Creation of the Heavens Above

       Our ancestors tribe was small at first... until everything changed one day when something fell from the sky right down in front of us. When it dried up they had their very first encounter with metallic fragments. These were believed to be magical as they had come from the sky and they made better weapons and tools than the bones of our kin which we were used to using previously.
       The fragments were passed down generation to generation and rituals were developed to ask the fragment for insight about the weather. For a long time our ancestors would use them to pray for rain when we needed it or for any change in the weather.
         Some of the fragments were used as sewing needles when they had been used down or broken into smaller pieces and it was these fragments that first changed the way that we would view the land forever. To wash the blood off while sewing up leather outfits the needles would be placed in open water and float there when someone noticed the magic for the first time. The needles seemed to always point a certain direction but it would only happen when they were in use for a long time... so they knew that they would be charged when they would come across fur and be stroked in the same direction many times.

         After many tests were made and everyone was certain that they had always pointed a certain direction no matter what, they became curious enough to start following where they led. The curious birds who watched them followed behind the entire way.

         Eventually they split up into several different groups and then discovered that the fragments led every single group to the same location. After a long discussion they came to an important decision which changed us forever. They would follow the fragments beyond the furthest lands that they had ever seen to find out where they would lead us to. 

       Someone made a fur coat from the corpse of a mammoth found which attracted the attention of an entire pack of them further towards their destination which decided to charge at them and chase them until they were cornered against a stone wall. The frightened people watched as the mammoths drew in the snow with their trunks asking them to honor their dead friend and follow them as they led them to the body of a person's remains who must have died alone a year prior. This encounter inspired them to draw in the snow often as eventually all of them had walking sticks among other things while it became part of life.

        This was how they found our home and even the birds chose to remain with them as they became us today.
        The lands in which the fragments led them to were very different... they saw snow for the first time and came across many new berries and nuts to become part of their regular diet. The animals became different and the foliage seemed to change in every way. They had realized that the days were becoming longer than previous days and at first this was very frightening but then they started to get used to it. At night time it seemed that there were more stars in the sky so people started to talk about how they were possibly headed towards the sky the more that they went.

        The long journey came to a halt where nothing but water could be found expanding into the vast openness. Many wolves had been following and hoping for one of them to wander off on their own so they became used to having to always travel in groups.
        The long days became long nights as they stayed there thinking that it was their purpose to be there for some reason as the needles had brought them although they still pointed a certain direct which led out into the ocean so it was decided that a ship be sent out further. The seasons changed as they waited for the ship who went out into the direction their needle pointed and the snow fell more often than usual.
       The bitter cold did not seem to stop as the camp became stuck in their spot due to the extreme weather conditions which came. It became hopeless eventually to wonder if the ship would return as it had been so many days and weeks that turned into months.
        Luckily, after they had run out of food and started to accept their fate which would be freezing to death on an empty stomach, the Sun began to shine more often and the nights were not nearly as long. During these very long nights falling stars would be seen and sometimes found even... leading to more metal fragments like the magic which had led them there.
        A scouting party had decided to head back the direction in which they came once they were able to as many of our ancestors decided that they would wait for their beloved ship to return.
       The people became used to seeing the Moon for much longer and brighter in the sky while the wolves would howl into the night for their lost ones and this was how we became part of the Moon. As it became warmer and the nights shortened as the heat returned, they decided to send yet another ship out to follow the fragments.
       When the days became longer than the nights again, some of the people from the party who headed to their old home came back and reported that they must be closer to the sky in these new mysterious lands since the days and nights were always normal in what became known as the Below.
        Eventually the ship returned as well but unfortunately it was not the first ship who had left the beaches. It was the second ship and they had reported turning around due to nothing but water and had to as they ran out of supplies. They had barely survived as they told of storms raging out in the rapids and they all knew that the first ship sailed away forever. They had also mentioned whales and dolphins helping them when they were out of food to stop them from eating one another and scared many fish over the sides of their ship. Luckily, this was due to some of the birds who had followed them out there which were part of the original ones in the Below where they came from and their ability to talk with many animals in the wild for them during their journey.

