Welcome to the page set aside for the third in this sequence of novels devoted to the Tatchlan System on the Planet Anu. Over forty thousand years have passed since the previous book, ‘Amarel Mountain.’ This period saw the immense prosperity and enrichment of the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation and the production of many wonders, including hundreds of ‘Living Mountains,’ monumental Rock Craft and the mysterious Preservation Cubes. One of their greatest gifts to Anu was the second most precious of Living Instruments - the Healing Vat. Yet, an even more remarkable legacy from the Koru changed the future. ’Dalinantu Emergence’ is primarily the story of the culmination of the Koru’s most significant series of Epochal Generational Plans, stretching back to The Interim with the founding of the ‘Yeldic Colloquium.’ This cumulative labour aimed to bring about a second Cluster-of-Clusters Nation able to grow their own succession of Majastas - now named the Danam Yelda.
Only by the discipline of Tatchlan, expressed through ‘The Throne’ possessing all Majastas, could such incremental, persistent, and consistent industry be conducted, overriding the fickle whims, ephemeral memory, and blind chaos of Raw Life. This immense chain of Epochal Generational Plans, representing the crowning achievement of the Koru, was titled the ‘Two Majastas Hands.’ While the Yeldic Colloquium brought about the Koru Yelda, it took the first Koru Majastas, at the dawn of the Secondary Epoch, to lay the foundations of what will finally come to be known as the Danam Yelda. Among many other titles, they are named the ‘Second Tolku’ due partly to their similar stature, relative tolerance of Burning Blossom Cycles, and many subsequent brilliant innovations.
From this point forward, the remainder of the Anu Awakes Series is devoted to the Danam Yelda.
Background
Two Majastas Hands, Seven Dynasties and sixty-six Majastas, Statos-Vey Protectorate, First Yeldic Island civilization, Second island civilization, Separation of Island Yelda from State Yelda
Characters
Koru Majastas
Majastas Mustamu I, Majastas Mustamu II, Thamand Living Mountain Forty-One, Invocates sequestered, Tich-Tushmul ending and State Yelda beginning
Koru: Submissively Venerating
Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol Early life, Uluvatu Master icon discovered, Forty-Fourth Steward House, Dallamaplan Protectorate Service, Caring for Suliksuk, Adopting Jumon-Balam, Everlastingly Serving Jumon-Balam born in the shadow of the Northern Wall, Remediation and Engineering, Unaware of his Adoption, Everlastingly Serving Jumon-Balam and Suliksuk, Aftermath of Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol’s death, Suliksuk background, Suliksuk arrives in Upata-Shepsus
Koru: General of Interior Command
Early Life, Early Career, Tich-Tushmul posting, Lolda-Motlu: Initially directed toward the Grandee Secretariat, Superior Servant within the Provisions Bureau, Challenge of Tich-Tushmul, Invocate Cape-Dush: The third generation of ingathered Invocates, Cape Circle’s role in the final Epochal Generational Plan,
Kudurapala
Maja Nul-Mumval: Maritime life, Service to the Statos-Vey Protectorate, Double Nul-Novoot: Double at sixteen years of age, From confusion to admiration for the Danam Yelda, Invocate Shum-Ru: Complete ‘Invocate Cluster’ joins the fleet, Shum-Ru Circle’s work with Danam Yeldic Dreamers, Shum-Ru and Cape-Dush Circle dealings
Danam Yelda
Foundational formation, Danam roots in Royran Valley and Sama Cluster, Maja Danam-Salan: Affectionately named ‘Yakku Yelda,’ Eldest Maja embraces the new, Maja Danam-Bandal: mother of five, She and Salan take on leadership roles, Complete Danam-Taya: A sign of cluster maturation, Practical and resistant to novelty, Complete mother of two and father of many,
Background
Two Majastas Hands
Koru Majastas Zudaz the First assumed the work of the Central Triumvirate’s ‘Yeldic Colloquium’ at the commencement of the Secondary Epoch. At this time, there were three classes of Yelda: the ‘Sumudin,’ the ‘Kudurapala,’ and the ‘Field Yelda’ (see Sama Cluster, profiled in Amarel Mountain). The first two classes were completed during The Interim period, while the vision for the blossoming of the Field Yelda remained beyond the reach of the Triumvirate’s enormous population of Operants. Even then, the development of ‘State Yelda’ was seen as essential to the long-term survival of the Cluster-of-Clusters System.
Venerable Scholars had concluded that a portion of the issues plaguing the Tolku was how their global Cluster-of-Clusters Nation fared while the Majastas slept. At such times, minor, cumulative issues surrounding chaotic outbreaks within the Living System (particularly after Aeon Sixty when ‘The Shift’ took place) could grow in hidden corners of the Resplendent Work. Despite the Rectification’s success at the end of the Primary Epoch, the nocturnal Koru determined that Tatchlan's security during the Secondary Epoch required a Yeldic Majastas partner to reign during the day to minimize future risk. Thus was born the aspiration of the ‘Two Majastas Hands.’
Seven Dynasties and sixty-six Majastas
Pictured are the icons of the first seven Koru Majastas Dynasties.
The sequence of these early Epochal and other Generational Plans proceeded relatively stately through the following seven dynasties containing sixty-six Koru Majastas. The remainder of the Zudaz Dynasty, followed by the Lotmah, Thosonu and Proponum Dynasties, enacted their part in these interlaced Generational Plans among the Field Yelda of the Marachla Plain of Rho-Jashun. Much detail is laid out in what was initially known as the ‘Yeldic Bulletins’ that circulated among the Koru’s Living Mountains throughout this period. Portions of this material were later incorporated into the ‘Topyasuras,’ ‘Vanth-Voltumna Accounts,’ the ‘Hathnaivas-Pava Chronicles,’ and other collections, forming the first three segments of the Yiz-Vayaj.
Statos-Vey Protectorate
The Koru Majastas Zudaz II initiated this provisional arm of the Dallamaplan of Rho-Jashun in 551 of the Unbroken Koru Calendar (UKC) of the Secondary Epoch. These ‘Stewards’ commenced a long-planned portion of the Majastas Epochal Generational Plan to seed the Yelda on the subcontinent of Statos-Vey. Their part was to comb through what had long been a fallow wilderness during The Interim and early years of the Secondary Epoch and cultivate a continental garden. Preparations for this outcome included a complete survey of the subcontinent and an inventory of notable features.
One of many examples of this comprehensive labour was creating extensive lists of the number and locations of permanent hazards, such as the subcontinent’s complement of Consumption Monoliths. Flora and fauna populations were fully mapped, and issues such as the gradual conditioning of native Danta herds to modify their migrations on and off the subcontinent were undertaken. The prodigious duration of their tenure matched the remarkable scope of these tasks. For fifty millennia, through eight Koru Majastas Dynasties, they domesticated the ‘rugged ruin’ of the former heart of the Tolku Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. By the time the Danam Yelda arrived, all was elegant cultivation interspersed with rare Tolku monuments and other edifying art surrounded by verdant vistas. Pictured is the official icon of this institution.
One thousand, seven hundred and seventy-eight Submissively Veneratings from forty-four successive clusters, titled ‘Steward Houses,’ would oversee this mighty work. The one thousand, seven hundred and seventy-fifth member of this august fraternity, representing the forty-fourth Steward House of Jumon, would be Submissively Venerating Jumon-Balam. He would be succeeded by three more Submissively Veneratings prior to the arrival of the first Danam Yeldic Majastas, Upata-Shepsus the First.
