Dragonthorn Chapter 11: Binah

It is written in the scriptures how the elohim called Yahweh discovered humans on a world that circled around her, and set apart from the humans a priestly people, the children of Abraham, to receive the oracles of Yahweh and worship only her, a female sun, even though Yahweh had been represented to them as a transcendent male warrior-king to avoid scandalizing them.

For the Hebrews (so named from the Semitic word for Immigrants) were immersed in a culture barely out of the hunter-gatherer stage, heavily dominated by the male, and extolling the virtue of masculinity above all else.

And it is also written how the elohim named Koth, with the assistance of Yahweh, had transplanted some of the humans to Gorpai, a mostly icy world that circled around Koth, and how Koth caused them to change by degrees into the nephilim.

And later Koth engineered the rise of family Gerash to rule all of Gorpai
according to laws he established through prophets, until Koth seized control of power directly through the agency of possessing the line of the ruling Gerashites, each patriarch in his turn.

But the elohim Binah noted how the gods of myth, which is what humans and nephilim believed the elohim to be, were always portrayed as having the power to create worlds and life. Yet Binah knew Yahweh merely discovered the humans, and even Koth's nephilim were mutations of preexisting human stock. Also the projects of the elohim were subject to the limitations of the physical laws that covered everyone.

Then Binah, who had no world of his own, proposed to create a world according to his own specifications, a world operating according to regularities of succession ordained by the elohim.

From that world, shortcut tunnels through space maintained by the elohim would link to the Earth and Gorpai, and human and mephilim would mingle together openly.

But Koth refused, and said no tunnel would link to Gorpai, and no nephilim would be permitted to enter Binah's proposed world.

Then Yahweh, an ally of Binah, said she would yield to Koth's long courtship with her, and permit him to sire a child on her, if he agreed to permit a permanent open link between Gorpai and Binah's proposed new world.

And Koth jumped at the chance, but he was required to make a solemn oath, which Binah knew would hold him firm, never to block access to Gorpai from Binah's new world, nor block the passage of nephilim between them.

Now when Koth and Yahweh came together in the act of love, Yahweh diminished herself, and withdrew the living portion of herself from half of her sun-body's own inner core, letting that half return to the state it was in before it woke up and became Yahweh.

Then when Yahweh and Koth attained their nearly infinite pinnacle of physical joy, Yahweh's reproductive ripple found an empty sun immediately, and Krista was conceived within the same sun that was the sun of mankind and also the body of Yahweh.

And Koth knew what had happened, because he found he had a spiritual link to his newborn daughter Krista which lay outside of creation, and it had formed in one instant, and not after the months and years it normally took for the ripple to find a fresh sun.

Then Yahweh spoke directly to Krista without using the spiritual link that bound together the suns, and at the bidding of her mother Krista severed her link to Koth as her first act as a conscious being.

And Koth was angered, because Yahweh had contrived a final end to his scheme of setting aside a private harem of elohim females, but it really was Binah who developed the strategy.

Koth could do nothing in retaliation, because he had sworn a solemn oath to permit passage between Gorpai and Binah's new world. But Binah had yet to create that world, and Koth doubted it would ever come to be.

Yahweh and Krista were in close physical proximity, and they had no need of the spiritual link of the elohim to communicate, yet at the bidding of Binah, they flooded their link with dark light, and on account of their unique closeness, the link inflated to a far greater diameter than the tunnels Koth and Yahweh had used to move people and goods between worlds.

Their link, in fact, became a great bubble, somewhat greater than the size of the sun itself, which was their shared body, but this bubble lay outside of creation, much as the tunnels and spiritual links between elohim also do. And for as long as Yahweh and Krista both shall live, this new pocket heaven shall continue to exist.

Then Binah and Sophia tapped into the bubble with their own tunnels, and even Koth did so as well, not only because of his oath to Binah, but simply because the bubble had now become the common arena between the five elohim.

Then Binah said, Behold, the laws in this place remain as yet indeterminate, and it remains for us to establish them as we will, for we are not constrained as we are by the laws that govern the heavens where we live.

And Binah brought into existence a giant stair with two steps, and set it to float in the center of the bubble suspended by winds, but it could not be seen, for light had not yet come to the bubble.

Then Sophia contrived a changing white light to illuminate the bubble, but this light was not confined to a small spot in the sky as are the stars and suns which shine upon worlds. Rather, the whole sky changed from the dark of night to glowing white every day, and this light also brought warmth.

