Time had passed since the creation of the world and the leaving of The Weaver. The five First Races of Elves, Humans, Dragons, Half-Elves and Dragonborn had long walked the lands. Though new, the five Second Races of Dwarves, Gnisse, Halflings, Orcs and Half-Orcs also walked the land, by mortal reckoning, for as long as memory could recall. These Second Races were brought about due to Berana’s whimsy and curiosity, as he took Elves and twisted them into Dwarves and then took Dwarves and twisted them into Gnisse. Humans he also took his hand to and twisted some into Halflings and others into Orcs. Simply to see if he could and how they would react with others. The world was a place for Berana to play at his desire. Though Berana’s actions were not let pass without comment. Yshirea berated him for his meddling and set about adjusting the Order of the world to incorporate these new races. Murien also spoke to Berana, trying to reason with him, to make him understand that he could not continue to upset the balance, that one day he would do something that would cause irrevocable change.
While this was all coming to pass, in the heavens above the world Zolaris chased Runalia, as he had since the beginning. Zolaris, tall and beautiful, confident and powerful. Runalia, shy and nimble, coy and gorgeous. Runalia could never be caught unless she wished to be and though it pleased her to make him chase after, it pleased her more to let him catch her, from time to time. For a countless length of time they courted each other in their own ways and their love and devotion to each other deepened until nothing could come between them. Zolaris asked Runalia to be his and his alone, forever and always. She accepted and they consummated their union in a day and night of passion. From this union Runalia gave birth to two children, twins a girl and a boy. The girl was named L’iaris and she took after her father. She was tall with a beauty that hurt to look at, but she was possessed of a quiet acceptance and a deep empathy and so grew into her role as The Goddess of Love. The boy was named Z’olrun and he took after his mother with pale skin, dark hair and an ethereal beauty to him. He was the younger of the twins and was quiet and prone to being sullen or angry at the least provocation, which caused some issues. As such Z’olrun saw his sister, who had no trouble interacting with anyone at all, as being favored over him and a deep jealousy began to burn within him, branding him forever as the God of Hatred.
Yshirea finally finished adjusting the world, smoothing out the problems that Berana’s meddling caused and no sooner did he do this that Berana took hold of the world and tugged on a few threads. On the mortal plane there were abrupt changes in the weather, natural disasters and a number of other calamities. Yshirea was livid at this petty interference from Berana and he sought the other out. The two brothers argued and soon words turned to blows as they began to fight in earnest. Blood and sweat and pain all mingled with the satisfaction of striking at their enemy. And there upon that field of battle, born from the very fight itself between them was B’erysh, the God of War. He was tall and impressive looking, though his hair and beard were the color of blood and his skin bore tattoos the color of bone. Murien arrived too late to stop the creation of a new god, but she did stop them from fighting each other and causing more issues, as she pointed to the mortal plane.
There in the aftermath of the chaos that Berana has wrought, the mortals warred with each other for the first time. Berana was delighted, and B’erysh immediately took to his job. Yshirea was not happy but he contented himself with fixing and altering the world once more to restore order. Murien went to Seram to confide in her of her frustration at her brothers and their animosity. Seram comforted her and listened and Murien asked for her help in setting this to rights. Seram agreed and the two gathered their power and allowed it to mingle and blend, and from that power was birthed S’erien, The God of Peace. Where B’erysh was fierce and intimidating, S’erien was calm and soothing. He wore only simple robes of white and not a hair marred his smooth crown. Because all things must balance, though the mortal plane now had War, they also had Peace which could be embraced if they could lay down their weapons and trust each other.
Yshirea and Berana avoided each other for a time from their fight and things seemed ready to return to normal, but it was not to be. Yshirea looked upon the other Younger Gods and the only one he could call his own was a shared creation with his hated brother. He could not look upon B’erysh and not see the imperfections. He could not go to Murien, for she was his sister. Karashiel was far too chaotic and Runalia only had eyes for Zolaris. Arcana seemed a perfect choice but Yshirea could sense the strong thread of chaos running through her core. Navendia was unsettling to Yshirea for he could not understand her, could not make her fit within his view. So he went to Seram and he courted her and wooed her both to himself and to the idea of what he wished to create with her. She saw the benefit of his desire and was flattered that he had chosen her. From their union was born Y’shram, The God of Purity. He was, in a word, perfection incarnate. He was of average height but well-proportioned with a head of short white/gold hair. His skin was unmarred by blemish or imperfection, he embodied purity, and both Yshirea and Seram were well pleased with their son.
