Origins of the Ancients

The sacred texts tell that the ancients were created "unwittingly," "by accident." They sprang spontaneously from the fire and the mud, from air and water. "Within all creation, the spark of intelligence burns," says the text. While Humans were consciously created by the gods for a special purpose, the ancients were emanations of nature, echoes of the intelligence inherent in all creation.

The ancient societies were technologically primitive societies, who survived by hunting and gathering, using only the simplest tools, fashioning clothing from animal skins, and dwelling in trees, caves, dams or mounds built of earth. But if they were technologically primitive, they appear to have been socially advanced. They created the first written languages, and the remains of their societies evidence complex religious systems.

In ancient texts, myths, and ruins, we have evidence of four distinct pre-historic civilizations: the Antediluvians, the Ape Civilization, the Anteshushanians, and the "Mound People." There is considerable folklore suggesting that the ancients still survive in isolated villages close to the Plateau of Periculum or on remote, uncharted islands, or in the jungles of Haldevia. While such stories are not completely implausible, the only ancients truly known to exist today are descendents of the Anteshushanians (see below).

Ancient Civilizations

The Antediluvians

The ancient peoples inhabiting the eastern regions of the Great Continent and the eastern archipelago of Diluvia, referred to as the "Antediluvians," were Reptilians who were said to have emerged from the ancient ocean depths. These appear to have been the most advanced of the ancient civilizations, and may have been the first to invent the irrigation and agricultural techniques that became the basis for ancient Diluvian society.

The Antediluvians worshipped gods of water and of the ocean. Figuring prominently in the religious iconography of these ancients was the Great Sea Serpent, and his Consort, a Goddess of Sleep, Night, and Dreams who was most frequently portrayed as half cow and half fish.

The Ape Civilization

The western half of the Great Continent was inhabited by the Ape peoples. We are not certain, but some have theorized that the Great Apes organized their society through a caste system in which Orangutans were their shamans and religious leaders, Chimpanzees their thinkers and mages, and Gorillas their warriors. Others have argued that this is a projection of our own fantasies, and that the Ape peoples were in fact extraorinarily gentle and non-warlike, a factor contributing to their annihilation after the arrival of Humans.

The Great Apes worshipped gods of Earth, Jungle and Forest. Throughout the lands known to have been inhabited by the Ape Civilization we have found innumerable small Earth Mother statuettes, portrayed as a great, fat Orangutan female, both alone and with a nursing infant.

The Mound People

Of the four great ancient civilizations, the mound people are the most mysterious. Until recently, it was believed that the Mound People culture had been based upon the domestication of giant insects, and that their societies were confined to the island of Waltia. Discoveries in the last decade have challenged both of these assumptions. Mounds and artifacts conclusively linked to Mound sites in Waltia have recently been discovered in Eastonia, New Waltia, Northeastern Haldeve, and on the islands. Furthermore, peculiar weapons and tools found at these sites have led some archaeologists to speculate that the Mound People did not domesticate giant insects, they were giant insects.

Numerous stelae and stone circles left by the Mound people have been studied and discovered to have astrological significance, leading archaeologists to speculate that the Mound People worshipped gods of sky and of time.

The Anteshushanians

The Great Cat Peoples were fierce warriors and skilled hunters, who ranged across southern Haldevia, from the Republic of Haldeve to the south coast of Shushania. The Anteshushanians built the remarkable pyramids that are still found deep in the forests and jungles of northern Shushania. They are the only of the ancient people whose descendents still survive today, though they are secretive and mysterious, and generally allow few interactions with non-Cat People. Ancient Shushanian myths tell of terrible wars between the Cat People and "the Children of the Stars" (perhaps the Mound People?) resulting in almost complete mutual annihilation.

Study of the ancient pyramids shows that the Cat Peoples worshipped gods of fire and magic.

	Antediluvian script
	Ape script
	Mound people script
	Anteshushanian script