And Sophia created seasons by causing the light to shine for timespan of two parts in three during summer days, but only one part in three during winter days, and equal parts on spring and autumn days. But there were no stars.

Then Koth set water flowing down the two steps in a roaring cataract many miles high, and on the far western edge of the bottom step the water fell off the stair and drifted through the bubble, where it was broken up into a fine mist. This mist was carried by the winds that suspended the stair until it reached the top of the stairs again far above and in the east, where the vapor fell as rain and kept the cycle going without end.

Yahweh built a dam of cliffs and mountains on the eastern wall of the Land We Know, and he called this dam the Glob Nab, and it was a sheer wall of rock thirty thousand feet high. Then the cataract pouring onto the lowest step was stopped, yet in four places water from behind the Glob Nab emerged near the base, and became three rivers which wound their way to the west over lands newly exposed by the building of Yahweh's dam.

And the first of those rivers was Armak, which flowed southwest through the land of Nath. In aftertimes men would build another dam in pale imitation of Yahweh, and form lake Enkaa upon this same river.

The second river was Arhena, which flowed due west and divided Nath from the land of Hamar.

The third and largest river was Sabik, which flowed northwest until it was joined by the river Arhena then flowed west to divide Hamar from the land of Alodra.

A fourth river named Nanki flowed north through Hamar to join the river Sabik, but it did not have its source on the Glob Nab, but arose instead from rainfall on the northern slopes of the mountains that divided Hamar from the lands of the Saiph League.

And the Sabik, swollen from the water of its three tributaries, twisted its way to empty into the western sea in a wide delta, and this vast swamp was called Murzi Bog.

Krista called the sea Thalury, and carved many coves and headlands into it, and set two large islands off the coast, and many lesser islands also. And the large islands were called Elendal and Avior.
The coasts extended north and south from the mouth of Sabik, far beyond the knowledge of the humans and nephilim who would come later, and they would settle many of Krista's far-flung coves and bays and capes and beaches, but there were ever more.

Then Binah brought forth on the Land We Know many growing things, and trees with leaves of many colors, red and green, yellow and gold, such that the land looked to be perpetually in the full glory of autumn as it was known on Earth. Yet Binah's trees were never bereft of leaves, even in winter. They fell from their trees individually after a span, and were replaced by another.

Some beasts were brought from Earth, and other beasts were introduced by the elohim after they had changed them from original Earth stock. And for the most part these creatures were benign, and fitted in well with the ecology of the Land We Know, and the sea Thalury, or they were herd animals which men and nephilim would tame later when they came. But no plant life was introduced from Gorpai, for it was too aggressive, and would soon displace all the tamer samples from Earth.

Koth saw that the animals would soon breed far beyond the ability of the Land We Know to support them, and chief among these animals, he knew, would be the human beings and nephilim themselves. So Koth introduced to the Land We Know monstrous predators from their darkest dreams to keep them in check.

Then was seen in the Land We Know many trolls, and goblins, and Leviathan, the dragon under the sea who devoured those who foundered therein. But the most fierce predator of all was the winged dragons, who nested in aeries high above the Land We Know on the unassailable cliffs of the Glob Nab. Then all who went on two legs had to keep one eye on the sky, for they were the dragon's prey, as surely as the small creatures who went on four legs were ever the prey of eagles.

Then Koth thought himself revenged on Binah and the others by irreparably marring the world they were creating. But the predators created by Koth were taken to be strong threads woven into the growing tapestry that was the Land We Know, and the other elohim honored the wisdom of Koth, yet Binah sought a way to put a leash on the dragons.

Then time was come for the Land We Know to be peopled by humans from Earth and nephilim from Gorpai. And Koth was first, for he sought to have his people settle the land early and order it more to his liking than if they were latecomers.
Koth established a temple atop a mighty cape south of Murzi Bog, ringed on three sides with steep cliffs. And this temple was the permanent home of the end of the tunnel that linked to his temple on Mount Koth on Gorpai.

Through that tunnel came many nephilim, but first were the White Beards of family Gerash, from the Middle Lands of Gorpai, and they settled both fertile banks of the mighty river Sabik as far as the foothills of the Glob Nab, and built the cities of Sadl, Atria, and Kochad.

Then came the Brown Beards of family Bellon, one of the two original sea-faring peoples of Gorpai who dwelt now in the West Lands, and they came together with the Red Beards of Family Antero. Family Bellon built the city of Mintara on the Isle of Avio, but Family Antero settled the coast lands which stretched south from the river Sabik farther than men knew, and they were the first to build ships in the new world, but more often than not, these ships carried soldiers and weapons of war rather than goods.