Berana, however, was not pleased for he watched from afar as Y’shram took to learning from his father and mother and how his touch upon the world added a grace to it. A sense of gentle and specific order where before that subtlety was not present. Berana watched and waited until the time was right and then he struck out, but not at Yshirea and not at Y’shram either. It was upon Seram that he descended for she had given unto his brother a son. Berana demanded much the same from Seram and he forced himself upon her taking from her what she had freely given to his brother. Where Yshirea had gained a perfect son, Berana instead was gifted with an imperfect daughter from his union with Seram. B’erram, The Goddess of Corruption was born of that union, lush and vibrant, seductive and tempting, where Y’shram’s touch bolstered the order of the world, B’erram’s touch skewed that order more towards chaos. She was a dark beauty, subtly wrong but alluring all the same.
The Younger Gods were ill at ease, at the least and horrified at the most at what Berana had created in B’erram. The Elder Gods were, almost entirely, extremely vocal against Berana for what he had done. Of them all only Navendia kept her own counsel, but she had always been the most secretive of the Elder Gods. Still she suggested to Rioris that he go and comfort Seram in her time of need. Rioris took her advice and did so, for while he was often apart from the other Elder Gods, they were still family to him and he had always had a close relationship with Seram and Xistan. The arguing and the anger finally drove Berana to condemn them all and flee from their righteousness, he vanished to find something to amuse him in the far corners of the world.
Rioris meanwhile talked with Seram and listened to her words, her story of what happened. Her words cut him to his core and he wished he could use his power and turn back time itself and prevent that from happening, but time was his to guard, not to abuse. As they talked, they both came to realize that they shared something in common. Not a desire to harm Berana, nor B’erram; not even a desire to change what had happened. Their desire, shared and thrumming between them, was for Berana to reap what he had sown, to face justice for his crimes. Wordlessly they reached a decision and took each other’s hands and together they created S’erris, The Goddess of Justice. She was slim and short and her hair shone copper yet her eyes were unseen for she kept them closed and did not, would not open them. For if she looked upon those who she might one day judge, she may have pity for them and pity could lead to mercy for them. There could not be mercy in justice, or it would not be justice. Seram gifted her with the scales of life so that she might weigh the sins of all who lived. Rioris gifted her with a sword fashioned from a frozen moment of time itself.
While Rioris and Seram talked, Navendia sought out Xistan, who had just returned from searching for Berana, and been unable to find him. Xistan burned with rage at what had been done to his sister. He wished to make Berana pay for his actions, but he knew that despite his power, Berana was the elder of them all. Navendia cooled his rage with her gentle hand and soothing words. Xistan, she said, it was true that he may not hold the power to truly make Berana pay, but there were those who could. The Younger Gods, she said, while not as powerful as the Elder Gods, did hold power more subtle and farther reaching. She told him what Rioris and Seram were doing and it wouldn’t be enough. Things needed to balance and that is why she came to him. She let her cloak, Mystery, draw Xistan within close to her and she whispered a secret to him. He agreed to her proposal and that night they lay together. From them X’isdia, The Goddess of Vengeance was born. She had dark lanky hair and an unmistakable fire burned in her dark and deep set eyes, her features held an almost rodent like bent to them and her movements were furtive and sharp. Xistan and Navendia together gave her a dagger, blessed by both of them to always strike true her target.
