Nhal Ankastra, Mother of the Weeping Earth
Broad shoulders. Large hands, calloused and dirt covered. Broad hips, sturdy legs beneath. Eyes the color of tears, but none spill over, beneath hair like strands of coal. Her face is sun weathered, a darker, beaten gold. Her white dress is stained, at hem and sleeves, with both soil and blood. One breast, covered by her gown, hangs full and round. The other, bare, is withered and empty. From her we come, and to her we return, and from her we are born again. She is all the treasures of the earth...and the blood, sweat and tears paid for them. She is the source of all bounty...and the ceaseless toil required to receive it. She seethes, with rage and grief, at those given all things good while her children scrabble and starve. But she knows that struggle has made us strong, and we will lay all the world before her son, the king. She is Nhal Ankastra, and she is Mother of All.
