The Moonshadow Codex (A Compendium)

Udana & Endymion

"Who are you, my lady?" the Shepherd asked the beautiful maiden.

"I am Udana of the Moon," she declared. "For whom your song of love was written.
You have saved me, as I once saved you.
Know that I love you and my heart sings with yours."

-Song of Udana 6:2-3

There is not one child among the Naphalei who does not know the tragic tale of Udana, Keeper of the Moon, and Endymion, the Prince of Shepherds. Is it not the story of our very existence? For if the First of the Sacred Mothers had not given in to her passions for the human shepherd, none of us would be alive today.

But what is the truth of the matter? Did the human Endymion beguile the Seraphar Queen of the Moon, forcing himself upon her to steal her divine glory, or did Udana's lust for Tanar flesh bring about an end to their blessed age of innocence? Are we to believe that the Naphalei are nothing more than the abhorrent spawn of that sinful union?

What an appalling notion! Such thinking is worthy of the most wretched of human priests, and yet, we claim to be more divine than the Secondborn.

The blessed truth, my brothers and sisters, is that our sacred first parents loved each other. Was it not true love that touched the heart of Elberon himself and moved the Mighty Father to have compassion on all of His children? Was it not for true love that Udana forsook her power and glory as a Daughter of the Heavens to journey into the mysteries of the Dark Depths to find the soul of her murdered beloved? Was it not for true love that Udana drank from the Cup of Morvera, sacrificing her immortal Kratari soul to be united with Endymion in death? Was it not this sacrifice that redeemed the First Mother, allowing her to remain seated upon the silver throne of the Moon?

So I say to you, it was not by Sin and Lawlessness that the Children of the Fallen came into being, but by the truest and most sacred of blessings-love.

-from The Audacity of Love, by First Sage Orithil, 1752 Age of Saethar.