The Fall of the Three Beasts

In the days of Old, before the Light, the Three Beasts were. Behemoth dragged her great bulk across the Land and ground mountains down to desert sands. She stepped on the hard Earth and the Land cracked and swallowed the Ambitions of Men. Leviathan dove through the Waves and washed all he passed by away into the waters. He opened his mouths wide and the Islands of Renown sank into his dark Abyss. Ziz flew above the Clouds and watched the hopeless world turn beneath her. The scales fell from her countless eyes down to the Earth like ash and she sung mournfully into the Seven Winds.

Then the Light shone forth and the Dark was scattered to the Seven Corners of the world. The Three, who ruled in the Dark, were burned by its radiance and sought to hide from it. Behemoth dug into the Sands and threw them across her vast back. The Light bore down and fused the sands into Glass but Behemoth could bear the great Heat and took shelter beneath it. Leviathan dove into the endless Seas where the Light could not reach. The Twisted things that lived in the Depths bite into Leviathan's broad fins but they could not kill him so he remained there. Ziz swam into the Clouds and drew them around her but the Light scattered them to the Seven Winds. Her eyes burned like coals and she fell to the Earth below and broke upon the Rocks.

The Humans of the Rocks saw the great Beast fall and gathered around her broken body. They were starving for they could not grow plants on the jagged Rocks and they could not raise animals beneath the scale-filled Sky. One Human walked ahead of the rest and reached out and felt Ziz's life leave her. She tore out Ziz's flesh and filled her emptiness with it and the emptiness of her fellow Humans. The Humans of the Rocks ate the flesh of Ziz until only her bones remained and they were filled for a time.

Behemoth felt Ziz's passing and was enraged and sought vengeance against the Light and the Humans who had eaten her. She lumbered toward the Rocks and raged against the Humans she passed by, crushing them beneath her. The Humans of the Desert shot their Arrows at her and the Humans of the Plain swung their Swords against her but they could not break Behemoth's Glass shell. Then the Humans of the Rocks descended carrying a Spear carved from one of Ziz's ribs and shattered Behemoth's shell with it. The Arrows found purchase in Behemoth's raw back and the Swords cut through her burns and her Dark blood spilled on the Earth.

Behemoth's life passed from her and her body began to rot where it lay. The Humans of the Desert built their homes on her tail and the Humans of the Plain built their homes on her head and the Humans of the Rocks ruled over them from their jagged Rocks. They tamed the Plants and Animals of the world and fought the Dark shadows born from Behemoth's festering blood. The Humans of the Desert called them Dybbuk and said they lurked in the shade behind the Dunes and overcame those who became lost in the Sands. The Humans of the Plains called them Dybbuk and said they lurked in the shade under the trees and overcame those who fell to illness. The Humans of the Rocks did not call them anything for they could not see them.

Leviathan wailed at the deaths of Ziz and Behemoth but his fins had been bitten through by the Twisted things of the Depths and he could not move. The Twisted things tore into his soft mouths and as his Dark blood floated to the surface of the Seas it festered and gave birth to Dark shadows. The Humans of the Shore called them Dybbuk and said they lurked within Sea Foam and overcame those who were dragged below by the currents. They asked the Humans of the Desert for aid and they asked the Humans of the Plain for aid but they did not ask the Humans of the Rocks for aid for they feared the Humans of the Rocks more than they feared the Dybbuk. The Humans of the Desert died and the Humans of the Plain died and the Dybbuk could be killed, but the Humans of the Rocks did not die and could not be killed. They were filled up by the flesh of Ziz and had no emptiness.

Then Agrat, the First Human who had approached the dying Ziz and eaten her flesh, hungered. She devoured the animals of the Desert but they did not fill her emptiness. She tore up the plants of the Plain but they did not fill her emptiness. She bit into the flesh of the Humans of the Coast and they filled her emptiness for a time. One by one the Humans of the Rocks were filled with Hunger and one by one they descended from the jagged Rocks to eat the flesh of Humans. The Humans of the Desert and the Humans of the Plain and the Humans of the Coast gathered up Behemoth's bones and made Weapons from them and drove the Humans of the Rocks away.

Without the flesh of Humans to eat the Humans of the Rocks fell to Hunger and turned against each other. Dark blood splattered against the Rocks until only Agrat remained. The flesh of her fellow Humans filled her emptiness for a time, but it could not compare to the flesh of Ziz. Seeking that flesh she turned towards the Sea where the last of the Three was. She descended the blood-slicked Rocks and walked into the Sea. The Waters covered her feet but her Hunger pushed her on. The Waters covered her legs but her Hunger pushed her on. The Waters covered her waist but her Hunger pushed her on. The Waters covered her chest but her Hunger pushed her on. The Waters covered her neck but her Hunger pushed her on.

A Wave covered Agrat's head and in the Sea Foam she saw a Dark shadow. The Wave receded and took with it a tiny sliver of Ziz's flesh that had been caught in Agrat's throat. Agrat saw her Death and in the Waters her life left her. From her body sprung countless Dybbuk and half the Sky was covered in Darkness. And so the Three Beasts fell and the Heavens were split into Day and Night. Praise the Day, for its Light burns away all Darkness. Fear the Night, for the Dybbuk seek bodies even now.