The Creation of Efetra

We have not forgotten the great six, and to the four that remain, we pray.

Oh Belia, mighty as the mountain. Oh Merthel, fickle as the wind, rich as the ocean. Oh Kartoll, let us live under your fountain, Oh Monia, accept our devotion

Summary

From nothing, something is born. At first, there was no life, there was no light, there was not even darkness. For darkness thrives in the shadows, and in nothingness, no light exist to cast it. Instead there was the void, vast and empty. A greats nothing that gave birth to something. We call her Histyra, the grey lady. She was born in a cascade of light and destruction, wrought in clothes made out of starlight and deep dark shadows. She spiraled across the nothingness, shedding light upon it and in so, created the shadows we came to fear as darkness.
For eons, she merely drifted, ever in a gentle spiral, shedding stars and arcane energies about her. With each rotation, each spiral, her own light dimmed, as she gave it to us. But Histyra knew, that for her to live, a place for her to call home must exist. For you see, she is was plagued by terrible loneliness, trapped in a state of isolation. And so she stretched out her hands, and bid the elements to come join her on her journey.
From the primal planes, she drew fire, white hot and violent. She shaped it into more stars, meant to warm her. From the Aquatic planes, she drew water, so it may quench her thirst as the heat of the stars made her parched. From the thunderous realms, she bid air to come with her, sweeping herself in its winds and from wild planes, she grabbed dirt and stone so she may form clay.

The Twins, born from Clay.
Ever she traveled, every she spiraled across the cosmos. When all stars were gone from her veil, when all light was finally gone from her being, Histyra looked upon the stone and the dirt and made clay. This clay she shaped into her first two children: The Twin Gods of Harkard and Artia. These she showered with her love, even though Harkard was full of rage, and Artia just wanted everything for herself. In order to appease her children, Histyra formed Efetra and other worlds, to give them children of their own to care for.
Benevolent Belia, and the children of gods
But she soon saw that her children were violent and petty gods, squabbling with one another. They created unrefined and violent life, meant only to destroy one another. These were the primal and primitive elemental and fiends. So Histyra created one more god, a child that embodied all of her more benevolent traits. This was Belia, with whom Harkard fell madly in love. The two would become the lovers, and Belia birthed Kartoll, the god of rain. Seeing the state her Husband and his Sister had left the world in, Belia plunged her hand into the ground and pulled mountains up to separate the many warring tribes from one another. She fractured the land to make continents with Harkard. Kartoll then made the oceans with his rain.
All this angered his sister, and Artia demanded her mother provide her with a mate as well. So Histyra made Methel, the fickle god of coin and commerce. The two led a stormy relationship, that ended as soon as it began, but not before Artia had a child. This child was Monia, a goddess as unlike her mother one can possibly be. A gentle soul, who cared for all living things, and became the god's favorite.
Monia saw that the world was barren, and so made life spring up. She made the forests, the beasts and the people. She made the First Elves, whom she tasked with protecting her work. And from these primordial forests, other beings sprung to life as each god wanted to participate. Belia created the Ur, from which the dwarven races hail. Artia created the Chimera, from whom all beast kin have evolved. She tasked them to hoard riches for herself, and sent them out into the world.
The Spiral towards Madness.
While her children grew more and more attached to their new children across Efreta, Histyra felt a shudder within her being. They were forgetting about their mother, who was now dull and gray. No longer of stars and magic, having given her last to create these divine children. Instead, she felt her mind fracture as nothing was left to hold her together.
Unaware of their mother's plight, the other gods were instead stuck in their own squabbles. They were so involved in their mortal charges and their fates, using them as pawns against one another, they did not understand the danger that all of existence was in. When the Grey Lady, Histyra, finally went mad from her loneliness, she sought to wipe out that which had stolen her children's love from her. First to realize this was Artia who came to her mother asking forgiveness and offering to aid her Mother, promising to never leave her again.
Divine Matricide
In a whirl of chaos, the world burned as Histyra fought the rest of her Children in an attempt to undo creation itself. A battle she eventually lost when Artia betrayed her, having allowed herself to betray both sides in hope that she would be the strongest once it was all done. Despite being instrumental in Histyras' defeat, Artia was banished and stripped of her divinity, as no god could ever trust her again.
It was her twin, Harkard who managed the last blow upon the mad goddess, the killing blow. But he was affected by her Madness as he did so, and his rage never ebbed once the battle was done. The only one capable of stopping the god of war's rampage was that of his wife, the ever benevolent Belia, who struck down her own husband in a bid to save her mortal children. With the blood of a war god spilling out over al of creation, it was Harkards children; the humans and the orcs that would both end up carrying a portion of his rage and his hunger for conquest. And both would be known for their undying hatred for each other and their passion for all things war.
With great regret, the gods pulled away from their work, to regain strength and to take a more passive role. But their divine war had already spilled across the cosmos, their essence and emotions taking on shapes and mind of their own. And so, many more gods would rise to take an active role in Efetra as the primordial ones goes to slumber.

Historical Basis

Ruins and remnants of the god war exist like old, poorly healed scars across Efetra. From the strangely shaped mountains of the frozen north that formed from Harkards' body to the various remnants of ancient kingdoms and races who perished fighting the Mad Goddess. There is little doubt, that a variance of the events took place. What exactly is embellishment is hard to pinpoint, as everyone have their own take on the events.

Spread

The myth is told in various variations across the entirety of Efetra.

Variations & Mutation

More modern practice excludes the two dead gods, as they are seen as vile and evil. This is also to curtail the efforts of cults who worship the two dead gods, most notably that of the Shattered Mask Cult that worship Artia.

Cultural Reception

All races on Efetra have their own variant of the story, with each race holding a particular god of the six primordial as their patron, aside from Ratfolk, who instead worship The First Rat, a minor diety that is believed to have received Artias divinity when she was stripped of hers.

In Art

Various depictions of the creation can be found in older temples and ruins. However, among humans in particular, the events are heavily revised as to not depict any of the twins.

Date of First Recording

Both Chimerian and Ur remnants have depicted the battle of the gods across numerous murals and on ancient still intact tapestries. Especially the Chimerians, who lost their Patron depicted a lot of the battles aftermath.