Estarn had long watched from the heavens, moving among the stars he created and watching as Karashiel moved about the world. He was in love with her utterly, and completely unable to bring himself to speak to her. Cendar saw this and devised a joke. He watched Karashiel for a time and when he knew where she would be, he went to Estarn and told him of a place and that he’d seen something strange and unusual. He was vague but he gave just enough detail to pique Estarn’s interest and send the god off. When Estarn arrived at the place he found a grotto of immense beauty with a large pool at the end and there, bathing in the pool was Karashiel. Annoyed at being disturbed but unabashed by her own nakedness she left the pool to confront Estarn and demand to know why he was here. Forced into such a confrontation Estarn finally summoned up his courage and spoke to her of how he felt about her. Karashiel accepted this as only her due, though she was not kind in her acceptance. Of course she was desirable for look at all she had done. Look around at the world and all of the beauty within it. What beauty had he created, a few lights in the sky, she said to him, her words cutting deep.
Estarn, however, was only spurred on by her words for it was obvious to him that she did not understand what he did. He told her that he could show her beauty. If she would allow him to collect the natural resources of her world, he would show her the beauty of his hand. Karashiel allowed this and Estarn went and gathered up all the materials he would need, these he took back to his forge and there he closeted himself away and toiled ceaselessly. When he was finished he called Karashiel to his forge and showed her what he had wrought. There stood a form…a man fashioned most cunningly from metals and woods all culled from her world. This man bore a resemblance to her but also to Estarn. He had crafted her a son. When Karashiel saw this she was shocked and awed, for she had never thought that such beauty could exist beyond the natural world. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the crafted being and she wept tears of joy. Those tears fell upon Estarn’s work and gave it life and power and purpose. K’arest, The God of Knowledge was born.
X’isdia had been working hard trying to find Berana and exact her vengeance, and her father’s, upon him but to no avail. It seemed all her plans and her plots caused was trouble in the mortal world, or when they did seem to work Berana was never the fallout from it. Xistan went to Rioris and asked for his help with his daughter. Rioris spoke with X’isdia and observed her and then he journeyed to Arcana and spoke with her at great length about the need for X’isdia to have someone she could relate to, someone who could show her when she was engaging in folly. Arcana found the entire concept fascinating and she had been observing the other gods and the creation of the Younger Gods with much interest. This was a perfect opportunity to observe first hand such a process. She convinced Rioris that he would be the best choice for a coupling and that it should be with her. He could find little fault with her logic and she was not unattractive to him. Together they joined and allowed their power to mingle. A’naris was the product of their union, The Goddess of Wisdom and she immediately took to S’erris and X’isdia and to K’arest as well, the four of them becoming fast friends.
Murien had given up almost all hope of reaching either Berana or Yshirea. To her they both seemed unable to get past the other’s necessity and could only focus on how the other continually got in their way. She was exhausted and frustrated and wished nothing more than to be alone. This is when Cendar arrived and despite her best efforts the man succeeded in making her smile with his bad jokes and his charming lines. He had long flirted with all of the other Goddesses, though it never seemed to be any more than that. With her, however, it seemed to have a deeper meaning. As time passed the two spent more and more time together and the hope that was within her was brought back from the brink of being snuffed out. In the most unlikely of places, in this roguish God, Murien found someone she cared deeply about. Just as deeply as her brothers, if not more so. The two finally consummated their love for one another and from that union was born twin girls. M’urcen, a bright and happy girl who embodied all of the best in her parents and who held the mantle of The Goddess of Good. The other girl was M’urdar, dark and sour, she was all of the worst of her parents and she held the mantle of The Goddess of Evil.
A long time passed in the mortal plane as the world began to recover from the chaos that had been incited by the births of the Younger gods. Berana seemed to have been driven off into hiding, unable or unwilling to deal with his brethren. Yshirea took things well in hand then, though Murien often argued with him, the details were never spread to the others. And then one day Murien disappeared and none could find her. It was then that Navendia went to Rioris and seduced him, drawing him closer to her. Rioris could not resist her allure and from their union came the final Younger God. N’avrio, the God of Change. None then, save perhaps Navendia, knew what his birth would portend, but now the stage was set and the players in motion. With the birth of N’avrio the fate of the world was inevitable.

Summary

This story is the legend about the creation of the 13 Younger Gods, each one a child of two of the Elder Gods

In Art

As with the other major legends, this story is usually written down in the form of a tapestry with images telling the story as much as the words do.