The Gold Beards of family Sala came next, they of the East Lands of Gorpai, and they established their farms in the north ringing the Eliath Wood, which also they traversed by many paths. And the names of their cities were Glenah and Shedal and Linan.

But when revolution was come to Nath and the men abjured their god Yahweh, the nephilim of Linan would be driven west to join their brothers in
Menkal, and the men of Nath would seize their farms. Last to come from Gorpai were the Black Beards of family Larund, who also made the East Lands their home. In the Land We Know, family Larund built the city of Difda on the isle of Elendal, and also settled the coastlands that stretched to the north farther than the ships of men would ever go. And they too built ships, and carried the grain and livestock of the Gold Beards to many ports, but their chief occupation was the capture of fish.

Next was come Yahweh, who established his temple in the land of Nath on the grassy plains east of the farms of family Sala, where he fixed the exit to the tunnel leading from Earth. The entrance side of the tunnel was in no fixed position, but moved ever and anon about the Earth according to the purposes of Yahweh.

Now in this time on Earth the federation of twelve tribes comprising the children of Israel had formed a kingdom, which after a time was divided in two. One of these kingdoms, called Judah, was comprised of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, and it remained strong and secure, and loyal to Yahweh. The priestly tribe of Levi, which had no fixed holdings of land, were also supported there.

But the other kingdom, called Israel, which was comprised of the tribes of Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Ephraim, Reuben, and Simeon, had largely accepted the polytheism of its pagan neighbors and grown weaker until it was conquered by the king of Assyria, Sargon II.

Sargon deported all of the people of those tribes he had captured, and settled them far to the east in Medea, where they slowly lost their tribal identity through interbreeding with the people of that land, for that was the deliberate policy of the Assyrian Empire as a solution to the ancient problem of tribalism.

But many of the people of the ten tribes of Israel escaped to Judah and united themselves to the people there. Only the remnant which Yahweh brought to the Land We Know retained their original identity and forms of worship, but this he did to fulfill his promise to Abraham to raise up from his loins a great nation, and he would not be held faithless in his covenant.

But he selected only those families who rejected the worship of Baal, and who rejected the golden calves which were set up in Bethel and Dan, and who disdained the cult prostitutes and all other forms of idolatry. Only a small remnant with zeal for Yahweh alone was permitted to colonize the new world, and this remnant numbered about seven thousand.


The tribe of Ephraim built the city of Hadal far in the north and east of the Land We Know, in a cool vale between Shaula Wood and the Glob Nab front, and Hadal became the leading city in Nath.

The tribe of Simeon built the city of Adjara on the western edge of the Shaula Wood, nigh to the temple of Yahweh, and it was a great crossroads in that land, and the center of the weapons trade that came to be in later years.

The tribe of Reuben built the city of Mizal at the foot of Mount Narutha, but the land about was dry and impoverished, for the mountain cast a rain shadow. And ever the tribe of Reuben made war upon the nephilim of Linan to the north for the rich fruit of the orchards round about that city, until after the revolution when the humans prevailed and drove all of their rivals out of Linan, and extended the borders of Nath thither.

The tribe of Gad built the city of Kabark on a rich plain south of the river Armak, but the land lacked for water. So they built a mighty work, a dam of cunning stonework upon the river, and backed up the river into a man-made lake called Enkaa. Then the tribe of Gad dug many canals and ditches from the lake toward Kabark, and using this water they planted farms that became the envy of the Land We Know.

The tribe of Dan built the city of Fatho at the foot of the Glob Nab wall, where there were many natural caves and mines dug by men, and there they reaped the underground treasures buried there by the elohim with the founding of the Land We Know.

And those were the five tribes which founded the nation of Nath in the northeast of the Land We Know.

The tribe of Issachar founded the city of Nyduly in the forest of that name, which stretched along the southern bank of the river Sabik, and they were skilled in felling timber and all manner of woodcraft. But their women were the first to fall away from the exclusive worship of Yahweh, for they embraced Krista, and they enticed their men to worship Krista also. And the sacred pool of Krista in the heart of the Nyduly Wood was a second way to travel to and from Earth.

The tribe of Asher built the city of Alnitar on the river Nanki, and they too fell away from Yahweh to follow after Krista. But Krista herself was troubled by this, and she greatly honored her father Yahweh herself, obeying him in every thing he asked, and she never asked her Immigrant followers to abandon him or his law, although her Gentile followers were released from observing the purely ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Code.

