Proto-Deities

“Not gods. Not mortals. They were the pause between questions—the choice between endings.”
Origins: Born of Thought, Need, and Fear
The Proto-Deities are not children of Vael'theron and Nyrr'zhul—nor are they First Children themselves. Rather, they arose in the aftermath, as Ene’we began to crack under the weight of boundless Aether and the chaos left in The First Children’s wake.
They were born not from pure concept, like The First Children, but from interaction:
When mortals first prayed to the stars, something answered.
When the dying begged the earth for mercy, something listened.
When minds collapsed under the weight of truth, something held them together.
The Proto-Deities were responses—catalysts, bindings, and voices between extremes. They did not shape reality like The First Children. They defined it, gave it limits, morality, sequence, purpose.
Nature of the Proto-Deities
Less primal, more structured. They understand compromise, patience, and cycles.
Their essence is tethered to symbols, belief, and ritual, but not dependent on mortal worship like later gods.
Some say they were forged, others say they were dreamed into coherence by the fractured world itself.
They are bridge-beings—between godhood and element, between story and silence.
Notable Proto-Deities:
Aserion, the Nail in the Sky: Keeper of constancy, the one who drove the stars into place so they would stop screaming.
Myrrane, She Who Cups the Flame: Contained Aether’s madness in vessels of language and breath.
Thal'korath, the Chain-Walker: Forged the first constraints across time and entropy. He walks the Binding still.
Elarûn, The Mask That Loves: Created the first persona, allowing mortals to hold onto self amid shifting truths.
The Binding of the Aether and Their Role
When it became clear that The First Children were too vast, and that Aether itself was becoming a devourer, the Proto-Deities acted in unison—the first and perhaps last time they would.
They did not kill chaos. They caged it.
Key Roles in the Binding:
Aserion mapped the celestial lattice, aligning stars and ley-lines to hold the weave.
Myrrane taught language and containment—binding Aether to syllables, symbols, and structure.
Thal'korath forged the seven Aether Anchors, each a tether linking the core of magic to fixed laws.
Elarûn created masks of identity, stabilizing minds warped by wild Aether, enabling mortals to shape magic without becoming it.
Their work cost them. Each was diminished, fragmented, or bound to their creations.
Post-Binding Legacy
The Proto-Deities are rarely worshipped directly. Their names are known to scholars, Weavers, and heretics, but not sung in temples.
Some believe they still whisper through ancient relics, or that their minds are echoed in the structure of high magic.
Cults that attempt to undo the Binding often seek proto-relics—shards of Thal’korath’s chains, echoes of Myrrane’s breath, or stars that remember Aserion’s alignment.