The Tragic Story of the Sun and the Moon

Long ago, back in the days when the gods still walked the earth, half of the world lived in the light. This side of the world was governed by Anshuman, king of the gods and god of the sun. He ruled with an iron grip from the heavens, and nobody would ever dare question an order from him. His people endured through blazing heat during all times of the day, and constantly warred with one another, but their crops flourished under the sun's warm rays.

The other side of the world lived in darkness, under the rule of the gentle moon goddess, Ilandere. Quite the opposite of her sunny counterpart, she ruled with kindness, fiercely defending her people from the dangers that came with living in the dark.Wherever she went, she was surrounded by a silvery light, much like that of the moon.She lived in her capital city, Ilan, so that she could be with her devotees. Despite crops failing to grow, Ilandere always made sure none of her people went hungry, even stealing food from Anshuman's domain when necessary. Her people lived peacefully, fully devoted to the goddess out of love, not fear.

The world worked like this for many eons, until one day, a general in Anshuman's army requested an audience with the god. Since Anshuman was in a good mood that day, he agreed to meet with the general. When the general approached him, Anshuman demanded to know what was so important that he needed to disturb him. The general gravely informed him that somebody had been stealing food from the borders of his territory. Anshuman was immediately suspicious of Ilandere, as even though he had never met her, he had never trusted the moon.

So the sun god traveled to the border territories of his domain so that he could keep an eye on things, and possibly confirm his suspicions. For the first two weeks, there was nothing out of the ordinary. On the sixteenth day, Anshuman decided he was going to leave if nothing happened by the next day. But just as he made that decision, he noticed a woman in a silvery gown stealing grain from one of his storehouses.

Enraged, he immediately started plotting his revenge. What was the best way to punish the goddess who thought she could steal from the king of the gods? The answer came to him in a dream. Everyone knew that Ilandere loved her people very much. Logically, the best way to hurt her was to take her people away. So Anshuman sent his flaming boar to destroy Ilan.

In Ilan, Ilandere awoke to the sound of screaming. She rushed out of her home to see the flaming boar of Anshuman terrorizing and killing her people. Furious, she appeared in her divine form, and in a great flash of silver light she reduced the boar to a pile of ashes.

When Anshuman learned that his prized boar was dead, he descended upon Ilan from the heavens on a ray of light and demanded that Ilandere face him. She stood strong to face him, but as soon as he layed eyes on her, he instantly fell in love, captivated by her beauty. Instead of fighting her, he ordered her to become his wife.

Ilandere, however, had taken a vow of maidenhood, and had no intention of breaking that vow, so she refused to marry him, and asked him to leave.

Anshuman wasn't used to being told no, and so in a fit of rage, he pulled out his blade, and with it, he ran through the goddess. Ilandere fell to the ground, dead, gold blood staining her silver gown. Her essence then left her body, and she became the moon itself.

Now, unfortunately for Anshuman, Ilandere's mother was Ahimoth, goddess of death and revenge. As punishment for killing her daughter, Ahimoth destroyed Anshuman's body, and his essence was absorbed by the sun. Immediately, the sun began to chase the moon, still determined to have her as his wife. The moon ran away, determined to keep her vows of maidenhood. To this day they still run around the earth, and this is why we have night and day.

Now, Ahimoth declared herself to be the queen of the gods. She decided that gods and humans shouldn't mix. She called the gods back into heaven, and they haven't been seen or heard from since. The only sign we have of them ever existing is poor Ilandere, forced to run away from the sun for all eternity.