Fish migrated from Thalury to the source of the river Nanki, and many men in Alnitar made a living catching them.

The tribe of Zebulun built the city of Eltan far up the valley of the river Nanki, and it was a crossroads in the trade between the Saiph League and Hamar, and caravans would unload their goods in Eltan and be set on rafts made from logs felled from the endless forests covering the mountains to the south. The rafts then were allowed to drift down down the river to Alnitar or Sadl, and after they were unloaded the rafts themselves would be sold as raw timber. Eltan, too, had converted to the worship of Krista.

The tribe of Naphtali built the city of Wazol at the very headwaters of the river Sabik, and the Glob Nab loomed over it. Wazol was a rival city to Fatho, for it was engaged in mining as well, and if ever one city tried to corner the market in one metal or another, the other city would undercut their prices. Yet the city of Wazol retained Yahweh as their only God, and looked with disdain on the heretics who followed after Krista.

The tribe of Manessah built the city of Menkant in the valley of the upper Sabik between Mount Rasal and Mount Menkant, and it was the leading city among the five tribes in the south, which formed the kingdom of Hamar, and Menkant remained loyal to Yahweh alone

So it was that the two tribes which sprang from the loins of Joseph were in the leading role in the lands of humans in the east of the Land We Know, Ephraim in the north and Manessah in the south.

Now when the first colonists from Gorpai and Earth came to live in the Land We Know, before any cities had been built there, it was the first time that large numbers of humans and nephilim had lived together in one place. and some of the nephilim were deemed beautiful by some the humans, and likewise some of the humans were deemed beautiful by some of the nephilim, and the two kinds were often married and given in marriage.

And it came to pass that the offspring of some of these unions were like the nephilim, in that they had two organs of generation, but they were unlike them in that instead of the two male organs of the yeng, or the two female organs of the yen, they had one male organ and one female organ.

So a fifth gender had come into being, and Binah called them jen, and claimed them as his own people. And the jen gathered together in the northwest of the Land We Know, and shared the land of Menkal with the Gold Beards.
But they were a coastal people, and Sukai, Suhair, and Akamar were their cities. The jen had a king in Akamar, who ruled all of Menkal, even the isle of Elendal, but the Gold Beards and Black Beards and jen were all fellow subjects of the king, and there was peace and a deep friendship between the two kinds.

Now Koth, by agreement, could not bar passage to the Land We Know to any nephilim summoned by Sophia, for she was appointed to be the goddess of yen, even as Koth was god of the yeng. So it came to pass that Sophia required in the Land We Know the presence of the Amazons who dwelt in secret still in the East Lands, and who kept alive Sophia's doctrine even after the cruel execution of Ariel many centuries before.

And Koth, for his part, was glad to be rid of them, even if they had to defile his temples in passing through, for he knew not that a secret society of his enemies yet lived and thrived on Gorpai.

Then was come into the Land We Know the followers of Sophia, and they settled the lands around the lower reaches of the river Sabik. Their chief cities were Sadl and Atria and Kochad, and near Kochad they built a temple to Sophia, but Atria was the capital. Then was the Land We Know completely colonized by men and women, yeng and yen, and jen.

Binah realized that a world with five different genders living together would be confusing when the chief languages of both humans and nephilim were intended to deal with only two languages. So Binah reformed the language of the Land We Know to deal with the anticipated problem.

A human male adult was a man, or men if taken as a group, and a young human male was a boy. Of them one would say, "He is strong" and "His muscles are large".

A human female adult was a woman, or women if taken as a group. Of them one would say, "She is beautiful" and "Her hair is long".

A jen was both male and female, and jen referred to the adult form, singularly or as a group, while jist referred to a young jen. Of them one would say, "Che is intelligent" and "Hez counsel is sound" and "We will follow hem."

A nephilim male adult was a yang, or yeng if taken as a group, and a young nephilim male was a dirk. Of them one would say, "Hy is tall" and "Hyz spear is heavy."

A nephilim female adult was a yin, or yen when taken as a group, and a young nephilim female was a doll. Of them one would say, "Sha is very shy" and "Har manners are well-bred".

