Homo antiquus

(Homo antiquus and the associated languages and cultures exist in the conworld devised by MacKenzie Rohlfing and is the intellectual property thereof)

Homo antiquus is the general taxonomic term applied to a group of commonly-derived human races who originated somewhere outside the Local Group of the Milky Way galaxy and possibly even outside of the Virgo Supercluster. They are genetically compatible with Homo sapiens and virtually indistinguishable from their terrestrial cousins, apart from certain secondary characteristics such as eye coloration and physical/mental capabilities.

History

All the Homo antiquus races derive from a common ancestry. At a point in their common development, a cataclysmic event known as the Sundering took place, causing the division into the extant three sub-races: the Calleronians, the Cironeans, the Rhosans, as well as a purely conjectural race called the Dark Opwajwa whose existence has yet to be definitively proven. Of these four, the most populous and dominant race is that of the Cironeans.

Opwajwa is the name given in the Cironean language to the original Homo antiquus race and literally means "Ancient Ones." In their own language, Redhrácic, they were ár Eíferi, literally "the people of Eífe."

Origins

It is not known whether the original Opwajwa home world survives or whether it was destroyed in the Sundering. It was called by it's inhabitants Tháladán, or the "Garden World"; in Cironean, it is called Chulastrone.

The rise of the Opwajwa and their history up to the end of The Darkening is recorded by the Cironean Joivar in the Shóredó Gazoi, the Song of Hope, a collection of hymns to Aive (the Cironean form of Eífe) and lays to the first generations of the Opwajwa, the "ancient heroes" who fought evil in the Sundering and preserved "the loyal remnant" who became the Cironeans.

Cosmology

Redhrácic and its successor tongues all have a complex structure of cognates denoting existance. An Opwajwa could state the fact of his existence or life by using the verb esnit - e.g., Sá úrdhú esnitmúsásh, I exist/live to serve. This would be an abnormal utterance in daily conversation and was mainly a ritual verb used in prayers. More common were the "alpha" and "beta" copulae. These reflect a bisection of the terrestrial to be into extrinsic and intrinsic aspects, respectively. Thus, one would say Sá tháladúr mánipethásád (I had been a gardener) since being a gardener is not integral to one's essence; however, one would say Sá áden mónepethaesád (I am a man) because gender is an essential characteristic.

However, Redhrácic languages also have a verb that describes an "act of existence" in dramatically different terms. Mán and món are effectively aspectual verbs of the more comprehensive conceptual esnit. These three verbs are applicable to any noun in the language but one. This exceptional noun is a cognate derived from a verb: eífe; it is incapable of direct translation, although through a roundabout method a definition can be obtained. Eífe is descriptive of an act of existence, but one that is unbounded in either direction - an eternal existence. More than that, though, one must understand eífe as meaning "to exist eternally, and therefore uncatalytically; and in such a way as to call forth into existence other things." Therefore, a very simple definition might read thus: "to be, uncaused, that from which ω comes to be where ω is the unboundable set of all things that exist." The only noun to which this verb is applicable is in fact derived from the verb and in its base form is identical to the verb's infinitive form: Eífe. While one could define the proper noun Eífe as analogous to the English word God or its various terrestrial parallels, these stand in relation to Eífe in much the same way as the Hebrew term Adonai or its synonyms relate to the Tetragrammaton.

The First-Parents and the Age of Expansion

The history of the Opwajwa begins with Eífe. According to their histories, Eífe created the universe (in Redhrácic, Terradon) and amidst it placed Tháladán, creating it fertile and full of life. Amidst all the plants and animals, He then raised up the parents of the Homo antiquus races, known in Cironean as Hazar First-Father and Harin First-Mother. The pair lived on Tháladán as the sole human rulers for some time, and while they traversed the planet often considered the place of their creation - Aedan Aethoegá, the Mount of Beginning - as their proper home.

At some time while they remained alone upon the planet, Eífe permitted Hazar and Harin to undergo a test. Some prohibition had been laid upon them; the nature of it was never passed on, possibly because the First Parents considered it to be irrelevant and prone to swell their pride. What is known, as conveyed by Joivar in the Shóredó Gazoi, is that they were approached by a being identified with Eznitinar, the First Being called from the Void by Eífe.

The Time Before Time

According to the traditions of the Cironeans, Eznitinar (the name means "first being" in Cironean; his "true" name is unknown) was the first of the fourteen Nuchoni, Masters of Light. He is spoken of as being the greatest of the Eznitri in every respect, and looked on first at the summoning of his fellow Nuchoni and then of the remaining Eznitri in the expectation of being granted primacy and dominion over his fellows. Instead, Eífe divided the Eznitri into seven groups, and placed one of the first seven Nuchoni at their head and one of the latter seven beneath as a lieutenant. He then sent them to discuss among themselves what ought next be summoned from the Void. This is seen by Joivar as a test of His creations' purity, as if they chose to love their Maker they would seek to outdo each other in glorious thoughts; whereas if they thought first of themselves they would think of any new creation as a threat to their own special status and offer ideas of mediocre and undesirable caliber.