In the first days of the realm, when the gods still walked close to the world, there lived a woman named Halene, wise in healing and beloved by all who knew her.

  The Earth God saw her devotion to the living world and took her as his mortal bride.

  She did not become divine, for the Earth loved her as she was - a queen of flesh, breath, and heartbeat.

  While she lived, the land prospered. Fields grew rich beneath her hands, and the people believed her presence blessed the soil itself.

  But when her mortal life came to its end, the Lord of the Underworld rose to claim her, for death’s law binds all mortals.

  The Earth God would not yield her. For he loved not only her soul, but the life she had lived upon his body.

  So he laid her to rest deep within the land,

  that she might remain forever where she had loved and been loved.

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  The Underworld God, angered that death’s right had been denied, struck the world in fury, seeking to pull her down into his halls.

  The Earth God rose in defense of her resting place, and the kingdom trembled between them.

  Thus began the war beneath the soil.

  Seeing the devastation, the first king of the realm swore a sacred promise:

  That each ruler would give his life’s strength to the earth, binding it into the land so the Earth God might hold the queen safely.

  In return, the Earth would shield the kingdom from the reach of death and the blows of the deep.

  The oath was accepted, and a throne made of stone and vines of the Earth was gifted.

  And the land became strong beyond the power of enemies.

  So the rite continues.

  Each king feeds his strength to the soil.

  The Earth God guards the queen’s rest.

  The Underworld God is held at bay.

  And the people say:

  “She loved the living world,

  and so the living world protects her.”

  -Excerpt from The Natural History of Dunvarra, 382AO edition-