Gwyven: Mother of Beasts
Gwyven, known as mother of beasts, is a divine being from whom nearly all beasts originate from. Created by the Caelestine, the gods of the four elements, she was given features and qualities from each of them, features that would be the source of the fauna and other beasts.
Eosta, queen of earth, gave her fur, claws and horns that would be inherited by mammals
Luna, queen of water, gave her fins and scales that would be inherited by fish
Sol, king of fire, gave her fangs and poison, and a serpentine tail that would be inherited by reptiles.
Stel, king of air, have her feathers and talons, and her wings, that would be inherited by birds.
Though her description is fluid, as she herself is mutable, and changes slightly depending on the era and artist—who usually localize her parts to their local fauna—there is a common image: the head and forequarters of a carnivore (lion or lynx, sometimes even a wolf or bear) with horns or antlers of mammals, multi-colored wings and possibly talons of a bird, hind quarters of a reptile, and serpentine fish-like tail. It is said she can change her form as needed
The Gwyvenspawn and Gwyven’s Corruption
The Caelestine learned from their creation, and individually used their knowledge to each create their own beings: the beasts, the fauna. Thus were created the first animals: birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles and all the other fauna of the world. The first beasts were the behemoths, gigantic creatures that dominated the land, sky, and seas. After time, the Caelestine learned the abominations were too large and made their later creations smaller, to have less impact on the land, and these were the fauna. Gwyven mated with many of the first fauna and her brood, the Gwyvenspawn, were the monsters. Her spawn had the primary features of the beast she mated with along with some of another different beast—her chimaeric nature manifesting in her children. For example the first griffons were her children with a lion that manifested avian, bird of prey, features.
As the Caelestine became engrossed with populating the world with their new creations, Gwyven was almost forgotten, and she became jealous. Seizing the opportunity, Sezsezkya fostered the negative emotions in Gwyven’s heart, turning her against her creators. Together they would be called the Nemeses, the source of chaos and corruption among all things. Sezsezkya and Gwyven spawned the abominations: creatures of darkness: not night, but pure dark. The abominations are not just evil, but eerie, ghastly, alien things of the deeps mortals find repulsive. Gwyven mated with the few remaining behemoths and, in her corrupted state, birthed the first dragons. For ages, the Nemeses would lead their abominations and dragons in endless wars against the Caelestine and Luminaeries—the tales of which are the myths and legends of the people of Taluma.
