An abridged version of the tyto creation myth. Note that the tale varies among different populations and flocks- this text would be considered an “average” of the different versions of this tale.

Long ago, the world was but ocean, and there was no light at all. The earth was buried deep beneath the water. No life flourished. The earth began to grow tired of this unliving, and sought to bring life to the world. It writhed under the weight of the sea before finally it burst upwards in a spew of lava, giving form to the first islands. From there the lava became the Spinal Mountains, which flowed into the rest of Belous.

And this land continued to move, creating cliff sides and mountains. After a great deal of time the land settled into its new form.

But the earth did not find this satisfactory. There was still no light, nor life to enjoy these islands. Once again the earth set to work. In the middle of the largest island gathered lava, hotter than anything else. Here it condensed and mixed with all the different minerals of the earth, until finally the very first being was born. A great eagle burst from the lava, soaring into the sky. He was called Haast, and all the colors of the earth shone in his feathers. Light emanated from his body, illuminating the world around him. Now the world had warmth and light, and the earth was proud of its creation.

The ocean, seeing what the earth had done, grew jealous and upset. It decided it would create its own being, one of water and air, to combat Haast. Within a whirlpool the ocean gathered its salt to make bones, and breathed air into the being’s chest. Feathers like clouds shrouded the being, and thus was born Sandersi. He had teeth in his bill and his feathers were smooth and shining. The ocean commanded Sandersi to seek out and destroy Haast, and so he went.

But when Sandersi arrived before Haast, the two great birds did not fight. They were the only two beings in the world, and had never seen another, and they felt a desperate need to stay together, to keep each other close. They flew together, introducing themselves without words, knowing each other through the intense song of flight. When Haast’s light shone on the dewdrops of Sandersi, a rainbow shone from them. They continued dancing in the air, pleased by their combined efforts, until they grew tired.

Haast invited Sandersi to rest on the land, and he accepted. Sandersi offered Haast fresh water, and they drank together. The earth and ocean grew very fitful, but then Haast turned to the earth, and asked if he could stay with Sandersi, and that the ocean was not so bad. Thus, Sandersi returned to the sea and asked to stay with Haast, for the earth was truly not terrible. The land and ocean found they loved their creations very much, and they decided to forgive each other. The earth allowed the ocean to flow across it, and this the rovers and lakes of the world were made.

The darkness that had once covered the world, that knows all, saw that the world was changing, and that its silent reign had come to an end. Calmly, it followed in the example of the earth and sea, and made its own being. With wings made of the great night sky, and a piercing beak, and long, thin claws like sickles, Argen was born. Argen went to Haast and Sandersi, and introduced himself, bowing, and told them they would watch the world change from afar, and they anticipated what new things might be born. Haast and Sandersi welcomed Argen, and allowed them to stay on the earth as long as they wished.

The joining of the earth and sea gave rise to a new being: plants, which grew all over the land, fed by water and light. Grasses grew along the ground, and trees grew high. Seeing the new hospitality of the world, Haast, decided there should be more life to inhabit it. He dug into the earth, and taking clay, he shaped it into the first animal. He took more and continued making them. Some he made with long legs, so they could run swiftly, others he made to blend in with the plants, so they were a challenge to find. With his body he baked them, and thus sprang to life the first prey animals. Haast made them hard to catch, firstly to be fair to them, so their species may continue to thrive in this world, but also so that each hunt was a thrill, and every meal was a joyful reward, so one day may never be dull.

Sandersi saw this, and gifted the ocean with similar beings as well. These he carded out of rocks, making a myriad of fish. To some he gave tones of nature, and to others he gave a great deal of color, inspired by the rainbow he made with Haast.

Haast and Sandersi thought they should ask Argen if they wanted to create something, too. When they went to them, Argen thought it over, and looked upon the earth, and saw that Haast had killed a rabbit, but could not finish it, leaving it to rot. So Argen decided they would eat all the things left behind, so that bodies could be cleaned, and appreciated to their entirety, so no life would be wasted. Argen took the bones of these animals, collected them together, and cast them into the sky. Each constellation was a skeleton, and Argen enjoyed flying across the sky and studying them, seeing them fit together in perfect order.