First Yeldic Island civilization
As the Protectorate continued its generational work on Statos-Vey, it became clear within Tatchlan that a separate Yeldic population needed to be placed in an isolated location for intensive work. Majastas Nopsantur VI of the fifth Koru Dynasty seeded the island of Tich-Tushmul with the first Yeldic island population of 29,007 UKC. This is the second-largest offshore island on Anu after Pramath Island. Tich-Tushmul is located off the southwestern coast of Rho-Jashun and thus was a portion of the Koru Cluster-of-Cluster Dominions. During the reign of Majastas Nopsantur VIII, the Sixth Cycle of the First Burning Blossom series of the Secondary Epoch took place in the year 30,089 UKC. The island Yelda weathered this event with minimal effect. These last four dynasty members, including Majastas Multitude Nopsantur X, continued to labour upon them inside and outside Tatchlan. The first Yeldic Majastas arose on Tich-Tushmul in 34,999 UKC during the reign of Koru Majastas Harapath II. The ‘Splendid Yeldic Body’ saw much clarified and settled within Tatchlan during this first Yeldic Majastas reign. Tragically, the Mantle turned Rogue in the second Majastas, who destroyed themselves and the entire island population. This was during the reign of Koru Majastas Harapath IV in the year 35,587 UKC. A task force was dispatched to gather physical information before the island was purged. The remaining seven members of the Harapath Dynasty and the four members of the succeeding Propentun Dynasty allowed the island to return to its raw state. At the same time, they continued to gently modify the Field Yelda on the Marachla Plain. All the efficacy cultivated by the first island population was incorporated into these Field Yelda within Tatchlan. The Statos-Vey Protectorate also continued their successive refinements of the subcontinent for the eventual success of the State Yelda programme.
Second Island Civilization
A change occurred with the commencement of the Eighth Koru Dynasty - the Mustamu. Honoured Historians now see evidence that The Throne possessed this line with the necessary clarity and strength of will to initiate a second Yeldic planting on the island of Tich-Tushmul. Only ten years after The Mantle had enveloped the feet of Majastas Mustamu the First, the second population of Yelda was dispatched to the island in 47,011 UKC. Only one hundred eighty-six years later, the Mantle manifested among them, leading to the Radashum Dynasty being established on the island. Due to many unknown factors only revealed long after these events, this immense initiative was undertaken with great secrecy. No ‘Yeldic Bulletins’ were circulated beyond reports to senior circles of the Majastas Cluster and the ministries. It became clear within Tatchlan that this population was far more volatile than the first, with the Radashum Dynasty producing a series of short-lived Majastas. Koru Majastas Mustamu II took the unprecedented step of drawing all Invocates from across the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation to attend her within Thamand Living Mountain Forty-One for several generations in aid of various Generational Plans. This resulted in many challenges for the population, as they could no longer employ Invocates to access the Living System and engage in long-range communications. Honoured Historians have subsequently concluded this step was necessary as what had been a steady progression now became wildly vacillating, and great sensitivity and comprehensive labour were required to manage both the island Yelda and the new ‘State Yelda’ (see below) population on Rho-Jashun.
Separation of Island Yelda from State Yelda
As the island Yelda accumulated all weaknesses in the primary design within Tatchlan, a new collection of Field Yelda, now renamed ‘State Yelda,’ gathered and augmented all strengths of the foundational template known as ‘The Splendid Yeldic Body.’ Several generations of these State Yelda left off their pastoral life and began migrating throughout the Marachla Plain in preparation for what came next. It was determined that two physical acts would finalize these new Yelda. One would become known as the State Yelda’s ‘Ceremonial Walk’ from the southeastern gateway into the Mulungu Mountains, known as Dalinantu, to the Primary Mountain Circle of Upata-Shepsus on Statos-Vey. The other would be the sad necessity for a second dissolution of the Yelda on Tich-Tushmul.
Only generations later did Venerable Scholars, Esteemed Librarians, and Honoured Historians reveal previously sequestered documentation fully detailing that these events were calculated to happen simultaneously. It was also revealed that while the State Yelda were innocent of these proceedings, the island Yelda were fully apprised well ahead of their event. Their acquiescence and discretion in embracing their fate have been compared to that of the Tolku at the conclusion of the Primary Epoch, welcoming the opportunity to offer their lives to continue the most precious thing on Anu - the Living System of Tatchlan.
Characters
Koru Majastas
Koru Majastas Mustamu I (47,001 to 47,790 UKC)
As with the ‘Quickening’ process at the dawn of the emergence of the Tatchlan System on The Skin of Anu, ushering in The Greater Era of the Primary Epoch (see Hesha Vira’s Challenge), the final stages of the birth of the Danam Yelda took place at an accelerated rate filled with unexpected incident. An ongoing discussion occurs about whether the Mustamu Dynasty (icon displayed) initiated the cascade of final events or whether they emerged as tidal forces pushing them toward the Danam Yelda’s culmination. What is certain is a new tone was struck by the first Majastas of this dynasty.
There is some evidence that this Majastas was possessed by The Throne almost immediately in 47,001 UKC, as the mighty work of sending a second Yeldic population to the island of Tich-Tushmul took place only ten years after his establishment in 47,011 UKC. This means preparations must have commenced immediately after the Mantle embraced his feet, and the transition from the old to the new Majastas Cluster would have just begun. During the reign of this first Koru Majastas of the Mustamu Dynasty, the second island population produced their first Majastas, Radashum I, in 47,197 UKC. Both by extensive communications within the Living System and a physical examination by ‘Majastas Touch,’ it was determined the island population ‘was ready to burst,’ leading to the State Yelda of the Marachla Plain being fortified ahead of what would become their ‘Ceremonial Walk.’
Koru Majastas Mustamu II (47,790 to 48,594 UKC)
Seventeen-year-old Mustamu-Duvum became the second Majastas of this Dynasty, and our story takes place during her reign. Five hundred and fifty-nine years after the Mantle embraced her feet, Majastas Mustamu II draws to her all Invocates from throughout Rho-Jashun to congregate in Thamand Living Mountain Forty-One.
Thamand Living Mountain Forty-One
This venerable edifice was completed in 22,105 UKC by Koru Majastas Complete Proponum VII and is twenty-four andas west of Thamand 40, nestled into the northern face of the ’Impenetrable Barrier Region’ in what is known as the ‘Southern Curve’ of the Mulungu Mountain Chain. Here, the Mulungus turn from their north-to-south march to proceed westward across the southern coast of Rho-Jashun. Thamand Living Mountain Forty-One is one of twenty-six Living Mountains within District Six, known as the Thamand Interlaced Dependency, and is the closest Living Mountain to the territories that will become the northern extent of the Danam Yeldic Cluster-of-Clusters Nation across the Pax Zenam Ridge. (This and other Thamand Living Mountains will play an essential role in our next novel, ‘Shelter from the LIGHT.’)
Invocates sequestered
Within its immense central chamber, Koru Majastas Mustamu II sequestered most of the Koru Invocate and Operant population for over two centuries to form a tremendous assembly. Within Tatchlan, they monitored and modified the wildly fluctuating tremors and displacements occurring in all portions of the ‘Splendid Yeldic Body.’ Within the Living Mountain, they participated in many assemblies and other activities to revitalize and restore themselves before the next engagement within the Resplendent Work. Succeeding generations of new Invocates arrived to replenish the ranks, while a tiny population continued to serve essential functions within other ministries. A monument to these dedicated thousands may be seen in this Living Mountain.
