Writing Journal: Deities and Races, Volume II; Nasci and the Changelings

Since I dedicated the first volume towards the first of the deities to act in the process of Creation, it seems that I should follow up with the second of the deities to act next. Nasci is an enigma in many ways. She is a fierce contender that there is no such thing as an Over-god, and yet also is one of the fiercest defenders of Creation in existence. She maintains a certain demeanor of alliance with Fyrste, as both take great stride towards defending and maintaining Creation. And yet amongst the deities themselves, Eleuth holds Nasci and her followers under great respect. In fact, amongst all of the workings and machinations of the Luthans to play at pranks and tear down the highest ideals of many great civilizations, the Luthans for the most part do not meddle in the affairs of the Changelings or their societies... where they have developed them, that is.

While Nasci is most associated with nature and the natural world, she was not actually the original creator of the plants, nor of the creatures that walk, swim, or burrow across the world. However, she has taken all of those creations into her heart, and defends their existence and Creation as if they were her own. To that degree, there is a great deal of contention regarding the creative energies of Nasci in the first place. She is set apart from her fellow deities in the sense that none of her acts upon Creation were themselves a new and unique creation in themselves. Instead, her acts were all modifications, separations, and the instillment of harmony upon those things that others had created themselves. In many cases, scholars contend that Nasci is therefore the least creative of the deities. Others, in the meantime, contend that Nasci bears the greatest creativity, for she was able to take even the most horrid examples of Creation, and find some form of beauty within them, and draw out that beauty in the world.

Thus was the case with Nasci's first act upon Creation. While Fyrst's act provoked shock, amazement, and anger from the rest of the deities, Nasci was unphased. She saw what was done, and saw something for her part to add to it. Thus did the formless, shapeless mass of the earth become separated into land, sea, air and fire. The four forces were relatively inert still, but they shifted and had interplay between them. It was a constant motion, and yet there was a harmony within that motion.

Up until that point, Scieppend had taken in with the rest of the deities who either didn't know what to think of this new Creation, or that it was an erronious failure. It was within the moment of Nasci's separation of the earth into the four elemental forces, and the harmony of their interplay was witnessed, that Scieppend saw beauty and possibility in the world. And thus, life and the natural world was borne out of Scieppend's contribution to it. And thus has Scieppend's name been generated from "creator" for although she had not been one of the first to act, she had been the first to generate life.

Again, though, I am drifting off-track. For this journal is about Nasci, and not Scieppend. One would wonder, however, why Nasci, who had not been a part of creating life or the plants of the world, nor was she the creator of the animals or other creatures of the world, that she would be born of the name originating from "nature." The reason is because she had taken the first hand in claiming all that there was of it. For when Malitia acted next, spitefully attempting to prove how disastrous this Creation was by creating creatures that burrowed into the ground to dig grooves within it, creatures that fed upon the plants and the mushrooms that grew upon it, and others that consumed the plants and growth within the seas, it was Nasci who saw beauty within them, and blessed them again with harmony. Whatever was consumed, found its way back into the land to feed the plants again.

And again, when Weyveren created diseases, parasites, and still more creatures that fed upon the other creatures that walked upon the land, Nasci was the one who again intervened and found beauty and harmony within their creations. The same was true when Koshiri created the creatures of the sky, who ruled over all from the high places, dropping down to strike terror in those who dwelt below them. Thus a wonderful chain of a natural cycle was formed between the bare nutrients of the earth, the plants and fungus that fed upon them, the creatures who fed upon those plants and fungus, and even those creatures who preyed upon the rest. All of it was made beautiful and harmonious by the intervention of Nasci. And thus do some contend that Nasci's powers have been borne of the greatest creativity, for even in the acts of attempted destruction at the hands of Malithia, Koshiri, and Weyveren, Nasci found beauty and harmony, transforming their terribleness into something that was instead awe-inspiring.

When the mortal races were being born, it is difficult to say when Nasci had acted. While the Bergan were borne to defend Creation against that which would threaten and overthrow it, the Changelings became defenders of a different sort altogether. Changelings' forms all vary, and as their name implies, many of them have developed means to change their forms at a whim, as well. All of them, however, bear striking connections to the natural world around them. Many have wings like the birds in the sky, others have claws, fangs, or talons. Most of their forms combine a sense of the bestial with that which is humanoid. Thus do each have a constant reminder of the beauty that is within the natural world, for they share that same beauty within their own forms.

The magic of the Changelings is drawn directly from the natural world itself. They utilize the power of the four elemental forces that Nasci had initially separated the world between. But beyond that, they also bear a strong bond with the living creatures that are bound to the world itself. Thus do their magics affect plants, and take form around the beasts and birds.

Changelings have little use or utilization of civilization and the wonders contained therein. Scieppend was the patron of those things, and even the Bergan maintain hierarchical order within their communities. Changelings are more disorganized, some of them working alone, others taking either pack or tribal structures, but rarely are there Changeling communities that develop any larger than a singular village. There is great oral history and storytelling amongst the Changelings, with those in full capability of their form-changing powers providing the most amazement in their stories. Art and history amongst the Changelings are lessons in beauty, harmony, and above all else, survival.

Changelings revere life. They celebrate it regularly. And they defend it fiercely. While they do not organize into massive military campaigns such as the Bergan do, small packs of Changelings have been known to harass even armies with tactics that have made many a military force pack up and move away from a heavily forested area, or another resource revered for its ecological wonders. Thus do the Changelings serve their patron goddess. With reverence, love, and fierce loyalty as the adopted mother of all of the natural world.