Now Koth had long promised eternal life to warriors who died spreading his rule on Gorpai, but this was a lie and an empty promise, because Koth had no such power to grant an afterlife to nephilim. And on Earth many longed for a second life, where those who had been faithful to Yahweh would receive a reward and the wicked would earn everlasting contempt. For it seemed to offend the justice of Yahweh that the wicked would often gather to themselves the riches of the world and enjoy a long life, while the righteous poor would earn only a short, difficult life. But Yahweh made no such promises in the scriptures, and he had no power to grant such a promise in any event, for even he was subject to aging and death.
Yet the Land We Know was ordered by the elohim from its very beginning, and it was entirely subject to their power. And also Binah knew from the Library of Ull that the greater community of elohim had long anticipated the discovery of life based on electricity and light (unlike the greater powers locked inside the atom which formed the basis of elohim life) and they had prepared a place called the Elysian Fields far larger than a world and far larger than the Land We Know, which would be their final home, if only the humans and nephilim could win through Koth's barrier of silence.

And Binah knew also that the tunnels which allow travel between distant points in space also allow travel between distant points in time, but this power rested only with the great ones among the elohim, and not with Koth or Binah.

But Binah could foresee a time when every human and nephilim and jen who ever lived might someday attain to the Elysian Fields for a second chance at life. Binah, according to his agreement with Koth, could speak not a single word of this to Sophia, Yahweh, or Krista, but Binah was not prevented by the agreement from revealing it to jen.

It was to jen scribes that Binah dictated this book, and nothing prevents those scribes from subsequently distributing the work to servants who have the ear of the other elohim held under the Ban of Koth.

And Binah was curious how humans and nephilim and jen would react if they were given a second life. So Binah proposed that the inhabitants of the Land We Know experience an afterlife, for it was the bottom step of a twin stair, and the elohim made long labors to prepare the higher step as the place they would go after their first life.

But Koth was deep in the counsels of the elohim for the government of the Land We Know, and eternal life for the inhabitants he refused, unless it was bound up with the life of his dragons.

And Binah agreed to this, that as long as at least one dragon lived in the Land We Know, humans and nephilim and jen would experience a second life, and move on to the higher step. But of the wonders of the higher land no report has ever been made to the living of the lower land.

And each of the genders in the Land We Know was apportioned an elohim to govern them. Koth was the god of yeng, and his law held sway chiefly in the Saiph League in the desert southwest of the Land We Know, and he ruled directly from his temple near Eniph.

But part of the time Koth was also on Gorpai, and he went by many names, for in every age since the world war on Gorpai he directly possessed the Gerash patriarch.

Sophia was the goddess of yen, and she too went clad in flesh, but only used a single name, Ariel, who was the first nephilim to be united with the gods. But unlike Koth, little contamination entered into the bond between Ariel and Sophia, because their serial lives continued by taking possession of infant dolls before they had developed separate personalities.

Yahweh held himself aloof from flesh and vowed to never experience incarnation.
At the time of the creation of the Land We Know, Binah and Krista also had not taken possession of one of the humans, nephilim, or jen, but they did not hold incarnation to be an evil of itself.

And this Binah decreed to set apart the Land We Know from Earth and Gorpai: The inhabitants would possess special powers, according to the gender they were born with, and also according to the gender they were attracted to, yet these powers would be apportioned at birth and not be the result of choice, lest one kind of power come to dominate the others.

Therefore in the Land We Know, gender is not a matter of choice, just as it is not a matter of choice on Earth and Gorpai. But neither is the gender that one finds most attractive a matter of choice in the Land We Know, which some believe is the case on Earth and Gorpai.

And there are twenty-five possible preferences.

Eight of those preferences can not result in offspring from their union, so persons with those orientations are called recreationals. The other seventeen orientations are open to the possibility of reproduction, so they are called breeders.
When King Ravenmaster was put to the sword, and the temple of Yahweh was razed to the ground in the Revolution*, and it was thought that reason reigned supreme in Nath, Yahweh turned away from the men of the Land We Know and departed, and with his passing, the powers that men enjoyed also passed away, but from the beginning it was not so.

A gay is a man who prefers other gay men. These recreationals are found mainly in the city of Alnitar in the land of Hamar, and many gays throughout the Land We Know migrate there. Before the Revolution their power was stonecutting. Many of the statues and the stonework that dot the Land We Know was produced by gay bottoms. A gay top had the greater power, and could bore tunnels into solid rock. Many of the mines at Fatho and Wazol were delved by them, and all of the roads and tunnels connecting the major cities of the Land We Know were the work of gays acting in concert with straight men, who laid the stone after it was cut to shape.