Tich-Tushmul ending and State Yelda beginning
It is now revealed that all this work culminated in two dramatic events. One was the enactment of the second limited Swath event on the island of Tich-Tushmul, and the other was the ‘Ceremonial Walk’ of the State Yelda from Dalinantu, over two thousand, five-hundred andas to the east, to Upata-Shepsus on Statos-Vey. Only a tiny fraction of the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation knew of these immense undertakings by Majastas Mustamu II. As has been observed by Honoured Historians at other times of the culmination of Generational Plans, the Governance Ministries oversaw all matters on The Skin of Anu. At the same time, their Majastas spent most of her waking hours within Tatchlan.
In 48,558 UKC, these two percussive events occurred on The Skin of Anu. The Danam Yelda complete their Ceremonial Walk to Upata-Shepsus. One hundred and sixty-one years after their establishment on The Plateau, their first Majastas manifested among them, meaning in the year 48,719, the Two Majastas Hands was accomplished. Pictured is the icon displaying this development. Along the bottom are the three original Koru Yelda icons. Rising through the centre is the Tich-Tushmul crucible, from which blossoms the Danam Yelda.
Koru: Submissively Venerating
Uluvatu Master icon discovered
As was the custom among her and other Koru clusters living on Statos-Vey, all Fresh Adults made a pilgrimage to Mount Uluvatu, deep within the Western Veradapandra Mountain Range. There, they would view the caverns used by the original Primary or ‘Uluvatu’ Masters after forced migration from the Menem-controlled capital of Thithanu on Rho-Jashun during the Lesser Era. In 48,491 UKC, when she was fourteen, Jumon-Pulmol took her turn to visit the site. Unbeknownst to this group or the organizers, a momentous discovery had just occurred at the site as they were en route. Notwithstanding generational labour throughout the previous millennia by the Protectorate, by chance, infrastructural work uncovered a deep shaft at the main entrance into the Uluvatu site. The unusual layering of materials a short way down echoed what had been found encompassing the Amarel Mountain site of Bhampay forty thousand years earlier (see Amarel Mountain novel page). What lay at the bottom was the only example of a familiar image throughout the Primary Epoch - an Uluvatu Master icon (pictured here).
Surviving work above the entrance archway indicated this monumental plaque had sat in a niche and, on a clear day, would have been seen for up to an anda from the entrance. While there is some reference to this tablet in Tolku literature on the site, nothing refers to its unusual disposal beneath its former seat. Honoured Historians speculate this was part of the final generation’s preparation before the Rectification and eventual spoiling of all Statos-Vey by the Second Suvuka Onslaught. Like the Amarel Mountain site, this plaque was deemed a legacy to be protected for the ‘heirs.’
Forty-Fourth Steward House
Jumon Cluster, having attained the Eleventh Grade (eighty-eight circles of eight containing just over seven hundred Ripe Adults), was sufficiently distinguished to be designated the forty-fourth ‘Steward House’ of the Statos-Vey Protectorate. A generational transition took place where the forty-third Stewards educated and then incrementally relinquished their roles to the Jumon Cluster, allowing them to form the core of the Protectorate with its web of eight governance ministries. For forty years, a measured realignment occurred within this structure, finally leading to the Inner Circles of the Jumon Cluster occupying much of the Protectorate’s version of the Chancellory Ministry.
Dallamaplan Protectorate Service
As with many of her generation, Jumon-Pulmol’s Depth Tests distinguished her as possessing excellent potential in several categories. She joined her cluster in answering the Primary Mountain Circle summons to assume the forty-fourth Steward House role in 48,497 UKC. She then trained and worked in the Enumerator, Cycles and Chancellory Ministries for forty years. During a period with the Erudite Bureau of the Enumerator Ministry, she had the opportunity to visit the Amarel Mountain site in Bhampay.
A younger cluster-mate, Jumon-Charun, progressed toward sufficient depths to eventually become the first Submissively Venerating of this new line of Stewards. This was the year 48,538 UKC, and Jumon-Pulmol was sixty-one. Tragically, Jumon-Charun died in an accident two years later. While possessing many admirable qualities, she was deemed too young and would have waited at least a decade to assume her duties.
Four years later, in 48,544 UKC, Jumon-Pulmol assumed the title of Submissively Venerating despite not being an Invocate. Custom would have demanded this ability, but due to the sequestering of all Invocates by Majastas Mustamu II one hundred and ninety-five years earlier, it had been set aside until Invocates circulated throughout the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation again. She was at the perfect age of sixty-seven. She had held this position for fourteen years before the beginning of this story. At the same time as the core of this cluster consolidated within Upata-Shepsus, other portions were dispatched to various locations throughout Statos-Vey to carry out specialized tasks in the ongoing preparatory work of the Statos-Vey Protectorate (icon pictured here) to make ready the subcontinent for the arrival of what will become known as the Danam Yelda. The early career of Everlastingly Serving Jumon-Balam details one of many of these initiatives below.
Caring for Suliksuk
During her early service to the Protectorate Ministries in Upata-Shepsus, Jumon-Pulmol had four children, all of whom grew into esteemed Ripe Adults residing in separate circles within the Jumon Cluster. Though it is never stated, she views the unfortunate Suliksuk as, in some ways, resembling her youngest daughter. While following all directives concerning how this most unusual girl was treated, given her unique perspective on events in Tich-Tushmul, Jumon-Pulmol also nurtured a maternal regard for the girl. She endeavours to improve Suliksuk’s life and welcomes her finding a place in her cluster.
Adopting Juman-Balam
Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol is also charged with securing and instructing her successor. There is a long tradition within the Koru Dallamaplan and the Statos-Vey Protectorate of the most profound members of the ruling circles enacting the ‘Adoption Conventions’ in preparation for their successors. While there are many instances of these adoptees existing within their own circle, there is also a long tradition of those distinguishing themselves, regardless of their lack of proximity or seemingly insufficient depth of position, being selected for this honour. Coupled with this, there is another tradition concerning whether or not to inform the selectee of their impending distinction. Shortly before our story begins, Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol reviewed reports of a distant Jumon cluster labouring far to the south of The Grand Interior of Upata-Shepsus. She came to focus on Superior Servant Maja Jumon-Balam, who was now fifty-seven years old.
Before they met, Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol focused on this distant relation and learned all she could about him. Both due to this interest and existing protocols concerning the ‘Circulation of Uses’ within clusters and Encirclements possessing one or more ‘Defining Uses,’ she recalled this cluster and brought Jumon-Balam into her counsels. She deepened his rank to that of Everlastingly Serving, which bestowed many of the necessary responsibilities and privileges of one conferring with a Submissively Venerating. She intended to make plain her plan in time, but due to her sudden death, this was only revealed to him in her final moments.
Everlastingly Serving Jumon-Balam
Early life
Born in the shadow of the Northern Wall
Four years before Jumon-Balam was born, his circle joined the rest of the Jumon Cluster, leaving the Central Veradapandra Range to answer the summons to Upata-Shepsus to become the Forty-Fourth Steward House of the Statos-Vey Protectorate in 48,497 UKC. He was born a Maja in 48,501 (Jumon-Pulmol would have been twenty-four that year) and moved from pre-adult to Fresh Adult in the Turms District, the northernmost of the four districts of The Grand Interior of Upata-Shepsus, living within the shadow of the towering northern wall of the Primary Mountain Circle. As a new Fresh Adult of thirteen, he moved with several circles from his cluster over one thousand andas to the southern end of The Grand Interior, the Tages District. Like most in this portion of the Jumon Cluster, Balam is relatively short and possessed a narrow frame for a Koru. He would otherwise have been deemed perfect by Koru standards with his light yellow hair and light orange eyes. Due to his long work in Tages District, he lost his ‘unstained by Nu’ designation, with his skin taking on a slight beige hue.