       They spoke of the ship reaching the end of the land where they would fall off the edge or perhaps the possibility that they became the stars in the sky as a constellation was found matching the description of the ship.
       The people of the Sky became used to having to deal with extreme cold every year as they had remained where they were and the oldest person always became the healer. She was typically a woman as they had lived much longer than the men. The oldest woman alive became known as the Oracle during a very important generation and she was said to know everything as those families who settled nearby kept in contact and always would report all information to her. It became common practice to send the oldest woman, known as the Moon, to the Heavens Above, while all knowledge Below her would be reported to her so that she would have the answers to everything.
       The people of the Below began practicing the act of bringing fragments to tribes who had never seen them before... and would use them to convince the most beautiful and good-hearted among them to follow the fragments to the new home that it would lead them. The birds loved to travel back and forth watching the people discover their new home and even began to communicate with some of them more than ever before.
       All of the sick would be sent to be healed by the Oracle from every tribe converted by what became known as the Heavens Above until one dreadful year a group of newcomers came and they brought with them the Tickle which wiped out much of the population with a cough. This was when the people who had survived came together and decided not to allow those from the Below to come to the Sky anymore... as they felt more vulnerable while it was typically colder.
       Luckily, some of the wolves had been tamed at this point so they found some new friends that would become part of the family forever. The birds were like living alarms as well which helped. Anyone coming would be noticed long before they had arrived and our ancestors had perfected ways of scaring them out without hurting anyone with what became known as a magical ward off evil spell. Those who settled in the furthest Below the rest became used to sending away travelers who would come in search of where the magical fragments led. Sometimes they did not speak the same language so they would need to be chased out in a non-violent way. This process was perfected as every tribe formed a head, hands, and feet. The foot of the tribe would go to where the people came from and use blessed salt from the Oracle for warding off evil to make drawings in the snow and explain why they were not welcome and what was to be found by following the fragments. The head would use the wolves to scare the people and his hands would shoot arrows into nearby trees making sure not to hit anyone but scaring them back to where they came from. Pigs blood was used in the artwork sometimes to represent bloodshed among people that should never happen.
       As the people of the Sky became different with new traditions they outlawed the eating of meat other than fish to prevent the spread from the Tickle which was believed to come from the Below. Eventually it was believed that it was their love for Nature which created the magnetic energy so the people the furthest in the Sky became the most strict regarding their respect for Nature and those who lived directly below them perfected their methods of eating an animal.
       After a year of the most extreme cold that any of them had ever witnessed, they decided to send a party to follow the opposite direction of where the fragments pointed in search for what was at the Bottom.

       They eventually found nothing but the Ocean just like in the Sky and decided to send a boat out just as their ancestors had done. They found new mysterious land and inhabitants who were darker skinned and much more populated with numbers that would scare any person in the Above. The people of the Below knew how to collect metal fragments from rocks found deep in caves or other areas but they did not know of the magic behind the fragments as the Sun was out much more often and so they did not need to sew as much.
       The oldest person who led those of the Below became known as the Sun and he was a very wise man with brass-colored skin and pearly white teeth. He had shown the people the Bottom which was just as the Sky was... a dead end with nothing but Ocean to be seen and just like those of the Sky, he knew that it led nowhere.
       The first person of the Below on their main continent who discovered the magic of a fragment by spying on a Strider from the Sky, decided to follow where it would eventually lead. This was how they had met the Oracle eventually and they agreed to do what they could to keep those in the Below from discovering the magic of the metal and fragments which fell from the Sky.
       Those of the Below had to fast and cleanse themselves before visiting the Heavens which was what the Sky became known as and it was considered a Holy Place for the sick to be sent to see the Oracle once again.

       This is where our direct ancestors came from and we have been living among those in the Below as Watchers to make sure that no one ever discovers the magic of magnetic energy and protect the Heavens from the Tickle of the Below and the vast population which would inhabit the Heavens should they discover magnets.
       We come from the Heavens... the land above us where it is closer to the sky (day and night lasts longer) and where all magnets lead. We serve the Oracle of the Moon who is the oldest woman alive and she has many Crones who report the knowledge of everything to her. We have been sent to the bottom of the land where we call the Below to make sure that no one discovers magnets as it is kept a secret in order to keep the people from going to our home and overwhelming it with greater numbers. When we are together we are one as the one who is best at planning ahead is the head while the rest have the option of being either a hand or a foot. A hand is a sort of bodyguard for the head and the foot is one who scouts ahead or is used as a sort of messenger for the head.

        In the Below we gather the knowledge of everything to report to the Crones who will deliver it to the Oracle and we also track down every fallen star as tradition demands, for the precious metals found in the meteorite. For many generations we have traded the knowledge of where the stars fall from the sky for everything written in other cultures. Every so often there is a secret meeting with the Oracle and the Wise Kings of the world regarding the worlds problems and also how to respect one another more or put a stop to violence that had come from the discovery of metals. We are the beasts from the sea and used to only come to trade with 666s seen drawn in the sand or snow for discussing trade without having to speak the same languages, although we would always see 999s. Since the stone age, the rich children from other cultures have come to ours to partake in the ring which is basically like a school and an arranged marriage for our people. Everyone is teased into working hard to feed the society as every student enters the ring with either four rings on the females arm or a ring around the males neck, wrists, and ankles. There is a process to have them removed and it is a lot of work! The luckiest and hardest working among them are tied to who they bond with the day that they remove their last rings. Her right hand is wrapped around his left. In the Below we must beware the Tickle and make sure that sickness does not spread from this land into the Heavens where we are from. It is our job to make sure that no one discovers magnets and when they do that they respectfully keep the secret as all of those before them had or else meet the consequences of our blade.