The Lament of Ushankushu (Invite Only)

[Greater Ale Permars]

In the lands north of the Zumrunamru, along the far stretching banks of the Kabtunārum there lay a city of such renown. A city of salt and gold, whose temples reached up to the heavens and whose sweet odours of sacrifice wafted up, so pleasing to the Gods, that even its slaves wore collars of pure gold. A city ruled by the greatest of Kings, who for his piety was allowed the highest honor of wedding the very Mistress of Heaven. This is the story of Ushankushu, the Man of Troubled Heaven, the last En-Lugal of Eninan, that city of white water and gold. Ushankushu, Husband of the Goddess Nin-an and the harbinger of the Age of Sand. This is an account of the folly of man, this is a story of an end to true prosperity for the peoples of Eninan. For the deeds of their King brought them great ruin to the succeeding generations. So may this story be told far and wide, may its message be brought before the courts of all the great kings and their sinnātum to remind them of the jealousy of our Gods and the dangers of loose lips plied by subtleties of wine. So thus the story will be told:

 

[Greater Ale Permars]

Ushankushu, son of Inumšahurāṣi lived in Temple Kašamê, palaced with gold and woven linen
Thirty-six years had he been living under the sky of Ab, made man at sixteen, En-Lugal at twenty-four. His reign had been for twelve years, met with prosperity and luxury. In those days, the city of his charge was Eninan, and all those who resided within and around were of his patrimony. For he had been given that right by his election, being the chosen man of the Mistress of Heaven, who like his father before him had been selected to commune with heaven. To serve heaven he had been groomed for from the day of his breaching the womb of the Esirtu-Mûalāṭu. Thus this esirtu was made fertile by the most fecund patroness, Bēltuilātu-Anshashar. From the seat of Kašamê he was raised up, in the harem of his father fed the finest loins of lamb not for sacrifice and the sweetest figs from the Kirātšadî. “Without Equal” he was called by the soldiers of his father’s palace, quicker than a viper and forceful like an auroch.

By the temple slaves Ushankushu was taught to dance and sing exquisitely, the prize of his youth lauded before all the peoples of the world. Such was his culture and majesty that even the great progenitor of the waters, Bēlumilū-Urukia looked upon him with envious awe. Never had the whole city of Eninan seen such a wondrous affluence of character before, in anyone but the son of Inumšahurāṣi. The city of old had laid marvelous works before the Gods in ages past, but in the time of the son of Inumšahurāṣi, the temples had not been higher, the fields more plentiful nor the gold so gleaming. For when Inumšahurāṣi passed into the wet hands of Bēlumilū-Urukia, his son was taken to the top of that glimmering Temple Kašamê and before the Mistress of Heaven offered a hecatomb before the holy idol of the great enthroned Mistress of Heaven. In thanks, Beautiful Nin-an rose from the blood of the Nārubalā decorated with a diadem atop her head alongside rings, bracelets, necklaces made of gold that adorned her body. Beautiful Nin-an, Mother of the Gods, wearing only the softest of white linens presented herself to Ushankushu for the consummation of their marriage. For in those days it was that only Ummuilāti-Nin-an herself could marry the En-Lugal and be his aššatu. For in those days it was the sign of fidelity, between the Divine and the Mortal. Ushankushu and Nin-an laid together in a pool of aurochs blood, after which the Divine Father Ab marked the occasion with the star of Kittu. Thus was their bond sealed and their pact reestablished as had been done for ages past. For his own part, the son of Inumšahurāṣi sang a hymn to his new wife in adulation:

"So you see how I have loved you
under the meet stars of heaven.
You are my ample portion
and the relief of heaven.
Without whom the word suffers,
for you are the love of ages,
the Mistress of Heaven.
For you are where
the blood of my heart flows from
and the skin of my flesh hangs.
You are the Mistress of Heaven
and your succor is mine.
From childhood I nursed
from the breast of your daughters.
As man I nurse on the love
of your divinity.
My father, I thank him for his
relinquished life.
Without his passing I would not yet have you,
now held as my bountiful wife."