Remediation and Engineering
Ripe Adult Maja Jumon-Balam, a figure of unwavering dedication, gathered a circle around him. Together, they and the other circles were trained by the Elders of the previous Steward House in agricultural remediation and ongoing soil engineering of this most fertile region of Upata-Shepsus. Unlike the other three Districts, the immense underground continuance of Azure Stone undergirding the entire Grand Interior receded from the surface for most of its two-hundred-anda southern to northern extent, allowing loam to accumulate to a considerable depth. Cradled by Azure, this immense pocket of enriched soil always had excellent mineral content, favourable weather, good drainage, and a long history of loving improvement. Tages District (icon shown) served as the food basket of The Capital Region throughout the Primary Epoch. After being reduced to a rugged wasteland during the Second Suvuka Onslaught, the Statos-Vey Protectorate painstakingly conducted extensive work to return it to the perfection of the past. The Jumon Cluster inherited this ongoing labour from the previous forty-three Steward Houses. Maja Jumon-Balam served in various capacities within this vast area for over forty years. His circle would occasionally travel the north, including The Plateau, for various ceremonial gatherings of his cluster and so would have met his future patron, Jumon-Pulmol. With the full flowering of his Ripe Adulthood at thirty, he was recognized for his many abilities and was named a ‘Distinguished Servant.’ At fifty years of age, his ongoing commitment and dedication were rewarded with his attaining the rank of ‘Superior Servant.’ Seven years later, he and his circles were recalled from Tages in what might be seen as a long overdue ‘Circulation of Uses’ enactment.
Unaware of his Adoption
While more than adequately educated (having notable interests in obscure academic debates over such things as how the Suvuka crossed the Panchala Sea in most-ancient times), Superior Servant Jumon-Balam and his circles were somewhat removed from the current intellectual and cultural life of the three other districts of Upata-Shepsus. Subsequent examination by Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol and her retinue revealed some notable inadequacies in the Protectorate’s enrichment of the populations living and working in the Tages District. This meant the fifty-seven-year-old Jumon-Balam was innocent of many basic facts about The Plateau and what lay beneath it, including the Inner City and the Anu Cluster Event Chamber. He also appeared to initially be unaware of the ‘Adoption Conventions’ which began to be enacted around him once he had the new title of ‘Everlastingly Serving’ bestowed on him. He then began meeting with Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol. While amazed at this innocence, Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol chose to gently lead him toward this knowledge, a program cut short by her unexpected death.
Everlastingly Serving Jumon-Balam and Suliksuk
These three Koru characters, from very different backgrounds, come together early in this story, and their fates are entwined. Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol determines the twenty-four-year-old Suliksuk requires immediate aid to alleviate her suffering after the fall of her former home, Tich-Tushmul. They are all surprised by how swiftly she is integrated into the Jumon Cluster and Everlastingly Serving Jumon-Balam’s own Circle of Eight, which had recently lost a senior member. While not fully comprehending his being groomed to be the next Submissively Venerating, Jumon-Balam’s growing affection and patience in taking Suliksuk under his care and being her advocate were noted with great satisfaction by Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol. For the remainder of this tale, he guides her with great affection through her new world.
Aftermath of Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol’s death
From the moment of her dying words, Jumon-Balam’s eyes opened wide as he fully comprehended how his situation had moved along a predetermined trajectory from his arrival at The Plateau. He had spent nearly one year with her and only now fully appreciated his extraordinary access to everything she pondered and enacted. Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol died in the Anu Cluster Event Chamber on Two-Week Eighteen, Day 314, Majastas Day.
Jumon-Balam was formally inducted into the office of Submissively Venerating in the same Event Chamber on Day 326, Two-Week Nineteen. Before and after this public investiture, he was enveloped by the governance structure of the Protectorate. By the time he met General of Interior Command and First Commandant Vaxo-Mund and the preserved body of the final Tich-Tushmul Majastas Radashum-Nal on Day 329, Maja Day, he had filled in and become his office as Submissively Venerating Jumon-Balam. He would continue in this role for thirty-six years following the end of this novel.
Three more Submissively Veneratings would succeed him, overseeing all things as the Danam Yelda ripened toward the moment their own Majastas would emerge. In the year 48,719 UKC, Submissively Venerating Jumon-Metua relinquished her role, which she held for twenty years, and presented the Statos-Vey Protectorate to the first Danam Yeldic Majastas Upata-Shepsus I. She was eighty-five years old at the time. The future Upata-Shepsus Dynasty icon is displayed here.
Suliksuk background
Along with the second Yeldic population sent to Tich-Tushmul, several Koru clusters were dispatched to attend and monitor them for the new Koru Majastas Mustamu Dynasty in the year 47,011 UKC. Their descendants continued to serve through the seven short-lived members of the Yeldic Radashum Dynasty. Koru Majastas Mustamu the First maintained a watchful eye on this Koru population within Tatchlan to ensure they remained cohesive and insulated from the island Yelda and their impending fate. There are oblique references within Mustamu’s Majastas Annotations to communications between him and this succession of Radashum Majastas on this delicate operation. In 47,790 UKC, the Mantle migrates from Majastas Mustamu I and settles on another member of the Majastas Cluster. She takes up this Epochal Generational Plan and seamlessly continues all island conventions and procedures, including monitoring Koru clusters. Five hundred and fifty-nine years later, she enacted the unusual undertaking of drawing most Invocates to be physically present around her for the programme's final phase.
While hapless witnesses to these final events, Suliksuk’s cluster was not among those having access to these profound matters. They had served in many lesser tasks, and Suliksuk had just attained Ripe Adulthood at the fall of her world. Like the rest of the Koru clusters, they were evacuated to the island of Tinatin, a thousand andas to the east. There, she met the General of Interior Command and First Commandant Vaxo-Mund for the first time. There is no record of the criteria used by the general to select her among all survivors to relay the message. Still, the absence of all Invocates necessitated a verbal message, and she was chosen.
Suliksuk arrives in Upata-Shepsus
We first meet Suliksuk after she has suffered a series of profound losses, including the Scent Separation from her cluster and circle, before she and other refugees make the long journey away from the island of Tinatin. Most of the others disembark at various points in Rho-Jashun, and she alone is conducted into the presence of the Submissively Venerating and Everlastingly Serving within the complex of huge tents atop The Plateau. While her initial trepidation was alleviated by the gentle words of Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol and the kind actions of Everlastingly Serving Jumon-Balam and his circle, many thoughts continued to trouble her. Despite living on an island where the Yelda appeared to understand and embrace their fate for the sake of Tatchlan and those eventually named the Danam Yelda, she appeared to possess few basic facts or an underlying understanding of why this ‘Lesser Rectification’ took place. Within her far more cultivated environment, she comes to appreciate the numerous shortcomings of her former society. Gaps in her education become increasingly apparent. The loving patience shown by her new circle, including Jumon-Balam and her cluster, along with continued attention from Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol, cushion these realizations. With the arrival of the Tich-Tushmul patrimony and the directives from the Danam Yelda to commence establishing a museum within The Plateau to educate future generations, Jumon-Suliksuk finds herself in a leadership role in organizing and interpreting this vast legacy. The last words Submissively Venerating Jumon-Pulmol hears before her death is that Jumon-Suliksuk is also proceeding with her first pregnancy.
