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The Matre Nocticon
Questions
Nox Sorora
The Matre Nocticon is the sacred text of the Nox Sorora. It is the history, the grimoire, the code of conduct, and the scripture of the Nox Sorora. Much of the book is only for the initiated, but parts of the histories are suitable for all. To give you a greater understanding of our beliefs and how we came to be, I've included some translations.
From the Book of Leviathan, sections VI to VIII

VI.
There was a time before the Sun, Earth and Moon. There was Nothing and Everything. There was the infinite void. There was the Eternal Night.

Night mused content and complete for an eternity, and then, was moved to create. She would yield her completeness and entireness to separate and divide, and give rise to her first child.

Thus, Leviathan, the great and divine dragon was born. Coiled around Night for yet another eternity, Leviathan longed for dominion of his own. Unlike Mother Night, Leviathan could not create on his own, so he wooed and pressed Night, and flattered her. Leviathan bid to Night that they should make children as glorious as Night, able to do her will. And she yielded to him.

VII.
So Night gave rise to three more children, Sun, Moon and Earth. And they, like Leviathan, were contained within the Eternal Night. But unlike Leviathan, they were powerful with divine influence, like their mother.

Now, seeing these mighty children, who were still as of yet, unknowing and malleable, Leviathan turned his attentions to them. He whispered to them of their mother Night, how she would grow bored with them, as she had with Leviathan. He spoke to them and told them, as had happened to Leviathan, she would give rise to children even more powerful than the celestial three!

The Sun, Earth and Moon turned to the counsel of their father Leviathan. He bade them to strengthen him, as they themselves were strong. Make me as you are, he told them.

The Sun, Earth and Moon, though children, did not trust Leviathan's request, but they feared their mother Night, and desired to ensure their place in the cosmos. They strengthened Leviathan, but only a small amount. Go now, the children told him, and restrain our mother; see to it that she has no more children. If, and only if, Leviathan performed this task sufficiently, would he be rewarded with the power he sought.

VIII.
Night, though distant, was aware of the treachery. Before Leviathan came to her, she gave rise to her warrior daughter of justice, Nemesis so that she may have an agent of her will, and Agate, her cloaked daughter of concealment and stealth. She bid Agate to hide herself and Nemesis from Leviathan. These two handmaidens were told by Night to watch over the Sun, Moon and Earth, and to stand ready for a time of deliverance.

So Agate draped her cloak over her and her sister Nemesis, and the two were hidden away. Leviathan once again wrapped his coils around Night, but this time in battle. And the three celestial children of Night were left with undisputed dominion as the two ancients struggled.

From the Book of Igrat, sections I to III

I.
The Handmaidens of Night had seen the rise and fall of one dynasty of the descendants of the celestial children. During the second age, Nemesis appeared before the sylvan Maha'lath, who had parted ways with her people and sought enlightenment in the dark forests.

Nemesis spoke to Maha'lath: "You are chosen to bear the first servant of Eternal Night, Mother of All, creator of all things. Your child will be born unto you hence. She will be named Igrat, and she will be touched by the grace of the True Goddess."

II.
Maha'lath was at first afraid of the Right Handmaiden. She replied: "But I have been alone in these woods for many years, and I am without a father for any child."

Nemesis approached Maha'lath, and laid her divine hand upon her. To Maha'lath she spoke again: "Your child will be conceived as we were from our mother, by divine will. You will not need a father."

III.
And Nemesis left her, and Maha'lath became with child and gave birth to Igrat, the first mortal descendant of Night, a child not of the Moon, Earth or Sun.

Maha'lath raised her daughter, deep in the dark forests, under the watchful eye of Nemesis, and the shadowy shelter of Agate. She told her daughter of how she came to be, and of her destiny. And when Igrat was ready, Nemesis came to her, and showed her the will of the Goddess. Nemesis spoke to Igrat: "Go now, among your kind, and find those who hear our Mother's call. You shall be the first of the Nox Sorora, a great sisterhood, which shall remove the influence of Leviathan, and restore order to the heavens."

