Mirona

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© Daniel S. Wall,  September 17, 2026.

***

“Her temper depends upon the season. In the Spring, she is kind and helps all things grow. In the summer, her smile is warm and beautiful, but in the Fall she begins to destroy everything in sight. We must hide our crops in the barn or she will cause them to wither away. By the Winter Mirona’s cruelty is unrivalled, killing anyone caught without shelter. As blessed as her good will, her cruelty is without mercy.”

– Old Man Naibowl, Village Elder.

***

Mirona appears as a beautiful woman. She is old enough to carry an extra line or two in her face and to carry perhaps a touch of grey in her hair, but she has lost neither the beauty nor the strength of a younger woman. One could almost see her wisdom in her face, though it might be hard to tell if it was in her eyes or shape of the faint smile that rarely leaves her mouth.

Mirona is not particularly dangerous in combat, though she is always considerably more powerful in a natural setting. The majority of Mirona’s powers are actually more subtle, working themselves out over a long term duration. She is rarely seen in anything but a natural setting.

As a general rule, Mirona is unlikely to stay in real combat longer than necessary. She is far more likely to attempt an early exit. Bad weather and natural disasters will follow those who have angered this awesome deity, a source of misery often found to be more deadly than the surest of blades and points.

It is said that the seasons themselves are caused by Mirona’s moods. Whether this be true or not, her outlook certainly changes with the seasons. In some parts of the world, Mirona’s moods appear to be more stable than others. Arctic weather is virtually alwayss considered to be Winter for purposes of her Values. Tropical Forests are considered the equivalent of Summer, whereas deserts are considered the equivalent of Fall. Where significant seasonal change is present, Mirona’s Values will change according to the normal pattern described above.

Religion: Mirona enjoys few Priests of her own, though many Priests of Nature will pay homage to her from time to time. She is content to see the grandeur of nature itself honored, requiring little direct attention from the mortal world. Travellers are well advised to utter a small prayer to her as they enter the wilderness, but it should be said that restraint in dealing with the living things in that world will do more to gain her favor than any other offering.

Domains: Nature.

Symbol:  The Horn of Plenty. (Note that an actual Horn of Plenty will also serve as an excellent Holy Symbol of Mirona.)

Favored Offerings: Wild Fruits and Nuts gathered in prayer.

 

IV: The Coming of Mirona

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© Daniel S. Wall, September 17, 2026.

***

This is Chapter 4 of the most authoritative account of creation contained in the Stone Philosophic. A full table of contents can be found here.

***

Text

Once again, the great dragon heard a voice, but this time it was different, its tone soft and warm. “You are doing it wrong, my love,” said the voice, and Hetht turned to see the goddess Mirona, standing in all the glory of her first spring. “You must not give birth to your own progeny.”

“Are you a man,” asked Hetht.

“No, darling.” She laughed.

And thus the two were wed.[1]

In the early days of their union, Mirona proved a blessing to all the world. It was her smile that produced the flowers and the trees. It was her caress that gave birth to the deer and the rabbit. It is through the love of Mirona that all the gentle creatures known to men and elves first came into being.

But Mirona’s love waned, and in time she grew cold. Snow covered the land, and the green grasses withered. The world grew dark and Hetht himself found far corners in which to pass the days well away from the newfound cruelty of his wife. At this Mirona grew still more angry.

“Am I to give birth alone?” She cried.

No-one answered.

“Does no-one love me?”

And no-one answered

“Very well then,” Mirona embraced her despair and the night grew colder. “I will bear a child with which to keep myself company.”

A voice from her womb shouted, “Let me not be born on this day.”

“Will you not keep company with your mother?”

But the voice in her womb called out, “Let me not be born in this darkness!”

“All the world betrays me,” muttered the Goddess of Nature, and she slept in sorrow. And the world slept in sorrow with her.

When she woke, so did a single blade of grass. When Mirona stretched and opened her eyes, the flowers once again bloomed. And when she smiled, the trees once again covered themselves in leaves.

And she prepared herself for birth.

***

[1] The true origins of Mirona have been the source of considerable discord within the scholarly commentary, as one can find no credible account of her own origin. What she too created by Hetht? The implications are disturbing enough, but to most the prospect seems quite implausible. Few would doubt that Mirona is coequal to Hetht, and so her origins cannot subordinate her in such a manner. So, the question arises, just where did she come from?

