein worked, the Dwarves cast debris back into the sea and Earth grew beneath the waves. The Elves too beseeched the Sky, crying in harmony of their plight, their death, and the dying of the trees that worshiped the sun. The Sky was grieved and her tears fell as both rain and snow, overwhelming the rivers and reversing their flow back into the poisoned heart of the Sea. Girdled by her brother, the Earth, upon every horizon, and overcome by the passion of the Sky, the Sea's ambition was culled, and into the void of her depths, it drowned, freeing her remaining children. Few of the giant people now remained after the tumultuous sacrifice performed in the mythic past. The greatest giants sank into the oceans, leaving the least among the Yelein also the last. In the Ancient Days, these were the diminutive among the Yelein, but now among their cousins, they tower and stride among the peoples of the modern world. Free of their hateful, bitter goddess, the Yelein wander the earth, tracing the rivers and walking the paths of their ancestors till at last within their own final days of life, they behold the oceans and weep, adding to the tears that imprison the Sea.