the age of the great hunt

Origins

In the beginning, the world was a whisper of raw possibility – forests unmeasured, rivers unnamed, skies unscarred by constellations. From the primordial churn emerged three primal powers: the Hunt, the Protector, and the Fertility. These were not gods in the modern sense, but living signatures of force: a keen wind that parted branches, a guardian shadow that stood between life and oblivion, and a song that coaxed seed and creature into existence.

The First Spirits

From the untamed wilds stepped forth the First Spirits, each one a living embodiment of a core impulse:

• Astra, the Hunt: A swift, patient presence that learned the language of tracking, wind-etched footprints, and the silent moment before the first breath is drawn. Astra was not only a hunter of prey but a hunter of balance – she kept ecosystems from tipping into excess, ensuring enough game for generations without exhausting the world’s wellspring of life.
• Marin, the Protector: A vigilant shield that wove its form around the weak, the covenant between predator and prey, and the hidden sanctuaries of forests. Marin did not crush but stood as a living rampart – rooted in ancient trees, moving as a heartbeat through glade and cave, a guardian who could be both fierce and forgiving.
• Lysa, the Fertility: A generous, flowering spirit of growth, cycles, and renewal. Lysa breathed life into soil, water, and air, coaxing plants to seed, rivers to curve with abundance, and beings to thrive. She threaded the fates of hunter and hunted with a loom of abundance, ensuring that every season carried enough bounty to feed bodies and seed futures.

The Mirage of the First Pact

For a time, the forest thrummed with a raw symphony – Astra’s arrows of wind, Marin’s steadfast guard, and Lysa’s living tapestry of seed and soil. Yet their powers were not isolated; they recognized that the balance of life demanded a covenant. So they carved the First Pact, a living agreement etched into the bark of the World-Tree (the great, ancient heartwood that rooted the world to its dreams.

From the Pact rose the Age of the Great Hunt – an era when humans and the First Spirits walked as kin, learning to listen to the forest’s language and to speak it back in kind.