The Creation of Avanielda
Chaos and void
In the beginning, all existence was chaotic and formless, bounded by endless void. In the liminality between chaos and void, there existed a being -- a self-awareness. It was the One. The One observed and perceived the existence of the universe around it. For uncounted ages the One drifted in chaos and probed the void, until it grew tired of movement and was still. Then, contemplating, the One conceived of purpose and thus became the essence of purpose, will, and creation. With purpose came direction. The One was the center, and all matter had order according to its distance and motion relative to the center of all. But good though the existence of order was, the One perceived the lack of something, for there was as yet no form.The four elements
"I will bring matter to me and shape it," thought the One, and it was so. When an age of contemplation and observation had passed, the One took action and drew the matter in and conceived for it a variety of forms, each particle according to its nature. Thus the primeval Waters took form and came forth from the womb of the mind of the One. The One increased the waters and observed them. There was motion in the waters; currents formed and moved in the primeval ball, and there was beauty in their patterns. But there was more to shape. Other matter the One gathered. Some was still and solid, darker and heavier than the waters. It became Earth: rock, soil, and sand in all their variegated forms and colors. The remainder was ephemeral, and was not to be formed like Water and Earth. It was in constant, varied motion, rarely still. Yet the One gathered it nonetheless. Thus was made that invisible substance that yet can be felt when it moves: Air, the lightest of the elements. After these had been made, the One desired them to come together and be ordered. Earth and Water were set next to each other, and the ethereal Air was wrapped around them like a cloak. The One contemplated the matter that had been formed, and found it good. But more matter there was, for the vastness of existence is infinite.The first Gods
As the One contemplated the existence it had ordered, other beings were perceived moving between Chaos and Void, drawn to the Order that the One had created. The One drew them into the womb of thought and divined their nature. They were formless, but desired purpose and order. So the One conceived forms for them, and taught them, and they developed awareness and the capacity for thought. These were the first intelligences to be brought into being. The One was delighted, and spoke to them. "I have brought you forth from the womb of my thought, formed and taught you. Now you may think and act, each one according to your own desires, and I shall set you a task. You shall shape and alter what I have formed, each according to your desires and abilities." But having said this, the One desired one last thing to complete all creation. The beings that had been made waited and watched as their creator gathered another being from the unformed, and taught it as they had been taught.Naming and shaping the world
The three beings were overjoyed, and after conferring with their new companion, they said, "We shall call you Ilyasu, which means All-Mother;1 for you have given us form and taught us thought, and have created Order from Chaos. We will bring further shape to the world you have wrought. We shall call it Avanielda, which means Creation's Jewel; and it shall be a glorious thing to behold." The One heard this and was delighted, for her children were already enhancing the things she had taught them and made for them. Ilyasu, the All-Mother, then said, "As you have named me, now I will name you." The first she named Ilmarie; the second, Taroth; the third, Penion; the fourth, Tilfarie. These were the First Gods. Ilyasu, the All-Mother, gave them leave to shape her creation, and then withdrew to contemplate all the worlds that might yet be made from the infinite matter of existence. The first gods moved upon the world, and each took a part of it for their own. Ilmarie, the first, chose for herself the element of Water. Then the second, Taroth, chose for himself the solid Earth. Penion, the third, chose Air for his realm. And the fourth, Tifarie, became Fire.Earth
Taroth, god of Earth, took his element and made some places low, and others he built into mighty mountains. Some places he made hard and weighty, creating many types and colors of stone; others he made soft and dark, or light so that Penion could pick them up and toy with them. Taroth also created dark voids in his Earth, in which he delighted in hiding things. Many bright and valuable things he condensed, separated, and purified, and hid in veins and pockets, and covered them with earth and stone.Water
Ilmarie, goddess of water, delighted in the movement of her element, and also in hidden, elusive things. Like Taroth, she gave part of her substance to Penion, so that he might carry it, wield it, and drop it back upon the Earth and Water. She created purposeful currents and restless waves; she took pieces of Taroth's substance and carried them to new places. The Water of Ilmarie covered much of creation and rested on it, and flowed over, under, and through it. Water also filled some of the voids in the earth and hid in their darkness; in these places, Water became still and cold.Air
Air was full of motion and rarely at rest. Penion's winds hid nothing for long, but he delighted in veiling creation at his whim with clouds made from the borrowed substance of water or storms of dust plucked from the earth. He used his whirling currents to whip up froth upon the waves, and the water he moved and dropped became rain. In the high places of the world, he left the pure white snow to melt and join the rain. Thus Penion and Ilmarie formed rivers and jewel-like lakes upon the earth.Fire
Fire was also full of motion. Tifarie's heat permeated the air, warmed the water, and melted the snows. Under the cover of earth, fire coalesced into pools and flowed like viscous water until, constantly desiring to break free, it burst for, forcing even Taroth's solid earth apart and melting it with unbridled heat. Tifarie's fire bubbled under the water and gave great clouds of steam to the Air to play with. Rivers of her own she made, filled with heat and the meltings of Earth; but when they reached Water, the great seas quenched their fire and made hard, glassy rock. And when Fire bubbled up through Earth and Water, it formed new islands in the sea. Fire's great rivers were slowed and hardened by the coolness of the other elements, but the ceaseless fire of the phlogiston illuminated the world with its glow. Thus the world took its first pure form, as the playground of the First Gods.Notes
1. Ilyasu's name can also be translated as "Creator" or "Maker." Ilyasu's nature and gender are the subject of debate and conflict. Some groups maintain that gender is irrelevant to the Primordial Unity that is Ilyasu. Others call Ilyasu the Great Father. Here, we follow the most ancient texts of the Three Peoples in referring to Ilyasu as female.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
