Artifact Name: The Mother Figure
Is this based on an art entry? to be linked later....
My Lore Entry:

The Legend:

Way back, when the Earth Mother was young and fair, Father Moon looked down on her with a gnawing lust. Earth Mother spent her time bent over in fields, sowing the ground and planting the land with her bounty. Father Moon came down from the skies, coming before Earth Mother and dazzled her in his splendor and bright glory. She became with child, and Father Moon left her behind to bear the Children of the Land alone. The children ate of her fruit, and reaped her crops, and lived off her tears.



The Song:

Mother gone down to rest
In the cold deep earth
Mother gone down so deep
Down in the caves till rebirth
Mother gone down to sleep
Till the ground crumbles at her feet
Mother will wake, they say
And pay back Father for that day

The Scholars:
Excerpt from A Study of Primitive Cults and Cultures by Dr. James Tillage

On a lonely island, it is said, somewhere off the coast of Menewsha, had a cult of the Earthen Goddess. These islanders worshiped this maternal deity as a bringer of life and harvest, but also as a bringer of death and the end of stars.

Every full moon, the islanders put out offerings at the wide mouth of the Mother Cave, hoping to please her and distract her from taking her vengeance on the Man in the Moon. According to their myths, he came down when the earth was new and raped the Earth Goddess, leaving her behind to give birth to humans.

It is a rudimentary creation myth, circling around this vengeful Goddess, creating a deep fear of her capabilities to end the world. But, also a love and veneration of her as their true mother, and creator of the fertile lands they sow.

After time, the cult popularity waned, and the younger members of the tribe went off to find their fortune elsewhere, leaving only the elders to guard the cave and place their offerings. These remaining islanders are thought to have died off 200 years ago, after the diaspora of their tribe left them without a next generation to carry on the traditions.


The Discovery:

It was the third day since Jane’s fishing boat had run aground in the storm. Three days of patching, hunting for items she could use for repairs, and gathering up supplies from the island’s natural resources.

Thank goodness it seemed to have plenty of those. Tall palms weighted down by clusters of coconuts, plenty of crabs and critters that she could trap on the beach with a basket from the boat, and a cleverly rigged mechanism, a fresh water source near the center of the island hidden in the thick vegetation. With those resources and her own emergency kit from the boat, she could last comfortably for a long time.

But she knew she had to hurry. It was the start of typhoon season, and unless she wanted to wait out strong winds and torrential rains for months, she had to find a way off the island.

With her machete to cut the dense jungle foliage, she made her way deeper inland, looking for the thin vines she wove together as a rope substitute. She paused to wipe away the sweat dripping off her brow with the back of her hand. Up ahead there was a tall cluster of dark boulders, and on it what looked like a thick tangle of water vines.

She grasped one, and tapped it with the backside of her machete, hearing a hollow thud that meant water was trapped inside. She cut away at a large section, checked to see if it oozed deadly milky sap, and tilted the thick vine back, letting the water from it drip into her mouth.

After sating her thirst, she leaned up against the rocks, only to discover the vines had covered an opening in them. She fell back, catching her fall on those same vines that tangled around her. After a few minutes of cussing and working her way out from the mess, she tried to focus her eyes in the dark space around her. The light from the opening only reached back 10 feet or so into the abyss.

Jane dug through her rucksack and produced a lantern run on batteries. It was a precious commodity, the light, but she wanted to see how far back this cave went, and if was a suitable place for shelter in a storm. Switching on the light, she saw the cave walls stretch back, wet and dripping with moisture, till it curved to the right some thirty feet back.

Carefully stepping on the damp floor, which was littered with nuts and debris, Jane made her way down. After about ten minutes or so, the tunnel opened up to a cave. Her light bounced off the water that was gathered in pools around the vast floor, and coating the massive stalactites and stalagmites. She uttered, “whoa,” and heard her voice carry and bounce off into the distance.
In the center of the cavern, was the largest body of water, and by far the deepest. She couldn’t discern the bottom as she carefully picked her way around the perimeter until… trip… Her foot caught on something and she sprawled forward again, this time skinning her knees on the rough floor.

Sitting up, she flashed her lantern to see what she tripped on. Odd. There was a sort of reddish figure wedged in between two rocks. Carefully, Jane grasped it, and rocked it back and forth till it came free in her hands. She turned it over, examining it. It looked a bit like a curvy woman with her arms raised up over her head. Clearly, it was man made and not just another rock in the cave…and, she rubbed it softly, made of clay or mud.

It was cool, even cold in the cave, but the figure felt warm. Hot. Hot, it definitely felt hot. Jane dropped it into the water, shaking her hand. The water began to glow a dull green light that got brighter and brighter with every passing moment. Jane stumbled back, frightened. Suddenly, the entire cavern was a-wash with light.

Blinking, she saw was finally able to see every nook and cranny of the cavern. On the ceiling, the constellations and stars were painted, and they seemed to glitter like the real night sky. Swirling up, the clay figure was suspended in the air, rising upright and hovering above the water.

*****

Jane stumbled out of the cave, scraped up and bruised. Her hair was a rat’s nest of tangles, and her eyes were unfocused and her pupils dilated. A sly grin spread across her face. Slowly, she tilted her head up and laughed at the full moon.

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