A straight man prefers a straight woman. These breeders are found throughout the Nath Empire, for after the Revolution non-straights are regularly shown to the border when they are identified and come of age. Half of the offspring of straight men are boys and the other half are girls. Straight men were formerly gifted by Yahweh with the power to move stone. The lesser works of the Land We Know, such as city buildings and the five temples, were built by weak straight men, but the greater works, such as the wall that encloses the entire southern and eastern border of Menkal, as well as the Enkaa Dam, were produced by strong straight men.

A bauble is a man who prefers knot jen. These breeders are found in the city of Rasal in the land of Hamar, as well as Suhair in the land of Menkal near to the temple of Binah. One- fourth of the offspring of baubles are girls, one-fourth are boys, one-fourth are jists, and one-fourth are dirks. Before the Revolution baubles had the power to control the winds, and a sea captain with a bauble on board his ship would never find himself becalmed. But their control of winds does not extend high enough to reach the clouds, so baubles cannot affect the weather.

A trinket is a man who prefers merry yeng. These recreationals are found mainly in the city of Menkant in the land of Hamar, but many also migrate to Difda on Elendal Island to be with merries there. Before the Revolution, trinkets had the power of weather control, so they were very much like baubles. A weak trinket could bring rain to a parched farm, but a strong trinket could change the very climate of the Land We Know. Yet they were circumspect in the use of their power, and they dared not anger the elohim in this respect, for many have earned swift death in this manner.

A tyke is a man who prefers muffle yen. These breeders are found mainly in the city of Wazol in the land of Hamar, but many are also found in the city of Kochad in the far east of Alodra. Half of the offspring of a tyke are jists and the other half are dirks. Before the Nath Revolution, the power of tykes was clearing land and felling trees. Most of the farms in the Land We Know owe their existence to the tykes of old. The fertile plains of eastern Alodra and southern Nath once lay beneath a great single forest that was divided in twain by many tykes to become Shaula Wood and Nyduly Wood. Yet the power of tykes, along with the power of all men, belongs to history alone, and only their mute works stand in silent testimony to the greatness men once possessed before they held Yahweh in contempt.

A lesbian is a woman who prefers other lesbian women. These recreationals are found mainly in the city of Nyduly in the land of Hamar, and in the surrounding Wood. Lesbians are granted by Krista the power of pyrokinesis. A lesbian femme can boil water or cook food, but a lesbian butch can create large flames and explosions, so they make a formidable resource for a general in battle.

A straight woman prefers straight men. These breeders are found chiefly in the Nath Empire, and bear offspring of boys and girls with equal probability. Straight women are granted by Krista the power of persuasion; the strong ones are capable of possession after the manner developed by Binah for Sophia.

A bent is a woman who prefers snap jen. These breeders are found in the city of Eltan in the land of Hamar, as well as the city of Sukai on a small island between Elendal and the mainland. Three-fourths of the off-spring of bents are girls, and one- fourth are jists. A bent has the power of freezing, from small quantities of food to entire lakes or sections of a river. Once a year, the bents of Eltan freeze the river Nanki and produce a dam, and for a time before it melts again, the upper vales of the Nanki are flooded, which irrigates the fields all around.

A shag is a woman who prefers predator yeng. These breeders are found in the city of Melak in the land of Alodra, and also the city of Shedal in the land of Menkal. Half of a shag's offspring are boys and half are jists. The power granted to shags by Krista is to grow green things, and much of the beauty of the Land We Know is from the care and maintenance of many weak shags and their gardens, but a strong shag can turn an entire field into a cornucopia, if the soil is willing and the water is there. For the deserts of the Saiph League are so parched not even the strongest shags can make them green.

A tribade is a woman who prefers snatch yen. These recreationals are often found in the city of Piblo in the land of Alodra, on the north bank of the river Sabik, and also the city of Rynet, up the river on the tributary river Armak. Tribades are killers. The weak ones are indomitable in one-on-one combat, but the strong ones have the power to drop whole swaths of the enemy. If the cause of a person's death cannot be determined, it is probably the work of a tribade. Yet despite their fearsome power, most tribades are very gentle, and will only resort to force at great need.

A flex is a jen who prefers another flex jen. These breeders are found chiefly in the city of Akamar in the land of Menkal. Half of the off-spring of a flex are jists, one-fourth are girls and one-fourth are dolls. The power granted to them by Binah is to communicate over great distances. A weak flex can communicate instantly with another flex. The strong ones can communicate with anyone, mind to mind, even with post-Revolution men who are unacquainted with enchantment.

