The War in the Heavens
In the care of the wildmen, Dunsun and Tholo would grow to maturity. Once again, the gods would demonstrate that they are not like mortal men, and so not bound by the same rules and conventions, for Dunsun and Tholo, despite being twins, would birth the next generation of the gods, the Kolithelon.
Grown to maturity and with a brood over which to govern, shinning Dunsun soon began to desire a land of his own to rule and to shape to his own design. It was with this ambition driving him that he declared to the Kolithelon that he would lead them east, back into the lands of Kolgennon to seek a place to build a palace and carve out a kingdom of his own. Knowing no other course other than to follow their father and leader, the Kolithelon agreed, and the gods began a great trek to the east. This ambition would bring war to the Cosmos.
A tale that perhaps shows again the view of Kunpit. The mating of the twins may represent just that, an act by the immortals not bound by the rules of men. Or perhaps it alludes to the forces they represent, the domains of power coming together to form something new and thus adding complication and additional layers to the realm we inhabit.
With the movement of the Kolithelon east, Bul and Sem finally learnt of the twin’s location and the existence of their clan. Setting aside their differences, the two mightiest of the Belithelon, decided to work together to bring down Dunsun, for they saw him as the prophesised threat of which Yulthelon promised. The rulers of the sky and sea agreed that Sem would lure away Tholo, strip Dunsun of his support, so that Bul could confront and destroy him.
Being young and immature divinities, Dunsun and Tholo were unaware of the dangers they now faced. As the Kolithelon travelled eastwards, Tholo, the white-armed goddess, found herself drawn to the north by whispering voices, a desire to explore the wastes and the tundra of the lands ever gripped by winter. It was in these boreal climbs that Sem appeared to her. Posing as a well-wishing father, he informed her of her parentage and that Bul was aware of the return of the Kolithelon and would seek to destroy them. However, Sem offered his support in the coming challenge with Bul.
Some claim that this was a trick, a rouse agreed with Bul to weaken the Kolithelon whilst others claim that Sem himself schemed to destroy Bul and overawe Dunsun. Kunpit himself offer no view as to which version was true, indeed he claimed that both could be true as the same time. This is because in his view what it represented is more important than what the gods themselves did. The primal forces of the first gods acting in concert, or in opposition creating an effect that rippled through the layers, from physical, to unconscious, to rational action. Shaping Kolgennon as we know it today.
As Sem spoke with Tholo, he imparted on her the knowledge of metallurgy and craft that would be necessary to create a weapon capable of defeating the lord of the skies.
Meanwhile Bul had unleashed his offspring upon the Kolithelon. The Bulodon bellowed out of the north like a thundercloud, sweeping over the Kolithelon and causing a panic amongst them. The howling cloud of the Bulodon harassed them as they marched. Despite their pleas for aid and the chance to fight off the menacing cloud Dunsun was set on his purpose, to march east and find a place to found his palace and his kingdom.
Then Bul himself appeared to them, dispersing the harassing cloud in a stroke. This act brought Bul the favour of the Kolithelon, who did nothing when the cloud gatherer then challenged Dunsun for supremacy.
Left to fight alone, Dunsun stood little chance against the fury of the skies, as, though he was powerful, Bul was the elder and contained with him the fury of the chaos of creation. Dunsun’s body was burned away as the great cloud gatherer struck him again and again. His shade sent hurtling down to the realm below, into the care of the rich lord Phenmoph. Bul basked in his victory and lorded it over the rest of the Kolithelon, declaring himself the sole ruler of Kolgennon.
Upon hearing of the Kolithelon’s betrayal and Dunsun’s defeat, Tholo fled into the deep woods. In a panic, Tholo sought out her mother, Geli. Finding her, she beseeched the mistress of the forest for aid. Beseeching her to travel to the hidden realm and bargain with Phenmoph to release Dunsun’s shade. Geli agreed, desperate for her son to be free of the grip of the rich lord of the dead.
They sought out one of the many hidden entrances to the hidden world of the rich lord. Traversing the land of the whipping trees, across the hunting grounds of Zuloibel, and finally Rinukol, the river of memory, which they crossed with trepidation. But once inside they were greeted with delight. The rich lord had been waiting for them and lavished upon them every kind of favour that his considerable power could command. But when the time came to request the return of Dunsun’s shade, the dread lord revealed his cunning. He would allow Dunsun to leave, to rise once again to Kolgennon, but in return he demanded Geli’s hand and for her to reside in his realm as his queen.
Geli was heartbroken by this request, fearing for the land that she had nurtured into being. Seeing that he would get his way, Phenmoph felt he could be generous, stating that he would allow Geli to return to Kolgennon for six months of the year, to tend to its fecundity. During the months that she is not with us, winter falls upon Kolgennon.
Once again, we see a glimpse onto the hidden layers behind these tales, as Kunpit would put it. The physical forces are the ones that shaped the seasons. What the tale does not say is how these then impact the way in which we perceive and interact with our world. How Geli’s absence in the times of winter drive our lives and our societies and shape our existence. This is the role that the poets have left to the philosophers to fill.
With the wedding happening then and there, Dunsun’s shade was released and his corporeal form reconstituted. Tholo also took a measure of zilthum, the famous white ore from the rich lord’s halls too, from it she fashioned the Thunderbolt, the great weapon that would contain the might of the heavens.
With Thunderbolt in hand, Dunsun rose up to confront Bul. Seeing his return and chafing under the despotic rule of Bul, the Kolithelon rallied to his cause.
For ten years a battle raged across the cosmos and rumbled through the lands. Titans and giants fought on the plains as the gods clashed in the skies. Mountains were levelled into plains, plains raised into mountains, the seas were boiled and deserts flooded. But eventually Bul was brought low, a mighty strike of the Thunderbolt bringing him to his knees. Dunsun’s judgement was swift and decisive. Bul was castrated, his power removed and then banished to the heavenly realm where he still rages, an echo of which can still be heard in the skies of Kolgennon.
An equally fervent clash with Sem followed, but, as the world was on the verge of destruction, a peace was brokered. Sem would remain to rule the oceans, but swore to never interfere outside of that domain, leaving the Cosmos for Dusnun to rule.
Dunsun sought out a mountain upon which to build his palace, golden Dzottgelon. From there he sits upon his throne, shining light to illuminate the world.
To the Kolitehlon, he was merciful and far sighted. Rather than punishing them, he gave them each a sphere to oversee within his new dominion. And so the world was settled, and a new dawn approached.
Once again, it is our role as the philosopher to discern from this tale the lessons we must take for our own lives and societies, the implications made by the poets but not elaborated upon. For Kunpit there was something of a dichotomy here, or at least a lesson we must bear in mind. For although these tales tell of the creation of our world, and how it was shaped to give the physical foundations upon which we built our cultures and our societies, they also reveal how fragile that world is. How we are at the whim of the immensities of the cosmos, that no matter how great our achievements of intellect or reason, they can all be undone by the physical powers. A learning all those who aspire to greatness should be cognisant of.