 

[Greater Ale Permars]

From the womb of the Mistress of Heaven came the first gifts of the union, as the son of Inumšahurāṣi won battle after battle. By the grace of Ummuilāti-Nin-an, he conquered seven cities, and oversaw their razing to the ground. From these cities flowed forth many thousands of slaves, women and children who no longer had husbands or fathers fell under the custody of the En-Lugal. One of these cities, the great walled citadel of Nārbūntu fell to the sword of Ushankushu, every part of the city sacked. Yet, the son of Inumšahurāṣi being quick in haste to finish the battle allowed for the devastation of the Temple Īnmê, and its sacred Idol of Bēlumilū-Urukia who having already envied Ushankushu was made enraged. That Lord of the Waters, offended by the actions of this King, drew from the clouds of the sky and waves of the sea in secret, and with careful precision crafted a new woman with locks drawn from golden sand and eyes like cloudy sapphires. For Urukia being the Creator of all Mankind knew the intricacies of Man’s heart, set amidst the helpless fleeing crowds of Nārbūntu, a woman so beautiful that the heavens curled down to admire her. Her beauty disguised by dirt, ash and sackcloth she was taken by Ushankushu’s retainers, and brought back to the city of Eninan in chains.

The great army of the En-Lugal returned with its spoils, and great celebration ensued as the booty and captives were distributed amongst Eninan’s people. The new slaves of Ushankushu were brought in full to the palace at the Temple Kašamê, lined up in presentation to their new Lord. The great king came upon the scene and walked the line, looking upon each woman and child with inquisitive intent. Yet just before last he spotted the one created by Bēlumilū-Urukia, her star-blue eyes catching his heart and lungs like netted fish pulling him towards her.
.
“What is your name?” He was flummoxed and empty headed despite her diminished appearance.

“I am called Šitamanu.” She stared intently into his eyes with effortless hunger. “You are to be mine.”

“I am to be yours.” He repeated back without thinking.

Thus was the King entranced with this woman's beauty, and being so astonished could not help himself but make her one of his sinnātum, and placed her in their harem. One of those that served him day and night, yet soon this Šitamanu held more than his full attention. By the thirty sixth year of his life under heaven his beloved Šitamanu had fathered twenty of his children, the rest of his sinnātum barren and unable to bring forth new life. Yet, although years had passed, Šitamanu had not aged a moment, her visage still melting the mouths and hearts of men despite her maternity. It was not long before Šitamanu’s master, the son of Inumšahurāṣi adorned the streets and marketplaces of Eninan with statues of beautiful form. White granite statues, where once there had been the black idols of Ummuilāti-Nin-an, had begun to replace the old markers and sacrifices turned from the face of the Mistress of the Heavens to the Mistress of Ushankushu.

As planting season came and the air became wet and thick with devotion to the Beautiful Slave, the preparations for a nuptial were made, and all the people of Eninan loved and adored their Mistress Šitamanu without reservation. The sacrifices of old no longer did justice to the Beautiful One, so in necessary fashion new blood was required to anoint this union. A hecatomb of young men was taken, one from each great household, the Patriarchs of each great family fighting for who could be the one to sheath the Mistress’s dagger in their chests. Led to the Temple Kašamê by a new order of priestesses who castrated the priests of their resistance to the Beautiful One and retraining their spirits. These young men were greeted by a new idol of ivory atop the Temple, the old black of Nin-an cast down its side. So as each man’s throat was slashed and their blood poured into the Nārubalā, the marriage of the Mistress and Ushankushu was consummated and ratified amidst its gushing flow. The choruses of clergy singing in adoration:

“We bathe in the blood
Of the sweet youth of Eninan.
To praise and adore,
The one we implore
By her eyes and her form,
Obedience over all, to our
Mistress and her sword.
Her body, water, drinks the soul”