If one puts this question to the High Priestess of Mirona, she will almost certainly tell you that Mirona was already present in the nothingness, and that she too is responsible for her own creation. Some would add that, she too is responsible for the creation of the world. Hetht may have spun the Stone Philosophic, but it Mirona who nurtured that movement into growth. A small sect within Mirona’s church also maintains that it was she who fastened Hetht’s claw to a corner of his afterbirth in the first instance. An even smaller sect within the cult of Mirona maintains that it was she who gave birth to Hetht, a claim universally rejected by all credible sources on the topic.

The principle objection to Mirona’s own self-creation lies in the absence of any reference to her until  the first mention of footprints, but as the arch mage, Sea Amar, once wrote; it is not surprising that men would be slow to recognize the contributions of a woman. This, she tells us, is exactly the point of the footprints, a clear indication of the blindness that Hetht and his priests to the presence to the significance of a woman.

Sea Amar is of course far too harsh!

III: Birth of the Abominations

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© Daniel S. Wall, September 17, 2026.

***

This is Chapter 3 of the most authoritative account of creation contained in the Stone Philosophic. A full table of contents can be found here.

***

Text

Before laying down once again, Hetht spoke to the voice in his head; “Will you not allow me some rest?”

“I will let you sleep” came his reply. And this time the old dragon slept soundly, awakening to find a mysterious set of footprints leading off to the south, and a fly buzzing about his face.

“Who made these?”

“I do not know,” said the fly, “But I think it was a man.”

Hetht did not know the meaning of “Man.” So, he decided to make another that he might look upon the next in order to know more about the first, but the fly needled him.

“How will you make the second if you do not know the first?”

Hetht paused.

“Perhaps you may find a man in the east, said the fly.” But Hetht found no-one to the east. “Is it possible that she waits for you in the north?” But in the north there was no-one to be found. “Try the west!” said the fly, and once again the great dragon found no-one. The fly made one last suggestion; “Perhaps, you should look to the south.”

When he arrived in the south, Hetht found three great aberrations had taken form in the middle of the world. First, he beheld the great troll, Gnea Sharn. Next came the terrible beast, Hval Maluk, and finally he came upon the abomination, Zhidastra. Each rose out of the soil to greet its father, but Hetht grew angry and chased them all away. Hval Maluk swam to the north and Zhidastra ran to the south. For his own part, Gnea Sharn hid in a cave not far from his place of origin.

Seeing that the fly (now grown to a swarm) had deceived him, Hetht swatted at it with his tail, but the swarm disappeared through a hole in the ground. Still angry, Hetht breathed deep into the hole in the ground, igniting the depths below. Four times, did Hetht  scorch the underworld, and four times he then listened to the sound of the flames below, and four times he also heard the buzzing of insects.

Regaining his composure, the great dragon pronounced his judgment; the swarm would henceforth be safe so long as it remained underground. Upon the surface, his life and that of his descendants would be taken at will. So did the dragon speak, and so it was. To this day, Mezizra rules the underworld, and insects may be slain without guilt wherever they are found.

II: Creation of the Waters and the Wastelands

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© Daniel S. Wall, September 15, 2026.

***

This is Chapter 2 of the most authoritative account of creation contained in the Stone Philosophic. A full table of contents can be found here.

***

Text

In time the great dragon awoke to the sound of a voice; “Are you not hungry?”

And he was.

So, Hetht consumed a portion of the mass below him, carving still greater valleys into the mass still spinning beneath him. In time, the great dragon satisfied his hunger and laid down again. Before he could resume his sleep, the voice returned; “Are you not thirsty?”

And he was.

But the world as yet had no water, and so Hetht cupped his great forepaws and spat in them. In the palm of his left hand, the great dragon found to his own surprise that he held a small turtle whereas a tiny fish clung to the talons of his right hand. And Hetht placed the spittle, the turtle, and the fish in the greatest depression he had made upon the mass and bade them to call it home.[1]

At first, the turtle and the fish got along well with one another, but then the fish bit the turtle and grew larger in consequence. Again, and again, the fish lashed out at the turtle, growing still larger each time it feasted. In his own defense, the turtle grew a hard shell, but still this did not deter his voracious companion. Hetht admonished the fish to play nicely and to love its brother, but the fish cried out; “I cannot help myself father. My brother’s flesh calls to me, and I hunger so.”

Seeking to end the rivalry between his children, Hetht sent the fish to the east and the turtle to the west. As each swam away from the other, the waters stretched out with them until all the great impressions in the world had been covered. And the turtle grew into the god, Ayomichi, and the fish became The Shark King. Ever enemies, these first-born children of Hetht contend with one another for control of the seas, the one by means of its wisdom and the other by the strength of its jaws.

