Of Gods and Monsters: the eternal serpent

There were more powers in the world than gods in those times.

The oldest of the Others was the great serpent, Theoph.
For him, little has changed in the ages of Man. For Theoph, power has not waned in the same way as it has for the rest of me and mine. His role has remained for the most part steady, and because of this he may yet be referred to in present terms.

Guardian of wisdom, and by that title champion of chaos, Theoph has jealously guarded the secrets of the world since the beginning. He protects the World Tree, itself still a present belief in the hearts of Man, though the roles of both have been reversed in the recent age; Theoph has become the perverter of wisdom, the evil in the world; the Tree, a symbol of wisdom yet not the world. The Norse remembered him well in Jormundgr, as did the Hindu in Vritra. The Greek made many children of the parent, and there his power only grew, for they made him manifold, yet his role remained singular: Hydra, Typhon and the serpent of the Hersperides, all protected the secrets of the world.

Guardian of wisdom, and by that title champion of chaos, the ways to protect the secrets of the world often brought him into conflict with me and mine, and the children of me and mine. He has been defeated countless times, in countless ages, but eternal as he is Theoph emerges over and over.

In the ages when I ruled the world, Man knew his ancestry to the first.
And the first, Mannu, my mortal son and the father of men and born from the earth, took the wisdom of Theoph for himself in place of the everlasting life of a god.

In the first flush of Man, Mannu and his children began to grow in number. And at this increase Theoph trembled, for he knew that Mannu and his children had the power to take from him the secrets of the world. And so, Theoph thrashed his great length, causing the waters of the world to rise and crash down over the lands where men roamed. Seeing the massive wave that swept towards his people, Mannu raised a mountain, saving him and his and the animals who took refuge on the slopes. And so the children of Mannu were saved, and the creatures they hunted were saved, though fewer in number.

And Mannu grew angry. When the waters receded, he sought out Theoph.

Great was the battle. From the depths of the world Theoph rose, his many heads thundering their ire. Ready and braced, Mannu took his blade and struck at Theoph. One head after another he took, and with each head Mannu's wisdom grew. The secrets of the world revealed to Mannu more and more ways in which he could defeat Theoph. And Theoph, knowing this, retreated.

So Mannu and his children became wise, and learned the ways of the world, and Theoph, fearful of the wisdom Mannu and his children possessed, remains wrapped around the World Tree till the end days, protecting it and but only seldom striking out, biding his time.