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A sequence of brief mythic prose poems constructs an invented pantheon centered on a supreme maker who rests while lesser gods fashion worlds, creatures and human-like beings. Episodic pieces orbit figures such as a tireless drummer, rival deities, prophets and omens, and revolts of smaller gods; recurring motifs include the gods' playfulness, the fragility of creation, cyclical endings when the maker may awaken, and the inscrutability of divine purpose. Tone ranges from solemn to wry, and the work assembles cosmogony, parable and lyric meditation into compact, fable-like vignettes that evoke ritual chant and imagined folklore.
In the mists before THE BEGINNING, Fate and Chance cast lots to decide whose the Game should be; and he that won strode through the mists to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI and said: “Now make gods for Me, for I have won the cast and the Game is to be Mine.” Who it was that won the cast, and whether it was Fate or whether Chance that went through the mists before THE BEGINNING to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI—_none knoweth._