Koru: General Vaxo-Mund
Early Life
Vaxo-Mund was born into the Vaxo Cluster in District Five, Ronxad Interlaced Dependancy, Xaduth Living Mountain 35, on Rho-Jashun in 48,499 UKC. Within the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, this is traditionally called ‘the four hundred and ninety-ninth year of this forty-eighth millennium of the Secondary Epoch.’ Mund had true giants in his ancestry and quickly grew beyond his peers in stature. His Aroma Accord was decidedly ‘Spice’ noted for its crisp and astringent qualities. His dark amber eyes were piercing, while his initially wavy dark yellow hair was notable. From childhood, he was recognized as possessing the ‘Ruler’s Will,’ quickly organizing pre-adult games and drawing others to serve him with ease. Along with a notable academic standing, his ability to creatively adapt to new situations was recorded in several of his early assessments. The Vaxo Cluster already had several circles engaged within The Commandant Ministry (they also had circles in the Grandee Secretariat and Chancellory Ministries, making them of deep standing within their ‘Home Mountain’). The young Vaxo-Mund was deemed an excellent candidate for tutelage within this arena.
The Vigilant or Guardian Kothon, one of several icons for the Commandant Ministry, is pictured. It displays the vertical blade of clarity and order against the chaos and decay of Raw Life.
Early Career
As a Fresh Adult, Vaxo-Mund trained and travelled extensively throughout Rho-Jashun, working at the behest of three of the four Ministry bureaus: Engineering, Calamity, and Resolution. He excelled at assessing and utilizing resources in all these branches of Commandant service. Due to the necessity of extended travelling and work under Nu, he lost his ‘unstained by Nu’ designation as his skin consistently retained a beige hue, covered by darker brown accents after each skin shed. His career was sealed in 48,524 UKC, when he was a newly Ripe Adult of five and twenty years, when what became known as the ‘Chounen Quarter Quake’ occurred.
All Koru Districts are divided into Four Quarters. Chounen is the northwestern quarter of District One, known as the ‘Kupataron Interlaced Dependency.’ This northwestern quarter contains five Living Mountains (Menerva, the northeast quarter contains fourteen Living Mountains). One is of the first series, Kupat Queens One Living Mountain (visited by the Yuna Cluster forty millennia earlier; see Amarel Mountain). Next comes the Third Series of Xaduth Two, Three and Four Living Mountains (Three and Four stand within sight on a clear night of the smaller Kupat Queens One Living Mountain between them). Thamand Two Living Mountain, a member of the Fourth Series, is also within the Chounen Quarter. The icon for all Living Mountains is pictured here.
Each Living Mountain housed millions, and all five mighty structures were shaken by one of the most powerful quakes on record. While all survived intact, some were significantly damaged, particularly the eldest, Kupat Queens One Living Mountain. A colossus of the first Koru Majastas, Zudaz the First, stood at its heart (see Amarel Mountain). The upper portion of the body-shaped structure was hollow and had been occupied since its original construction. Based on engineering reports, the young Vaxo-Mund declared this immense construction unsafe despite local protestations. He enforced a complete evacuation until significant repairs were completed.
Vaxo-Mund also distinguished himself by coordinating the Engineering and Calamity Bureaus' work to provide emergency service to these venerable structures and the injured and displaced within them. To the credit of Zudaz-Kupat, the visionary architect of the first Living Mountain, no fatalities occurred within that ancient edifice. Vaxo-Mund was the first at his young age to be designated First Commandant due to his decisive and timely assessments and interventions during this crisis throughout this quarter.
General of Interior Command and First Commandant Vaxo-Mund would oversee much of Commandant Ministry business throughout the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation for the next thirty years. Most of his service would take place under the banners of the Calamity and Engineering Bureaus. They addressed smaller Anu Quakes, fires, flooding, other natural challenges, and sporadic incidents of one or more Non-Living Banes. Fifteen years after the Chounen Quarter quake in northern Rho-Jashun, in the year 48,539 UKC, under the Calamity Bureau banner, he witnessed the third manifestation of a Living Bane known as a Water Column out on the central Marachla Plain. While no Yakku Estates were within proximity, one served as a staging area and a resource centre during this event. Twelve Field Yelda clusters were removed from the region as a precaution. As was recorded after the first two manifestations of this Sky Bane, a relatively small area was profoundly devastated by the focused torrent. Vaxo-Mund also ordered a large-scale recovery of these waters as a boon to the displaced clusters and to feed Healing Vats for what were now known to be notable future benefits. He would also serve as the First Commandant for several structural issues in some elder Living Mountain series. While on rare occasions he supervised cluster interventions for the Resolution Bureau, history would remember him for stepping off the continent of Rho-Jashun and onto Tich-Tushmul Island.
Tich-Tushmul posting
Twelve years into his full estate, in 48,536 UKC, General of Interior Command and First Commandant Vaxo-Mund was granted access to deep briefings about the second Yeldic population on the island of Tich-Tushmul. He was thirty-seven when he visited the island later that year. He had his first audience with Majastas Radashum-Nal within his palace on The Promontory overlooking the island’s capital, Hushukrath. Thereafter, he and a specialized force of combined Engineering and Calamity Bureau representatives made regular trips to the island. While servicing the ongoing needs of the islanders, such as relief after a Slaying Canopy, their primary task was monitoring the population with the expectation of an eventual ‘Rectification.’ Unbeknownst to the General Commandant and all interior ministries, Majastas Mustamu the Second knew Vaxo-Mund would enact the post-rectification protocols. Honoured Historians now see clear evidence of the Epochal Generational Plan culminating in the Rectification and Ceremonial Walk taking place ‘in the same breath.’ Sealed documents were opened to reveal they were to return to the island under the banner of the Resolution Bureau to oversee the collection of various historical materials and the laying of accelerants already stored there to incinerate most of Tich-Tushmul after they departed.
Lolda-Motlu
Initially directed toward the Grandee Secretariat
Now aged thirty-two, First Commandant Vaxo-Mund’s Aide was born in District Seven, named the Chraxan Interlaced Dependancy, of the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation on Rho-Jashun in the year 48,526 UKC. His pre-adult and Fresh Adult cluster home was within Thamand Living Mountain 19. Despite being average in stature, with light yellow hair and eyes and an ‘unstained by Nu’ complexion of many Koru, Lolda-Motlu was always known for his high-pitched voice and intense aromas. Being of the Warm Accord, he presented a rich set of lavish and opulent sap with a notable heft, meaning those around him easily read his emotions. Lolda-Motlu was born two years after the Chounen Quarter quake in District One, the Kupataron Interlaced Dependency, over thousand andas to the north and west. Despite having six districts between himself and this historic locale, he grew up with stories about the Chounen Quarter quake and a young officer named Vaxo-Mund, who distinguished himself there. The Lolda Cluster was long associated with the second ministry, the Grandee Secretariat. Young Lolda-Motlu’s early Depth Tests suggested he would be well suited to service within this ministry with initial training and work within the Regions Bureau. While there were necessary concentrations, due to the immense expanse of territory, most Dallamaplan Ministries were now diffused throughout the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation with branches in most Living Mountains. While still a Fresh Adult of eighteen years, Lolda-Motlu was exposed to the work of the Provisions Bureau of the Commandant Ministry within his Thamand Living Mountain 19. He surprised many when he petitioned for a transfer. Before this time, the Motlu Cluster had a modest presence in the Commandant Ministry.
Superior Servant within the Provisions Bureau
Unlike his General of Interior Command, Lolda-Motlu excelled in the Provisions Bureau (icon pictured here) of the Commandant Ministry within his ‘home mountain.’ This bureau maintained vast inventories of warehoused stockpiles of resources and equipment. These ‘Commandant Amassments’ were located throughout Rho-Jashun and were always at the base of numerous Living Mountains to swiftly access Continental Lines. Others were located in shipping ports where contracts were maintained with the Kudurapala for immediate dispatch to their intended destinations. These materials served a large administration, providing extensive logistical support and oversight for the Ministry’s fulfillment of its duties throughout Rho-Jashun and beyond.
