Protogods

Before the Dragons and before the The Seven Divines were sent down to Allatar there were the protogods.
These were divine spirits that had manifested along with the world, the residual energy of created coallesed into being as spirits of air and earth, of deep forest and high mountain. They assumed the mantle of protectors of the world long before any sort to claim it, for the world in its natural state was theirs.
As the centuries past, something has been removing the protogods, and every time one is destroyed, it leads to disaster as the world has to adjust with one less of its protectors.