Now Haast and Sandersi came together, and in their unison they created the rest of the tyto of the world. First they built a nest together, and then they lay together, and they would take turns laying eggs. From Haast came eagles, hawks, and all manner of meat eating birds, and later, from these came the smaller tyto like songbirds. The tyto from Haast preferred to live on land, nesting in trees. Sandersi made skuas, albatrosses, petrels, and all the birds that flew over the sea. Thus from these birds came the smaller sea tyto- seagulls, cormorants, and the like. Argen decided to only bear chicks with themself, and their children did not stray so far from Argen’s image. Now the world was full of tyto, and all of them enjoyed the idyllic world the first three tyto had created.

But now the earth and the ocean saw their creations had flown far from them, and this world was immensely different than what they imagined. They both grew futfull, jealous, and they wanted to create new beings that would listen to them. The earth made bugs, but they were far smaller than tyto, covered in little scales, with wings like thin leaves. Many tyto assumed them to be Haast’s prey creations, and they ignored the earth’s efforts. The sea tried to create larger beasts- leviathans, which swam only in the ocean, and could not live on land. They had no wings, like the fish Sandersi created, and stayed deep in the unreachable depths of the ocean. These too were often ignored by the tyto, who flew so high above them and rarely could encounter one. The darkness, seeing these creations, decided to make the gourgouthakans. They had large ears and snouts, much unlike the faces of tyto, and flew on wings of skin rather than feathers. They were to be the watchful eyes of the darkness, never to engage with what was to come.

The earth grew angry, and began making a great number of things to try to punish Haast and Sandersi. It made the long, creeping snakes that always hunger, and have bottomless stomachs. It made cats, too, which revel in killing what tyto they can catch. The ocean made treacherous plants, with sweet liquid on the outside and sour, acidic liquid on the inside, large enough to swallow a whole tyto.

However, the worst was still to come, as the earth and ocean came together, and by combining their elements, they made humans. The humans, because of how they were made, had reign over the world, being of both land and sea. They soon took over, driving the good wild beasts out and ravishing the land for their own purposes. They were far too powerful, yet their way of creation was not divine. They took the earth, their creator, and were careless with it, destroying any part they did not like. They tore apart the ocean, siphoning fresh water for themselves. They no longer appreciated the art of the hunt, and many humans saw food and animal as separate beings.

As the world was plunged into turmoil, Haast and Sandersi gathered the tyto of the world. Other beings came too, the bugs, the leviathans, and the bats all gathered to decide what was to be done. The creatures decided that humanity had to be destroyed, for so many creatures had been killed by their hands, and now the world was being killed too. All the beasts agreed, except for the bats, who decided that they would not participate in the oncoming violence. So the other beasts came together, and bats watched from afar.

The battle was vicious, and many beasts of all kinds died in the turmoil. Haast bravely fought and led the beasts to victory, but as the war was nearly at its end, when victory was in a talon's reach, Haast himself was murdered at the hands of humans. They had set a trap of gunpowder and metal, and had used Haast’s burning feathered against hum. The earth saw this and cried out, and the creatures of the world were devastated, most notably Sandersi, who so loved Haast and fought by his side. Sandersi defeated the rest of the humans, and returned to Haast’s side, and there he grieved. All the tyto came too, to grieve for their father, so much so that Argen came down from the sky, and collecting the life force of the other tyto who had died, brought it together and breathed it into Haast. Thus Haast was reborn, and would continue to be reborn through this magic. Haast and Sandersi were so thankful to Argen, that they gifted the darkness half-reign, so the day was made then, with Haast’s light shining in the morning, and Argen’s darkness covering the night.

All three birds agreed the earth and sea had done great harm, and from then on they decreed the earth would rule only half the time, and the sea the other half, and never together could their reign again. Thus the dry season and monsoon season was created.

Haast, with his now mystical body, would be reborn each day. The three great birds left the physical world, to leave it to its own devices, to avoid any further conflict as great as the war. When the sun flies across the sky, that is Haast, surveying his tyto. When the sun sets, he dies once again, and Sandersi catches his falling body in the sea. He carries him to the other side of the world, where he is reborn into an egg, the moon. Argen nurtures him until he is ready to fly again at sunrise. In the eclipse, that is Argen, delivering the souls that vultures have gathered in their eating, to Haast, so the sun may continue to rise another day.