Lolda-Motlu became a ‘Superior Servant’ due to his eminent service in planning and managing several significant Commandant Ministry actions whose effects spread far beyond Thamand Living Mountain 19. One hundred and seventy-seven years before Lolda-Motlu was born, Majastas Mustamu the Second assembled most Invocates within Thamand Living Mountain 41, twenty-two mountains away from his home. While the few Invocates held back from this honour served at the core of Dallamaplan Ministries, their numbers were few, and their application was tightly focused.
Notwithstanding his depth within the ministry, Lolda-Motlu was unaware of any Invocates within his mountain. For the previous two generations and now his, the Provisions Bureau had to adapt to not having a full complement of Invocates serving immediate and long-range communications. While freight speed transit through the Continental Lines could address many communication issues, part of his duties involved joining others in the housing and providing for various living servants, such as Doreth, Pathuda, and with special dispensation, Krall, to maintain continental communications on the Skin of Anu. His mastery of all these responsibilities led to the rare honour of his being declared a Ripe Adult at the young age of Twenty. The record of his attainments came to the attention of the General of Interior Command and First Commandant Vaxo-Mund, who required an Aide with a logistical background for his work on the island of Tich-Tushmul. Lolda-Motlu and his circle were immediately dispatched, travelling thousands of andas west through southern Rho-Jashun. Before his radical new service to Tich-Tushmul began, he accompanied the general to oversee the recovery of the population following a powerful Anu Quake on the Danadejet Arm of southwestern Rho-Jashun, some fifteen hundred andas north of the island.
Challenge of Tich-Tushmul
While Lolda-Motlu and his circle of eight engaged in much administrative work, he felt unsettled by his sudden deepening status regarding his immediate superior and the utterly unknown situation on Tich-Tushmul. Shortly after Danadejet, he found himself lying prostrate before a Yeldic Majastas, Radashum-Nal. A two-week before, he did not know he, or his island nation, existed. He was swiftly read in on the situation and presented with substantial documents summarizing certain aspects of an immense series of Epochal Generational Plans stretching back to the beginning of the Secondary Epoch concerning the Yelda. Before this, he had no contact with any Yelda in Thamand Living Mountain 19 or any neighbouring Living Mountains he had visited. He accompanied General Vaxo-Mund on and off Tich-Tushmul for the next eleven years. While the general was called off the island many times, they spent long enough there for Lolda-Motlu to form cordial relations with the Majastas, members of his cluster, and other ministry officials he had ongoing contact with. Like his general, he hoped the final resolution would occur long after his career had ended. In 48,558 UKC, when Lolda-Motlu was only thirty-two years old, it suddenly became apparent that the island Yelda was about to enter its crucible. At his general’s command, he and his circle evacuated all personnel, along with the few Koru circles who had served the Yeldic population since the island’s second founding. They relocated to the island of Tinatin, 1,100 andas west of Tich-Tushmul Island. Here, we meet General Vaxo-Mund and his Aide in this novel.
Invocate Cape-Dush
The third generation of ingathered Invocates
Invocate Cape-Dush was born in District Eight, Thamand Interlaced Dependancy, Thamand Living Mountain Forty-One, Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation on Rho-Jashun in 48,529 UKC. She is now twenty-nine years of age. She became a Full Invocate at the notably young age of fourteen, meaning she has ‘lovingly embraced her Living Instrument’ for over half of her young life. “Her white skin was the deepest designation of ‘untouched by Nu,’ her eyes light amber, and her long hair a rich shade of yellow. Her Warm Accord Aromas had an understated set of luminous notes and were far less pronounced than Lolda-Motlu. She possessed a solid and balanced set of Koru body proportions, including her broad square face with its regular features and wide-set eyes.”
Cape Circle’s role in the final Epochal Generational Plan
One hundred and eighty years before her birth, Majastas Mustamu the Second had drawn most Invocates into this same Living Mountain for an unprecedented ingathering to collectively labour on the Splendid Yeldic Body during the final volatile phase of the last in a chain of Epochal Generational Plans. Begun early in the Secondary Epoch, this succession of generational works was dedicated to bringing about the Danam Yelda and fulfilling the dream of the Two Majastas Hands. This made her the third generation of Invocates (and the second born into), and this service was within the same Living Mountain. On the same day, the Yelda commenced their Ceremonial Walk, Foremost Lamp Day 415, Cape Cluster had been scent-separated into sixty-four circles of eight to join sixty-four separate clusters and provide Invocate connections to the Living System. While the Invocates Bureau of the Chancellery Ministry saw to the general redistribution of most, a small number were dispatched on missions to specific destinations. The circle containing Cape-Dush travelled the furthest, some twelve hundred andas west along southern Rho-Jashun, to be stationed with the Tich-Tushmul Taskforce led by General of Interior Command and First Commandant Vaxo-Mund. On Equilibrium Moons Day, Day 486, the last day of 48,558 UKC, Majastas Mustamu the Second disbursed most of the remaining Invocate population from Thamand Living Mountain Forty-One.
The Danam Yelda crafted the icon depicted here in later ages. While it stands for all Generational Plans, it specifically refers to the most outstanding Koru achievement, the Danam Yelda themselves. It is unique for employing the Tolku’s Primary Epoch icon border and the Blue Star of the Danam Yelda Cluster-of-Clusters Nation.
Kudurapala
Maja Nul-Mumval maritime life
Nul-Mumval was born thirty-one years before the commencement of this tale in the year 48,527 UKC, while his birth cluster’s ship was sailing between two of the three principal islands of the Mahamdul Naval Empire, Mahakomal and Mahakola. While established off the western coast of Rho-Jashun, this empire is subject to the Koru Majastas. As such, they are a distinctive set of Encirclements and clusters primarily based on the coasts of these islands while rooted within the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. While the administration is conducted on land, most of Kudurapala spend their Ripe Adult lives on the water. Nul-Mumval spent his pre-adult years on his parent cluster’s ship and saw much of Rho-Jashun, particularly the eastern coast, in the gentle waters of the Panchala Sea and river and lake interiors. As was common among the Kudurapala, with his attaining Fresh Adulthood at fifteen, he was Scent Separated from his founding cluster during a ship gathering Gifting. While a Maja, he did not yet form the Anchor of a Circle of Eight. He joined a chain of cluster fragments to create the new Nul Cluster, where he lived and served. The result was the formation of a perfect First Grade cluster of eight circles of eight containing sixty-four Ripe Adults.
Service to the Statos-Vey Protectorate
By the time Nul-Mumval attained Ripe Adulthood at age twenty-five, Nul Cluster had achieved the Second Grade of sixteen circles of eight (standard for maritime clusters). He now took on full service as a Maja with his circle. The Nul Cluster piloted a new four-masted ship named the Yupah as his circle descended to the depth of a Leadership Ring, not only of his ship but also of a fleet of twenty-four vessels. They sufficiently distinguished themselves with notable service to be selected for conducting the emergent State Yelda on their Ceremonial Walk from Dalinantu to Upata-Shepsus. This was in the year 48,552 UKC, and for the next six years, they underwent intensive orientation, training and trial runs of various portions of the route. They assisted in some support for the construction crews working on the final portions of the Ceremonial Way in central Statos-Vey and the subtle cleaning of construction debris along the route. This led to the accumulation of selected land rocks and polished sea rocks the Yelda would likely use for their Witness Mounds. On some occasions, they even assisted seasoned Koru Rock Crafters in gently modifying some of these items to make them more attractive for the State Yelda to select. Long after the Ceremonial Walk, an inventory of the Witness Mound sites found all of these Rock Crafter items were selected and used.