Hetht then drank his fill from the oceans created by his progeny.

Once again, Hetht laid down to rest only to be disturbed by the voice once again. “Isn’t there something you have to do?”

And so the great dragon relieved himself, turning a portion of the world into a great wasteland.

***

[1] It goes without saying that the text here refers to the great trench, Marianis, but the great sages differ as to the source of the impression. The greatest mages of the Library Philosophic insist that this location had been created when Hetht dined upon the world earlier in the text.

A rival school of thought favored among the elves of the Sylvan Isle suggests that the depression was in fact the place where Hetht finally slept. The impression left by Hetht’s meal may be seen, according to this view, in the beginnings of the great dungeon which is said to stretch beneath all the seas and to connect all the great lands of this world. What Hetht actually did when he consumed the first meal, so this theory goes, was to pull a great tuber up and out of the ground, only to find its roots stretched endlessly in all the directions of the world. Hetht ate all of this, leaving a great tunnel complex where its roots had once been. No dwarf has ever accepted this theory, of course, insofar as it suggests the origin of their own homes are best understood in terms preferable to surface-dwelling gardeners and arborists.

 

Cosmogony

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The best account of creation can be found in the Library Philosophic, complete with commentaries from a number of credible sources. Below is a list of the individual chapters in this story along with a brief summary of its content.

I: Out of Nothing. Being an account of the creation of The Stone Philosophic by the God, Hetht.

II: Creation of the Waters and the Wastelands. Being an account of the creation of the oceans, the wastelands, and of the gods, Ayomichi and The Shark King.

III: Birth of the Abominations. Being an account of the quest to find a man along with the accidental creation of the gods, Gnea Sharn, Hval Maluk, and Zhidastra. The story ends with Mezizra banished to the depths and the lighting of the fires below.

IV: The coming of Mirona. Being an account of the appearance of Mirona, the first marriage, the creation of herbivores, and the origin of the seasons.

V: The Origin of the sun and the Moon, Being an account of the birth of Bivishta, Eleenian, Iñacha, Kotoya, Lady Spider, Osun, and Taiyo.

VI: The Wrongening. Being an account of the appearance of the tricksters, Coyote, Hare, and Raven as well as the birth of Ogath Skull-Gritter and Effenthistle Shirdisk’neen. Also, this passage contains the first mention of Rabbit Sage.

VII: A Conspiracy of Creation: being an account of the origin of Bit Nuluk and the goblin kindreds, as well as Omus Thal, and Heaven by means of deception.

VIII: Heaven’s War with Taiyo and His Marriage to Eleenian. Being an account of the war between Heaven and Taiyo and the marriage of Heaven to Eleenian.

Hetht

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© Daniel S. Wall, September 15, 2026.

***

“The Priests of Hetht are very wise. But one should be wary of such ancient wisdom. The affairs of man tend to fall a bit below its gaze.”

– Garnybos Moalrem, The Suspicious.

***

Born in the very moment of creation itself, Hetht is undoubtedly the first Dragon. Hetht appears as a great black dragon with fiery green pits in place of his eyes. But to say of the color of this great beast as black is something of an understatement, because light itself is swallowed completely in the scales of his body. As, one can discern no reflection upon the surface of Hetht’s skin, nor may one see any hint of texture upon it. To look upon Hetht is to witness what appears to be a great rift in space, one which moves about in the shape of a dragon.

Hetht travels among the stars, visiting places known only to him. Hetht is a great proponent of law and order, but he is also known for exercising great wisdom in his approach to such matters. Hetht is firm but fair in his dealings with others. He is also known to support any who will conduct themselves in like manner.

There is an air of calm about Hetht and his followers, owing largely to the awesome power wielded by this great creature. Being as old as time itself and as powerful as any living creature in any known world, there is little that could cause Hetht any worry. As for others, he has seen civilizations come and go. Hetht knows he will outlive the worst of his enemies and that the best of those he favors will fall to corruption in time. It is not that Hetht is uninterested in the affairs of other things, but he always sees a little beyond the urgency of the moment. And for Hetht, the urgency of the moment could well be a geologic era. So, Hetht seems always to be aloof in his dealing with mere mortals, and even most divine creatures; it takes a great deal to break this calm.

Religion: Followers of Hetht generally seek to bring order and justice to the lives of those around them. They seldom seek extensive involvement with kings or other such powers, but they will make their preferences known. Priests of Hetht will try to locate their temples a day or so travel away from large populations. This enables them to gain access to the powers that be when necessary without creating needless entanglements in day to day affairs. Where dragons are present, the followers of Hetht will often make an effort to contact them and establish a relationship of one kind or another. Those proving benign will quickly fall under the protection of Hetht’s Priesthood. Those inclined to hunt people or destroy property may well find themselves hunted by men well-schooled in the ways of dragons, sent by the church itself.

