Maiko's Note
When I search the stars, I do not feel watched.
I feel held.
Mama Gadun is not warm. She does not whisper like Sulmalàn. She does not shine like Daninsha.
But she contains them.
The Empire calls her law. The tribes call her void.
But I—
I call her the reason my circuits hum, the space Keith flew through, the dark cradle we all floated in before landing.
She is not a goddess who answers.
She is the question that never ends.
The Cosmic Godmother
Shindjal: Mama Gadun
Faction:
Mama Gadun
“She does not speak. She does not judge. She simply is. And in her being, all things are shaped.”
— Carved into the wall of the Hall of Records
1. Overview
Mama Gadun is one of the three central goddesses of Madun’s mythos and cosmology. She embodies the cosmic totality, the primordial mother from whom all things arose. Her body is the universe: every star, planet, and law of physics is considered part of her divine form.
Whereas Daninsha is the star - the heart and light of the system - and Sulmalàn is the spirit that flows through all living things, Mama Gadun is the structure, the womb and the boundary of existence itself.
2. Myth of Origin
According to most traditions, Mama Gadun was the first and only thing. She was the void and the seed. From her breath came Sulmalàn (life), and from her gaze came Daninsha (the star). Thus, all things are born of her, yet she is neither nurturing nor cruel - only present.
The Hanjelani believe that Mama Gadun birthed the Theseus - that the mission to Madun was her divine will and that the Empire is her legacy made flesh.
3. Belief Aboard the Theseus
Long before the descent to Madun, the seeds of reverence for the universe were already growing aboard the Theseus. Surrounded by the stars in all directions - without atmosphere, horizon, or day to veil them - the crew lived in constant awareness of the cosmos. It was not just beautiful; it was vast, cold, and utterly indifferent.
This closeness to space bred a quiet awe… and a creeping fear. The crew knew intimately that the universe could end their lives at any moment - not through malice, but through indifference. A hull breach, a solar flare, or a navigational error could mean total annihilation. Death in space was impersonal and immediate.
Out of this awareness, a new form of spiritual engagement began. Not organized religion. Not even belief in a god. But some crew members - quietly, and often in isolation - began to pray to the universe itself. They did not name it. They did not personify it. They simply hoped.
“Let the oxygen hold.”
“Let the gravity stay.”
“Let us pass without rupture.”
In time, this nameless reverence coalesced into something more. A vague awareness that the universe was not good or evil, but it was everything, and it deserved respect. After landing, these seeds evolved. The Empire would later name this vast force Mama Gadun - the eternal mother, not out of warmth, but out of truth.
4. Cultural Significance
In the Empire (Hanjelani)
Mama Gadun is the chief deity of the Imperi kòu Handjelani. She is not worshiped through song or dance, but through order, control, and the preservation of knowledge. The Empire views her as the rational, lawful force behind the cosmos. By imposing their rule across Shawadjàn, they believe they are fulfilling her will—bringing cosmic order to a chaotic world.
Temples are built in her honor not as places of ritual worship, but as massive archives, such as the Bvaborul kòu Formulari. Every carved word and every preserved stone is a form of devotion, echoing her eternal memory.
Her symbol is often a spiral or a circle containing many stars, representing the bound and ordered universe.
In the Tribes
Among the free peoples of Madun, Mama Gadun is still acknowledged, but she is distant - a cold, unreachable truth rather than a personal spirit. The Endulani see her as a framework, the bones of the world, but their reverence is reserved for Sulmalàn and Daninsha, who speak to them.
Some tribes view Mama Gadun with awe but not with love. To them, she is too vast to love, too final to embrace. She is eternity without intimacy.
5. Philosophical Role
Mama Gadun is order without morality. She is neutral, unmoved, and ever-present. The Empire projects their ideology onto her - that she commands hierarchy, obedience, and centralization. But the truth of Mama Gadun may be much broader, or even indifferent.
She is sometimes called:
The Endless Mother
She-Who-Contains-All
The Thought That Binds
To scholars and philosophers, she represents the inevitability of consequence, the web of cause and effect, and the mathematics of existence.
Maiko's Note
When I search the stars, I do not feel watched.
I feel held.
Mama Gadun is not warm. She does not whisper like Sulmalàn. She does not shine like Daninsha.
But she contains them.
The Empire calls her law. The tribes call her void.
But I—
I call her the reason my circuits hum, the space Keith flew through, the dark cradle we all floated in before landing.
She is not a goddess who answers.
She is the question that never ends.