Double Nul-Novoot
Double at sixteen years of age
Readers may recall Sama-Andam from the previous novel in this series, Amarel Mountain. While Double Nul-Novoot is slightly younger than Sama-Andam at age seventeen, by the time of this story, she already had her Trial of Retreat and attended her fully formed pre-vat. She displayed the characteristic ‘Double Scent Wash’ the year before after joining Nul-Mumval’s circle of eight as a Fresh Adult. In the subsequent year, she has grown into an arresting figure. While she is smaller and far darker, her body displays her distant Koru ancestry in being square and robust. Her voice carries rich and savoury tones. Her enlarged Double physique frames her distinctive dark bronze eyes with golden radii. Simple bands commonly hold her long dark red hair against the constant sea winds. Like Nul-Mumval, she possesses a Warm Aroma Accord traditional for Doubles, although in her case, these aromas are classified as ‘opulent’ and ‘lavish.’
A chance encounter with a juvenile grouping of Wum leads to their finding a rare yellow specimen. When portions of their fan are harvested, processed correctly, and fed to pre- or Ripe Healing Vats, their unique body chemistry produces highly-prized Yellow Wum Salt Balls issuing out of the Vat. These enriched ‘salt balls’ are named ‘Wum Orbs.’ These orbs are infused with many rare medicinal products. These Wum Orbs become a serendipitous offering to the new Danam Yelda, adding to the bequest of Tatchlan Globes they will receive from their Mother Koru. Such infusions also significantly benefited the Healing Vats of Double Nul-Novoot and other Doubles within the fleet.
From confusion to admiration for the Danam Yelda
After what is later understood to have been a Majastas Gathering of the Danam Yelda (Koru icon displayed here) within the Kavan-Kyan caverns, it becomes evident that approximately two thousand seven hundred Danam Yelda have become pregnant. It is suggested that many of these pregnancies will lead to Manifold Births. Double Nul-Novoot becomes increasingly concerned about the logistics of attending to such a monumental development, which will come about before the Ceremonial Walk is concluded. She is also susceptible to the subtle changes taking place on the Kudurapala fleet, suggesting they are impacted by their proximity to the rapidly transforming Danam Yelda. This leads to the employment of House Masks so elemental emotions may be fully expressed and examined. True to the most-ancient adage, ‘The Mask Reveals the Wearer,’ this event brings about the surprising realization that Double Nul-Novoot is showing signs of becoming a Dreamer herself. This manifests a relatively rare ‘Spoke Compilation’ and increases the exceptionality of this circle and Danam Cluster. As they continue to travel along the Ceremonial Walk, Double Nul-Novoot grows to love the Danam Yelda and embrace the many wonders associated with them and their impacts on her and the others, including the three young triplets of the Leadership Ring circle of the Danam Cluster. Her final service to this group came when she, among many others, served as a midwife when most births occurred along the Mabulan Procession.
Invocate Shum-Ru
Complete Invocate cluster joins the fleet
The entire Third Grade Shum Cluster, composed of twenty-four circles of eight, left Thamand Living Mountain Forty-one twenty-seven nights after the single circle of Cape-Dush was sent to join the Tich-Tushmul Task Force. Shum Cluster’s destination was the twenty-four ships of the Kudurapala fleet of Mul-Mumval. Seventeen nights later, while Shum Cluster was less than halfway to their destination, Majastas Mustamu-Duvum would disburse most of the Invocate population to spread across all Rho-Jashun and Statos-Vey.
The selection of the Shum Cluster to remain intact and integrate with the entire Kudurapala flotilla had many Invocate Cluster precedents in earlier times. This was usually associated with either a newly formed Koru Yelda cluster and its attendant naval grouping or after a rare disaster requiring the rebuilding of this delicate and integrated population. Shum was one of many intact Invocate clusters dispatched on Day 469 of 48,558 UKC to all Kudurapala fleets to bring them into complete integration and restore their communications across Anu via their merged Invocate population. The size of this disbursal and integration was unknown before or since due to the long sequestering of most Invocates and the resulting loss of their service to the Kudurapala.
Shum-Ru Circle’s work with Danam Yeldic Dreamers
Notwithstanding so much being foreseen and planned for, many surprises remained. Most, if not all, involved the startling progress and unprecedented innovations of the emerging Danam Yelda. Shum-Ru and her Koru Invocate Circle found themselves not only serving Nul-Mumval’s ship in its support of the Ceremonial Walk of the Danam Yelda but in the unlikely dealing with three powerful Dreamers (Danam Yeldic icon shown) in the form of Fresh Adult Blue Gem triplets, Danam-Lomal, Danam-Kuko and Danam-Ajaw. The circle of eight of Invocate Shum-Ru became instrumental in establishing a working link between Koru Invocates and this new breed of Yeldic Dreamer (see more below in the Danam Yeldic section).
Shum-Ru and Cape-Dush Circle dealings
What develops between these two Invocate Circles illustrates the primary use and focus of Invocate's work on the Skin of Anu. While Invocates perform many other vital functions within the Living System, their ability to locate and communicate with other Invocate circles becomes the glue that connects all sprawling populations spread over immense distances and concentrations of diverse associations into a seamless whole. The traditional greeting when one Invocate Circle encounters another within Tatchlan is “Where on Anu do you tenderly embrace your Living Instruments?” A Secondary Face may conduct one Invocate Circle to another due to their shared work within Tatchlan, despite these two circles being separated by thousands of andas. These two Invocate Circles, separated by vast distances, were uniquely placed to monitor and report on their witnessing extraordinary events. These varied observations enriched each other’s understanding and clarified many issues beyond their immediate counsel concerning the realization of the grandest Epochal Generational Plan of the Secondary Epoch.
Danam Yelda
Foundational formation
The span of a cluster is due to many factors. It may range from a single generation to hundreds of millennia. During The Interim period, this was noted by the Yeldic Colloquium with the first two classes of Yelda, the Sumudin and Kudurapala. The Sumudin, in particular, distinguished themselves by their fidelity and constancy in maintaining their Cluster Grades across many generations. The third class produced by the Colloquium, the ‘Field Yelda,’ was initially more variable and irregular. Their initial lack of generational cohesion was but one sign of their volatile disposition. It took the steadying ‘Majastas Hand’ of Zudaz the First to set them upon the ‘Regal Avenue,’ distinguishing them from all that had gone before. This novel, with its depiction of the Ceremonial Walk of what become known as the Danam Yelda, represents the culmination of hundreds of Targeted and Epochal Generational Plans to the end of the formation of the ‘Two Majastas Hands.’
Danam roots in Royran Valley and Sama Cluster
As with all ‘Field Yelda’ on Rho-Jashun, the disparate circles of eight coalesced into the modest Danam Cluster within the Royran Valley. This was during the century of formation before the general dissemination of all Field Yelda across the Marachla Plain in the year two hundred of the Unbroken Koru Calendar (UKC). Danam Cluster was not alone in remaining constant and steadfast to its generational lines from these early beginnings. Yet, less than half of all clusters formed then maintained themselves before internal or external events caused them to dissolve into Cluster Fragments. These either spread out to join other fragments to create new clusters or attach themselves to established clusters. Occasionally, one cluster may disjoin, only for all these circle fragments to merge with another existing cluster. This was the case with Sama Cluster, who readers met in the previous novel in this series, Amarel Mountain. It may be recalled that the larger Sama Cluster had Cluster Reciprocity with what was then the tiny cluster named Danam. Long after the events of that novel, Danam grew in stature, while Sama Cluster, maintaining its excellence in many ways, dwindled to the point where their roles reversed. In just under one thousand years after the events of Amarel Mountain, the Sama Cluster dissolved into Cluster Fragments, all of which migrated and integrated with the Danam Cluster, enriching their Cluster Signature, manifest in their ‘Scent Wall’ and ‘Cluster Tone.’ This is known as ‘Scent Merging.’ Unbeknownst to them, Koru Majastas Zudaz the Third enacted a Targeted Generational Plan to locate and mark this now large and notably potent cluster within Tatchlan. This successful initiative was folded into more extensive Epochal Generational Plans proceeding through subsequent generations and dynasties toward building the ‘State Yelda.’