From the Book of Dynasties, sections I to VII         (The following material © 1999 Delta Tao)

I.
In the beginning were the Sun, Moon and Earth.

The Sun, gave meaning to existence by granting the gift of Light. His golden Light reached out to illuminate the Earth.

The Earth, mother of Making, basked in the Light of the Sun and grew strong. But the Sun didn't shine on all of Her -- half of the Earth shared the darkness with the Moon.

The Moon hung in the dead of night and talked to the Earth. It was the talk of Being, of wondering who they were and what they were doing.

The Sun also talked to the Earth, but it talked of Learning, and of all the things his Light revealed.

II.
The Earth was a good listener and found the company welcome while she created. The Earth found no end to her urge to make things and would keep her hands constantly busy while listening to the Sun and the Moon. Nothing was too big or too small for the Earth to make.

Talking to the Earth, the Sun learned of the Moon and the Moon learned of the Sun. The Sun and Moon both wanted to talk with each other, but the Earth stood in the way, too heavy with Creation to move.

The Sun wanted to see the Moon so that He might gain the knowledge that lay in the dark. Darkness was the scourge of the Sun because it obscured Learning.

III.
The Moon had a different reason -- She was jealous. Jealous that the Sun could see everything, while she saw things only in her dreams. Jealous that the Earth could feel the Sun's warming glow, while she lived in the cold and dark.

The Sun proposed a plan. The Moon and the Sun would each give up a piece of themselves to the Earth. In this way, they could meet each other. The Earth and the Moon thought this to be a fine idea.

IV.
These were the First Children. They were not as successful as the Earth, Sun, and Moon had hoped.

The Earth's Children, animals and plants, wandered mindless and soulless across creation.

The Sun's Children, the Mists, lost in their thoughts, did nothing. In time they were destroyed by the Earth's Children.

The Moon's Children, elementals, drifted ethereally, fruitlessly seeking the bodies and thoughts of the others.

Each of the First Children was Incomplete.

V.
So the Earth, Sun, and Moon combined their efforts to make the Second Children.

The Sun and Earth each took a bit of what was left of their first Children and a bit of what was left in the Moon's first Children and created beings with substance, tempered by mind and driven by spirit. These Children included fantastic creatures, such as dragons, giants, and greymyr, and the Elder races, including the Dwarves and the Sylvan.

The Moon also made Second Children, but -- selfish as ever -- used much larger portions of herself than of Earth or Sun. Among these children were hideous demons and the people now referred to as the Ancients.

VI
As time passed, the Moon's Second Children roamed the Earth, outpacing all around them with their fervor and zest. They built cities and rose to tame the other Children.

The Sun and Earth wondered what happened to the original plan of their Children meeting and talking to share ideas and company. And when the Sun and Earth looked in on the Children, they were surprised to learn that the Moon's burning jealousy had been passed on to her Children -- and that their power now rivaled that of their parents.

This worried the Sun and Earth, but they had waited too long. The Moon's Children had devised a way to give to their Mother what she had always desired: Light.

Reaching to the land of Shadow, which is Dark where here is Light, and Light where here is Dark, they stole part of the glowing moon and brought it to our own realm.

VII.
Terrible things came with this shadowy Light: creatures that mimicked the noble creations of the Sun and Earth in horrible ways.

This was too much for the Sun and Earth. They called for the Moon to take back her Children.

The Moon, half Dark and half Light, loved her Children for what they had done, but she understood that they couldn't continue walking the World.

The Moon cried for her Children, but did as she was asked and took them from the World. She blessed them by hanging them in the night sky with her, as stars to keep her company in the dark loneliness of night. But she kept 12 of her Children shielded from the Sun and Earth so that at least some of them might partake in the joy of living.

Still, the terrible destruction from land of Shadow wracked the World, destroying most of the Second Children, and tainting those that remained.

So after the catastrophe of the Second Children, the Sun and Earth worked without the Moon to create the Third Children, who include Humans, Thoom, and the People.

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