Primordial

Primordials in Mother of Learning are very powerful flesh-and-blood^[1] creatures imprisoned by the gods in special prisons (pocket dimensions^[2]) long before the start of the story. One of them, Panaxeth, plays a major role in the plot as the Cult of the Dragon Below seeks to release him from his prison (being helped by Ibasans).

A banned text describes a creature, "the Golden-Feathered Worm", which Zorian identifies as a primordial and states "The path of the Golden-Feathered Worm is the path of the self as the universe" and "Indeed, the rest of his kind is also as such: each one a world unto itself, their flesh but a thin, porous cloak to hide the depths beneath", which Zorian interprets to mean that they are "like living miniature universes"^[3].

Primordials, according to Batak, "spawn smaller, weaker primordials in their death throes", and that is the reason why gods imprisoned them rather than killing them^[1]. This is shown when Zach, Zorian and temporary loopers breach Panaxeth's prison to create an exit from the time loop: a piece of Panaxeth's body sticks out from the breach, and, after being cut off from the main body, reforms itself into a beast^[4].

The Sovereign Gate requires a primordial to work and "somehow twists the primordial in question into the time loop"^[5]. The author stated that the Sovereign Gate can use any imprisoned primordial, based on proximity^[6].

The author stated that it's possible to become "a very weak primordial"^[7];