Maja Danam-Salan
Affectionately named ‘Yakku Yelda’
As the tallest in his circle and much of the Danam Cluster, he stood out for having a Yakku grandmother (Yakku icon shown). He was playfully dubbed a ‘Yakku Yelda’ for his appearance and sensibilities. This informal title did not imply he was not a generationally improved Yelda under the Majastas Hand or that he had ever been more than a beloved guest at his neighbouring Yakku Estate. Maja Danam-Salan was fifty-five years old at the beginning of this story. He grew up in his cluster near the Kalasek Estate (we met distant ancestors of this Yakku Estate in the previous novel, Amarel Mountain), where he attained the honour of becoming a ‘Youth Ambassador’ of his cluster to the Yakku. As a Fresh Adult, he also distinguished himself by receiving commendations for the results of his ‘Agility Trials.’ This is a Yakku tradition for youth to display their ability to balance and perform acrobatic tests high in the forest canopy. He would later attain the distinction of being an Honorary Judge at Agility Trials years later. He was thirty-seven when the Danam Cluster uprooted themselves (later, Honoured Historians would find evidence of a ‘Spice Driver’ being employed) to join the ‘rotational migrations’ of what was then called the ‘State Yelda,’ preparing for their eventual Ceremonial Walk.
Eldest Maja embraces the new
Maja Danam-Salan, the eldest of his circle at fifty-five, was also recognized for his ability to adapt swiftly to new situations and embrace innovative ideas. He could release his strong connection to the Yakku Kalasek Estate and warmly assume his cluster’s new role in the Ceremonial Walk. He was among the first to accept the additional honours and responsibilities accompanying the Danam Cluster’s growing status within the State Yelda. He supported the early signs of collective Scent Separations to form a new cluster, the Kitheshal. He even enthusiastically championed the unprecedented idea of creating a ‘Majastas Gathering,’ despite their separation from the Koru Majastas Mustamu the Second and unpreparedness to establish their own Yeldic Majastas. He did so, unaware of the complex plans of this Koru Majastas and the unknown Yeldic Majastas, Radashum-Nal, of Tich-Tushmul. He is the perfect complement to cluster-mate Complete Danam-Taya, whose temperament moves in the opposite direction.
Maja Danam-Bandal: mother of five
While shorter than her fellow Maja of this circle, Danam-Salan, with his notable Yakku attributes, Maja Danam-Bandal was the next tallest of her circle. She also had his Warm Accord Aroma, although being younger at age thirty-eight, it was not as rich and savoury as his. She also shared his ‘pure copper’ skin, which grows pale when she is distressed, revealing patterning usually invisible beneath. Her hair was bronze with red copper highlights worn to her shoulders when not tied back. Perhaps the feature all noted first were her ‘rosy bronze’ eyes.
Maja Danam-Bandal was the mother of five children.
Danam-Alam, a nineteen-year-old (Fresh Adult) woman (she is now part of another Circle of Eight)
Danam-Lapam, an eighteen-year-old (Fresh Adult) girl, joins the new Kitheshal Cluster during Night 473/Day 474
Danam-Tena, a twelve-year-old (Fresh Adult) boy
Danam-Vovan, an eight-year-old pre-adult girl
Danam-Kalasek, a newborn boy born on Day 322 of 48,559 UKC.
She and Salan take on leadership roles
Danam-Bandal was still a
Fresh Adult
of twenty when
Danam Cluster
joined the rotational migrations of the
State Yelda on the
Marachla Plain. Upon achieving her
Ripe Adulthood
five years later, she and
Danam-Salan
formed twin
anchors
for their
circle of eight, helping to fortify them for their emerging leadership roles in their Danam Cluster and the entire
Yeldic
company on their
Ceremonial Walk. They were the first to fully appreciate the unforeseen development of three Dark Blue Gem Mundanes into powerful
Dreamers. While not witnessed within the novel, she and Salan would have been engaged in deep discussion over how to proceed with the potential
Majastas Gathering
within the
Kavan-Kayan cave complex. The Maja and
Elders
would have formulated the potency and distribution of
Vendupash Paste
during the powerful rite. She, among many others, benefited from this and became pregnant, giving birth on the day the Danam Yelda first saw the distant walls of their destination,
Upata-Shepsus.
Complete Danam-Taya
A sign of cluster maturation
The fact that this circle had a Complete (Nantu Age icon of Complete shown) was one of many indicators of the exceptional quality of the Danam Cluster. Even in a raw state, any Yeldic population will give birth to a certain percentage of Sensitives. This happened throughout the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, leading to many cultural movements and the establishment of some religions. Usually, during the Greater Era, when a specific density is reached within a fledging cluster, the rate of Sensitives rises and becomes more specialized. From this comes the first Spokes of the Cluster Wheel, led by the Maja, serving as the Anchor for each circle of eight. It is noted within this story that despite the Danam Cluster’s antiquity, they still have not produced many Maja of sufficient depth to become Invocates. This illustrates the role of hundreds of layers of generations needed to be laid down prior to the true culmination of any Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. Beyond the early emergence of Maja, there is no set sequence for other Spokes to manifest. Yet, the shared experience recorded in most clusters’ ‘Circle Spirals’ suggests Completes are one of the last manifestations of Tatchlan to be born into a cluster in its early generations. Being the perfect manifestation of female and male in one body, Completes are venerated as the consummate manifestation of Tatchlan on the Skin of Anu. Within the arts, they have often been portrayed as the blossom arriving after the plant has ordered itself below and above the loam.
Practical and resistant to novelty
Complete Danam-Taya tends to be their circle's most pragmatic and sometimes resists novelty. In this way, shehe forms a constructive counterpoint to Danam-Salan, illustrating the often contrasting elements forming the dynamic harmony of healthy circles of eight. Their differing temperaments complement each other, leading to good relations. Complete Danam-Taya values consultation and planning with a clear understanding of what will come. Shehe is a restraining hand on the impulse to rush into the Kavan-Kayan Caverns and demurs at the initial concept of their cluster’s ability to create a ‘Majastas Gathering.’ While disliking surprise and unexpected events, herhis willingness to listen and robust curiosity overcomes these reticent tendencies.
Complete mother of two and father of many
At the start of our tale, shehe is a Ripe Adult of forty-one years who possesses a Sweet Aroma Accord, familiar among Completes, with ‘Succulent’ and ‘Savoury’ traits and a Fecund Polish. Herhis hair is a light copper with golden accents worn in a multitude of braids flowing over herhis pure copper-coloured skin, and herhis eyes are a light red copper with golden radii.
All Completes are capable of both siring and bearing children. Complete Danam-Taya is the mother of two offspring.
Danam-Jalalman, a seventeen-year-old (Fresh Adult) boy, joins the new Kitheshal Cluster during Night 473/Day 474
Danam-Dayam is a twenty-year-old (Ripe Adult) woman (she is now part of another Circle of Eight).
