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Soon after the Gods gave life unto Ta Atne, they found their work too plentiful. And unable to manage the world on their own, created servants to help them. The Gods spent a day molding each servant, each God making their own as they saw fit. Nibiru gave life to Orcos in the crash of a wave, controller of the tides and guider of the winds. Anunnaki sculpted Huya from ice, which would be his charge, and to inspire artists. Ummo cast a great cloud into the sky, and Camano was born in the chaos of a storm. He would control the rain and watch over the farmers of the world. Ong plucked a great horse from the plains of Lingguo and put into its mind Susia, lord of all animals, and patron to the hunters. Bielek of the great deserts of Ta Ante had little use for tides or rain or ice, so she threw a great stone into the air to see how it landed. From that spot, pitted in the sand, rose Gumes, master of the fall of dice and granter of wishes.
Only Ebe did not participate in these acts. Ebe required only Faeris as his assistant, his top messenger to the people of Ta Ante.
As time progressed, the servants helped build the world in the image of the Gods. They mingled with the people, bringing them the winds to sail the oceans, the inspiration of fine works of art, the rain for their crops, the animals for their hunts, and occasionally, their wishes. The Gods were happy. The people were happy.
One day, on Mingulay, the home of the Gods, Orcos went to ask Nibiru what her bidding would be for that day. Nibiru had not expected Orcos, and was bathing. Orcos was struck by Nibiru’s unobscured beauty and, without thinking, let her voice fly, startling Nibiru. Orcos, embarrassed by her outburst, fled Mingulay. She hid on the moon, moving her tides in and out from this outpost. But, rather than upset, Nibiru was impressed by Orcos’s forwardness, and joined Orcos on the moon. Before long, they were lovers.
It was not long before all the other Gods and servants were aware of Nibiru and Orocs. For most of them, this kind of affair was not unheard of; Ong had taken a lover from the mortals, and even had a child, half-God, half-mortal, named Soh. Ong often held Nibiru and Orcos in his company, compelling Susia to entertain his guests with displays of great birds twirling in the wind, and great whales leaping from the waters.
Ebe was not as kind. He had always loved Nibiru, even if she would not return his affection. Seeing Nibiru with another, and not only another, but a lesser being, angered him. He sent messenger after messenger to Nibiru, who would often lounge on a swell in the ocean, to beg her to reconsider. Each time, she turned the messenger away, having Orcos create a great tide to carry the mortals back to shore. After a while, Nibiru grew tired of Ebe’s pleading, and made it impossible for Ebe’s messengers to get to her. Ebe was forced to speak to Nibiru face to face.
However, Ebe grew angry of constantly being spurned by Nibiru. He sought another means to get her attention. One night, while Orcos pulled the tide away from the land, Ebe sent Faeris out to her. He carried gifts, honey and bread and perfumed teas, and offered them to Orocs as an apology. When Orcos accepted, and turned to set the gifts aside, Faeris drew a great sword and plunged it into Orcos’s heart. His message delivered, Faeris returned to Mingulay.
When the tides did not come in that night, Nibiru went to look for Orcos. She found Orcos on the shore of Mingulay, the waves gently cleaning her wound. Nibiru cried so fiercely the oceans crashed against the shores of all nations on Ta Ante, and great storms roamed the seas. Unable to save Orcos, Nibiru laid her to rest in the ocean, and from her resting spot rose a great mountain range, which Nibiru declared would be named after her lover.
Ebe waited in Mingulay, and when Nibiru returned, he sought to comfort her. Nibiru, unaware that Faeris had murdered Orcos, accepted his comfort. Before long, the two spent much of their time together. Nibiru returned the tides to normal, but did not seek to replace Orcos, though Ebe often implored her to.
One day, while Nibiru oversaw the ocean from a great swell, a bird landed on her arm. It told her that it had been near Orcos when she died, circling high above on the winds. It told Nibiru of Faeris, and the great sword, and the gifts he had brought to fool Orcos. Nibiru grew angry, a tidal wave boiling up around her. And then she calmed. She thanked the bird and sent it on its way. She stopped the wave before it could hurt any mortals. And then she returned to Mingulay.
She summoned Faeris to her presence and informed him she would be bathing deep in the heart of Mingulay, and that Ebe should join her. Faeris went to deliver his message, and Nibiru descended down into the heart of Mingulay. When Ebe entered the heart of Mingulay, he found not Nibiru, but an empty chamber. He paced the perimeter of the chamber, but found no indication of Nibiru, until he turned to leave. Nibiru waited in the entrance to the chamber, Huya by her side. She told Ebe about the bird, about the death of Orcos. And then, at her command, Huya began to close off the chamber with a wall of ice. Ebe cried out for her forgiveness, but Nibiru refused to hear him. Before long, the ice had grown as thick as the ocean was deep, and Nibiru dismissed Huya.
It was not justice. But Nibiru’s lust for revenge was sated. She left Ebe in his chamber, and returned to the ocean. She tied the ocean to the moon with a long rope, so that when the moon moved around Ta Ante, it drew the tides up with it. Nibiru never got over the death of her lover, and sometimes she sends angry tidal waves across the oceans, or smashes boats with waves during storms, or, when she suspects a follower of Ebe is on board, sends a Krakken to take a boat to the bottom of the ocean. And when a storm moves across the ocean, if one were to find themselves unfortunate enough to be in that storm, one can still hear Nibiru’s lonely wailing.
[g]
“one can still her Nibiru’s lonely wailing”