A knot is a jen who prefers bauble men. These breeders are found in the city of baubles, Rasal in the land of Hamar, but many are also found in Suhair in the land of Menkal, where they tend to the temple of Binah and guard the Wall of Menkal, which they can pass over at will. For the power granted by Binah to knots is to jump very high, or even, for the strong ones, to indulge in true flight. But not even strong knots can carry heavy loads through the air. One-fourth of the offspring of a knot are girls, one-fourth are boys, one-fourth are jists, and one-fourth are dirks.

A snap is a jen who prefers bent women. These breeders are found in city of bents, Eltan in the land of Hamar, but an enclave of snaps is also found in the city of Sukai in the land of Menkal, near Akamar, the capital. Half of the offspring of snaps are girls and half are jists. The power given to the snap by Binah is to indulge in shapeshifting. Snaps range in power from the ability to appear as any person to the ability to appear as any object of similar size. A strong snap can appear as a bush, for example, but never a tree.

A twink is a jen who prefers bear yeng. These breeders are found in the city of Eniph in the Saiph League, where they attend the nearby temple of Koth, and they also live in nearby Zuben Well. The offspring of a twink are one-fourth boys, one-fourth jists, one-fourth dirks, and one-fourth dolls. Binah has granted to twinks the power of transmutation.

The weak ones can transform materials with a touch, the strong ones can make changes remotely, but in both cases, the transmutation lasts only so long as the twink lives. Many have purchased gold thinking it was laboriously mined from the Glob Nab at Fatho or Wazol, only to find their treasury filled with base metal years later after the death of a nameless twink.

A plunge is a jen who prefers snare yen. These breeders are found in the oasis city of Markal and the mountain town of Toturo, both in the Saiph League. Half of their offspring are jists and half are dolls. A plunge is a thinker. Even a weak plunge is a genius, with the ability of perfect, local precognition for a few moments, which makes them nearly impossible to kill. A strong plunge can slow time outside of hezself for an entire area, yet the source of this power over time rests with Binah alone, who founded the physical laws of the Land We Know.


A trite yang prefers trite yen. These breeders are found in the land of Alodra, which unlike post-Revolution Nath does not expel those who are different, but the king of Alodra at least must be trite. The off-spring of trite yen are half dirks and half dolls. Koth has granted them the power of life extension, but not to heal. The touch of and there was no fodder to raise animals there. A strong trite yang will confer immortality, and trite yeng themselves are immortal, but they and the beneficiaries of their touch are not then immune to accident or murder, and even the healing touch of a trite yin cannot heal the removal of one's head by a sharp blade.

A rough is a yang who prefers other yang roughs. These recreationals are found solely in the island city of Mintara in the Saiph League. Koth has granted roughs the power of diving, ranging from a number of minutes to an indefinite time underwater. Roughs make their living bringing forth the treasures under the surface of Thalury, and they can repair the ships of allies with damage below the waterline, and sink the ships of enemies with explosives they plant under their keels. But the worst enemy of the rough is Leviathan, who devours them.

A bear is a yang who prefers twink jen. These breeders are found in the city of twinks, Eniph, in the Saiph League, but they also live in the near-by desert town of Zuben Well. Their offspring averages one-fourth boys, one-fourth jists, one-fourth dirks, and one- fourth dolls. Koth has granted bears the power of telekinesis, ranging in power from the ability to move small objects to shifting rivers from their courses. Yet a bear cannot move hyzself, except by walking.

A merry is a yang who prefers trinket men. These recreationals are found in the city of trinkets, Menkant in the land of Hamar, but a large enclave of merries are also found in the city of Difda on Elendal Island in the land of Menkal. Koth has granted merries the the ability to train and control animals. The weak ones can speak to animals, the strong ones can control them, even dragons. For Koth refused to allow the power to control his dragons to pass to those who owed allegiance to the other elohim.

A predator is a yang who prefers shag women. These breeders are found in the city of shags, Melak, in the land of Alodra, but many are also found in Shedal nigh to the Eliath Wood in the land of Menkal. The offspring of predators averages half boys and half jists. Predators have been granted by Koth the power to generate blasts of sound, ranging from stun to kill. So they are used as "living artillery" in the wars of the Land We Know. But they can also serve as heralds and issue commands across a battlefield, for their voices are far greater than aught else that lives.