***

Domains: Justice, Patience, Travel.

Symbol: A black dragon with its wings stretched wide.

Favored Offerings: Hetht is pleased with offerings of incense or the burning of scented candles. He does not seem overly interested in the price of such offerings, but he prefers to see those making an offering take their time and stay in prayer and meditation for as long as their endurance holds out.

I: Out of Nothing

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© Daniel S. Wall, September 15, 2026.

***

This is Chapter 1 of the most authoritative account of creation contained in the Stone Philosophic. A full table of contents can be found here.

***

Text

In the beginning there was nothing, not even Hetht, a fact which displeased him to no end. And so the great dragon brought himself into existence. There is little reason to believe that he meant to create the rest of the world, but of course accidents do happen, and something else soon followed the self-creation of Hetht. All things in this world have their origins in this something else, the afterbirth of the first Dragon.[1]

No sooner had he brought himself into this world than the great dragon flew to the east, but his claw caught a corner of his afterbirth and stretched it right along beneath him. For eight days and untold miles the great dragon flew to the east. Finding nothing of interest, he turned to the South, still dragging a corner of his afterbirth along with him. Sixteen days did the great dragon fly to the south, but he found nothing to keep him occupied. So, Hetht turned and flew west for thirty two days before changing course. Finally, Hetht flew to the North for sixty four days, the formless mass still caught in his claw. [2]

Wondering at the effort it now took to fly, Hetht looked beneath his feet and finally saw the great stretch of ill-formed mass now grown large and spinning slowly beneath him. Tired of dragging so much weight along with him, Hetht finally shook the mass from his claw, yawned a bot and stretched his wings one after another, until he resolved to shed the feeling of exhaustion that had come over him. So, Hetht laid down upon the center of the mass beneath. His sleep was fitful, and Hetht tossed and turned for ages, kicking up mountains and digging out great impressions in the mass below his body.

Thus did the world begin to take its present shape, even as it slowly hardened beneath of the fitful dragon sleeping on top of it.

***

[1] The dvergr sage, Horst Gverdigen, objects to this passage, arguing that the world could not possibly be the afterbirth of a dragon as of course any real dragon would have issued from an egg. Gverdigen does not object to the notion that this world is secondary to the self-creation of Hetht, but he does reject the specific notion that the world began as a sort of placenta.

The hrega sorceresss, Tiannon Shigire, has provided what most consider to be best answer to this argument when she noted 3 things, 1) that Horst Gverdigen is known to have disappeared fully a hundred years before one might expect a Dvergr to die of old age, and no-one alive today can rule out divine retribution, 2) it is in fact an article of faith among the priesthood of Hetht that he is the sole dragon to have been born rather than hatched, and 3) the next phase of creation is far easier to reconcile with the qualities of soft and malleable placenta than those of a hard and brittle egg,

The Cult of the Broken Shell has long argued that Hetht was indeed hatched and this world has an entirely different origin, but this is best regarded as a minor heresy of little concern to serious scholarship.

[2] A wise man would note that the direction of movement in the first stage of creation matches that of benign winds and whirlpools. This is not a coincidence. All right-thinking winds and currents follow the pattern of creation by turning from east toward the south. Following the pattern later established by Mizizra, a corrupt wind reveals its nature by turning from east to north.

The pattern of movement described herein is of course the basis for the common terms used to describe the direction of spinning movement. Those turning from east to south are commonly said to be turning creatively whereas those turning from east to north are said to be spinning destructively.

 

Vox Hound (Tunnels & Trolls)

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A General narrative about Vox Hounds can be found here. What follows are stats for the game of Tunnels and Trolls.

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Str: 1.1, Con: 1.1, Dex: 1, Lk: 1, IQ: 1.1, Wiz: 1.1, SP: 1, Chr: 1.1.

Height: .6, Weight : .1.25.

Language(s): Vox Hounds speak Canis.

Vox Hounds have the following special qualities.

  • A Vox Hound rolls an extra die 6 when fighting any character that casts a spell on that same round, 2d6 if the spell was cast on the Vox Hound.
  • A Vox Hound has 2 points of natural armor.
  • If a Vox Hound wishes to focus their attacks on a spell caster, she scores all spite damage against that character, adding 1 extra point for each 6 rolled on that round.

Standard Monster Rating: 35.