Anaxial's Rooster

Gloranthan Folk Tales

Gloranthan Songbook

Moonie Madness

Carmanian Sources

Malkioni Scriptures

This is a tale of what happened in the Lesser Darkness, after Orlanth slew Yelm and the Golden Age Empire was engulfed by the Great Flood.

Of course, our ancestors were quite safe up here in the highlands, but everyone in the low-lying Empire drowned, except for Old Man Anaxial, his ugly wife, and all their favourite animals, who hid in a boat. (We know that his wife was ugly, because all the women of Dara Happa are descended from her - just look at them!)

For forty days and forty nights it rained, as Orlanth and the Thunder Brothers rejoiced in their glorious conquest. But miserable Old Man Anaxial just sat under a sodden blanket in his boat, and shivered. Then, tired by all his shouting, Orlanth went home to his stead. As the thunderclouds cleared away, Old Man Anaxial bravely peeked out of his boat, and wondered if there was anywhere he could land.

Now there were, of course, lots of places! By now the Water Gods were blown off the face of the Earth by Orlanth: led by Sky River Titan, they had invaded the very Sky Dome itself. But nobody told Old Man Anaxial about that, because his god was dead. So he did what any Dara Happan man would do - he trusted the birds to show him what to do.

First he sent forth Anaxial's Raven, the ugliest bird in the boat. Anaxial's Raven flew forth across the face of the drowned world, and saw all the dry land there was. He saw the hilltops of Saird and Sylila, the foothills of the Rockwood Mountains, the Hungry Plateau, and even the top of the Emperor's Footstool peeking above the waves. But Raven is a Darkness bird, and no friend of Yelm. Although he saw lots of places where Old Man Anaxial could have landed, he found it amusing to make him stay in his damp, miserable boat. So he flew back to the boat, and when Old Man Anaxial asked "Shall I ever set foot on dry land again?" Anaxial's Raven croaked, "Nevermore!"

Old Man Anaxial was very upset at this, so he did what any Dara Happan man would do - he sought solace from something white and fluffy. Now he sent forth Anaxial's Dove, his wife's favourite bird. Anaxial's Dove flew forth across the Pelorian Bowl, and saw all the dry land that the Raven had seen - and there was more now, for the waters were receding. But Dove is a Lunar bird, and no friend of mortal imperfections. Although she saw lots of places where Old Man Anaxial could have landed, she thought this place was too damp, and that place was too muddy, and the other place was not quite right in every way: better to wait forever, until perfection came along. So she flew back to the boat, and when Old Man Anaxial asked "Is there anywhere I can land my boat?" Anaxial's Dove only billed and coo'ed, and told him nothing.

Now, Old Man Anaxial was a typical Dara Happan man: when he doesn't know what to do, he gets his cock out and lets it do the thinking. So the last bird he sent forth was Anaxial's Rooster. It flew forth - for roosters could fly at this point in Godtime, O Best Beloved - and saw all the fine highlands poking above the water. Ignoring all the fertile fields and rolling hills, it flew straightaway to the biggest dunghill it could find. (Some say this marked the spot where Yelm first saw the Sword That Is Death). Now, you all know what a rooster does when it finds a dunghill. It sat down on top of it, and felt right at home. And the Rooster called out to Old Man Anaxial: "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

Hearing his rooster's happy cry, Old Man Anaxial paddled his boat to the dunghill, and landed there. And that's where he built his city of Yuthuppa, founding the Dara Happan Empire: on top of a rooster's dunghill! (They call it the Hill of Herustana, but this is just Pelorian for the "Hill of the Rooster." And we all know what kind of hill a rooster likes!)

So that's why we remember Anaxial's Rooster today, as the bird who made sure that the Dara Happan Empire was even deeper in shit after the Flood than it had ever been before!

(When Old Man Anaxial learned how his Rooster had fooled him, they say, he cursed his cock so it could never rise again. And though his Ugly Old Wife was well pleased by the way this curse accidentally turned out, afterwards he had to curse his Rooster so that it could never fly. But that is another story...).