A trite yin prefers trite yeng. These breeders are found chiefly in the land of Alodra, where the ruling queen in Atria must be trite. The offspring of trite yeng are half dirks and half dolls. Sophia has given to them the ability to heal, from simple self-healing to the ability to cure all, but they cannot heal old age or extend life indefinitely. If a trite yin journeys to Earth or Gorpai* sha loses her power to heal, yet if a human or nephilim is healed by har in the Land We Know, this healing is true, and when they return to the other worlds, they remain healed.

A bliss is a yin who prefers other bliss yen. These recreationals are found in the city of Caph in the Saiph League, but many also are found in Sadl, in the land of Alodra, on the lower reaches of the river Sabik. Sophia has granted the bliss power to copy the powers of others, but only according to their strength or weakness as a bliss. A strong bliss can temporarily cancel another person's power when they make a copy. But a bliss of any degree can only copy one person's power at a time, and this power is dumped when they copy the power of another person.

A snare is a yin who prefers plunge jen. These breeders are found in the city of plunges, Markal, in the Saiph League, as well as in the nearby town of Toturo at the mountain pass leading down into Alodra. Their offspring averages half jists and half dolls. A snare is an intangible, even the weak ones have from Sophia the power to achieve perfect camouflage. A strong snare can literally walk through any barrier, even a great one like the Wall of Menkal, unless the barrier is protected by the spell of a muffle.

A muffle is a yin who prefers tyke men. These breeders are chiefly found in the city of tykes, Wazol, in the land of Hamar, but many are also found in the city of Kochad in the land of Alodra. Their offspring averages one-fourth girls, one-fourth boys, one-fourth jists, and one-fourth dirks. Sophia has granted muffles the power to shield a single person or a wide area from arrows and missiles with a spell of enchantment, and they can completely mute sound. Thus in combat a company traveling with a muffle can many times come upon an enemy unawares, but a muffle's shield is no help against a sword or axe wielded by a strong arm at close range.

A snatch is a yin who prefers tribade women. These recreationals are found mainly in the city of tribades, Piblo, in the land of Alodra, but a colony of them also exists up the river in the city of Rynet, also in Alodra. Sophia has given to snatches the power of light. They can illuminate wide areas at night or even blind a person with a bright burst of their light. Often a snatch is ordered to create a terrifying mirage to deceive enemies in wartime, but every night in times of peace the cities of Piblo and Rynet compete with each other to be called the Queen of Lights, and there are no cities in the Land We Know to compare to them.

The inhabitants of the Land We Know wearied of the predations of the dragons of Koth which multiplied in the Land, and many men and yang and jen of old took thought, and contrived to kill the dragons. But the deed was perilous in the uttermost, and these heroes are remembered in many songs to this day.

As the years wore on, the dragon slayers slowly gained the upper hand, the dragon's numbers dwindled, and Koth dared Binah to do nothing, since by divine agreement the afterlife promised to the people depended on the existence of at least one dragon. And at the last, when only the dragon Demonstick remained alive, Binah fashioned a sword made from a single diamond and called it Dragonthorn, and infused it with a powerful spell binding Demonstick.

And Binah declared that the eldest daughter of the ruler of Menkal (human or jen, it mattered not) would wield Demonstick, and the spell would remain unbroken for as long as she remained a virgin. And she was called the High Priestess of Binah, and dwelt in the Temple of Binah near Suhair in the Kingdom of Menkal. And when she held Dragonthorn in her hand, whatever she bid Demonstick to do, he would do it, even to allowing persons to ride upon him in the air as though he were a winged steed.

And to the High Priestess was given the oracles of Binah.

A plunge was given the power to foresee the next few moments, perhaps, but only the High Priestess of Binah was given the broad view of the future as though it were already history. Many people made pilgrimage to the Temple of Binah to consult the Oracle, and the gifts they brought were for the upkeep of the Temple and bread and meat for the priestesses.

And the High Priestess also delivered the commandments of Sophia and Yahweh and Krista so long as they remained without possession of flesh, for they spoke to Binah, and Binah communicated their words to his High Priestess without error.
But Koth was come in the flesh, and spoke for himself.

So the High Priestess was a role with great honor and privilege, but it was also a serious duty, and control of Demonstick hung by the slender thread of her virginity. To guard against the desecration of this office, a terrible penalty was set. If ever the High Priestess broke trust and lost her virginity, she would be rendered immortal by the king of Alodra and buried alive for all eternity in an incorruptible metal casket.