The Bulodon

​

The children of Bul, the galloping men of the steppes. Reports of these creatures vary wildly, some stories describe them as uncontrolled barbarians, part horse part man, that stormed into the settlements of the first men to steal, kidnap, and pillage. Though some of the older and more obscure stories suggest the that the Bulodon are not creatures at all. Instead, they are depicted as a menacing cloud that would come raging out of the steppes to devastate the lands.

​

There is perhaps a way to understand these stories as a natural phenomenon. Changes in the weather along the northern plains, driving south the nomadic tribes of the Rilrpitu to ravage the lands of the settled, more civilised peoples. But then again, perhaps they were a real phenomenon from before the fall of Dusk.

​

As for the origins of the Bulodon, there are many tales, but most centre around Bul the great cloud gatherer. His children bursting from a cloud, impregnated by his thunder, to rage across the young world. The Kolithelon were the first to experience their wrath, as their father unleashed his spawn upon them during the war in the heavens. But that was not the last Kolgennon saw of them.

​

With the cloud gatherer defeated and banished, the Bulodon were left wild and free. In the days before the Dawn, they ranged across the world unbound from their creator. One group under a chieftain named Kolsinos drove the Bright God Xosu into his wandering exile, whilst he was in the grip of madness after the death of Gelithul. Xosu would return with his mind restored, to destroy Kolsinos and free the people from their servitude, but this victory did not eliminate the threat they posed entirely.

​

With the ascent of Xosu to the heavens and the division of the Xosu people, the Bulodon returned to harass his heirs. At the wedding of Til, Xosu’s son, the Bulodon appeared once more, seizing his wife in a raid. The war that would follow, the Bulodonzukensel, would see them driven off once more, but the cloud that rings the mountain of Bultil is a constant reminder of the threat they pose.

​

A final reminder of this menace was witnessed in the time of Tholophos. With the Xosu divided once more, the Bulodon returned to ravage the land and subjugate the people. It was Tholophos who rallied the Xosu to his side, leading them to victory at the field of the Bulodon’s Wail and unifying them for the final time before the Dusk. That victory did not save the world from the veil falling, though it may have delayed it. For the Bulodon were to return as old Kolbos fell and the daemons of the dusk swarmed over the land.

THE KINSOLSUN

​

The wizards of the deep, the daughters of the great serpent, the Kinsolsun are said to have been sorcerers, teachers, and storytellers, shapeshifters and great priests. They were capable of immense feats of smithing and art. Moving in ways that a dancer would envy, they wandered the seas around the White Islands. But there is a dark side to them. Poisoners of the land they have been labelled, tyrants that ruled over man at the Dawn. It is hard to reconcile these tales. Some see them as benevolent helpers, summoned from the hidden realm by Sem to aid his fallen son, when Buto was cast from Dzottgelon by Dunsun. Whilst others see them as cruel overlords who demanded tribute and sacrifice from the people of the White Islands.

​

The Kinsolsun, whether truly the daughters of Sem or an ancient line of rulers that dominated the islands whose story has been distorted by the fall of Dusk, could have been both cruel tyrants and great rulers. Indeed, on the site that would one day become old Kolbos they constructed their palace, the zilthum enclosed Thelonbet. This alone is proof of their power and unmatched skill in the shaping of zilthum. The stories describe how they built a magnificent citadel and brought peace and prosperity to the islands. But in the next breath, we hear tales of mass sacrifice of the people of the islands, of oppression and torment. This they determined was the only way to heal the fallen god, or perhaps to help him return to his seat among his brethren. The older stories say that the people of the islands gave their blood willingly to this cause, wishing to secure the favour of the god and the wizards. But others claim that the sacrifice was imposed as a form of tribute upon a population who had no choice but to comply. Which is correct? Who can truly know? Though the majority of scholars agree that the Kinsolsun were cast out from the Thelonbet by Xosu after they had betrayed him. They have not been seen since that day, though rumours and sightings by sailors persist to the present and it is often claimed that they were behind the fall of old Kolbos and the veil of Dusk descending.

​

What are we to make of these strange half-forgotten stories? Very little truth can be gleamed about the Kinsolsun themselves. Barely any description survives, let alone one with any ancient pedigree. The legends that do remain are confused and contradictory. But the Thelonbet is real, the relics of pure zilthum are left in the world, and so we can determine there is a certain truth to their myths. Perhaps they were semi-divine beings that ruled over the seas in a time before the worlds of gods and men had fully divided. Or, as Kunpit implied, they were rather examples of rulers of the past, those who did not govern well, and used their power for ill. A warning to the Xosu to the path that should not be followed.

THE WILDMEN

​

Noble yet savage, wild yet enlightened, the Wildmen of the woods hold a strange place within the history of our world. I have been unable to find any congruence in the myriad stories that exist of their origin, yet all agree that they have inhabited the deep woods for millennia, perhaps emerging as a physical manifestation of the wild spontaneity and recklessness of Gingel as he was sacrificed to make the world. However, the most coherent stories link their origin to Geli. I have tended to accept the tale that Geli was their creator, the mother of these beings, but it should be noted that this is not an entirely settled question. Other tales claim that she merely nurtured them after she descend upon Kolgennon from the Heavenly Realm.

Despite this nurturing, the Wildmen always remained upon the edge of civilisation, preferring the woods and deep forests to the open plains and choosing only to interact with man on limited occasions. It is for this reason that our understanding of them is finite. Most agree that the Wildmen had the bodies of men, but the legs of goats, or horses. They had humanlike faces, but animal ears and the men grew great sets of antlers on their heads.

​

Having said this, the Wildmen do appear to have had a civilisation of their own, of sorts. On occasion we hear of encounters with what appeared to be a Wildman king. And there are stories of both hostile and friendly encounters with the beasts. Sometimes trading happened, or agreements of support in times of peace and war. But they are few and far between.

​

Perhaps our greatest example of the Wildmen is Xosu’s childhood friend and companion, Gelithul. Raised alongside the god after his second birth in the shadow of Mount Betgennon, Gelithul acted as tutor, adviser and drinking partner to the young god. Together they travelled the world and encountered the first men. It was Gelithul’s tragic death as they celebrated their victory over the white dragon Zilthil that drove Xosu into his wanderings, driven mad by loss.

​

How can we interpret these curious stories? Once again, we find ourselves pondering how real these creatures were, or what the tales represent. The early world was a strange place, with plenty of beings who did not survive beyond the Dusk. But once again Kunpit offered a potential solution to this conundrum. Though, as he always did, he did not rule out entirely the possibility that the Wildmen were real, Kunpit argued that at the very least these stories show us what men on the fringes of civilisation were like. They had not yet learnt the arts of how to live well, and they could be friendly or hostile. They were capable of great wisdom and foolish ignorance. A lesson then in what civilisation can bring and what it takes away, and where caution is needed when trying to engage and understand those who do not live as we do.