The Founding
Long ago, this world was one o f tumultuous and chaotic
forces, naught but unbridled fires and churning, jagged
rock. Through the ashen skies of Creation Primordial,
the gods came from beyond the ether, new and formless.
Looking on this roiling realm, they saw potential for
great beauty, great strength, and the chance to learn
their own place in creation.
Thus, divine hands birthed the First Children, the
elves, who embodied beauty and grace, to walk the
verdant Green and know the music of the Blue. A
second creation was wrought: the dwarves, a hearty
people intent on taming the land, filled with the craft
and invention of the divinity beyond the ashen void. A
third people were given life: the humans, endowed with
hearts of passion that burned as brightly as their spans
of life were short, and infused with the need to celebrate
and laugh.
Other creations followed as the many races of Exandria
were given form from the boundless inspiration the
of the protean gods. These Children of Creation walked
the land and, as their knowledge grew, attempted to
build on it. But the land was fierce and treacherous, and
the children were dashed on the rocks and consumed
by the elements. Sorrow filled the hearts of the gods as
these first races struggled against a land that did not
want them, and the children looked to their creators for
guidance and protection. Thus, the gods gave to them
gifts, lending their own power to their children to create
and shape the world around them; these were the first divine magics.
With these magics, the various peoples learned to
bend the angry earth to their will: to temper the flames
that burst through the ground, to tame the floods that
threatened their abundance, and to turn seedling into
fruit and beast into meal. Language became commonplace,
culture was born, and governance replaced anarchy.
The protean creators, the divinity beyond the ashen
skies, saw progress and saw that it was good, yet fragile
and in need of guardians.
Thus were born the First Protectors: the Dragons Metallic
of Exandria, who safeguarded the gentler races.
The realm grew quieter, the people multiplied, and new
beings were given form and life. As culture grew, and
the people further understood the world around them,
they also looked up to their creators and gave them worship,
gave them form, gave them title and purpose.
But this realm did not wish to be tamed. Quaking
cliffs roared in defiance. Seas swelled and swallowed.
Flames erupted from the land. Beneath the elements,unknown to the Creators beyond the ashen skies, lived
ancient beings who had already claimed this world as
their home: the Primordials. These great elemental
titans that once dwelt deep within the world now rose
from their unseen domain to sunder the land once more.
The gods watched as their children, their joy, were
flung against the broken rocks or fed to formless terrors
unleashed by the destruction. Demonic entities spilled
from the umbra of the Abyss to feast on the carnage,
called forth by the violence and released to pick the carrion
clean.
Some gods were so full of grief and anger that they
wished to leave this world behind and start anew. They
tried to convince their divine kindred to join with the
Primordials, allowing chaos to reclaim the realm. Other
gods wished to remain and subdue the Primordials, to
tame the land for the sake of their creations. Thus was
created a divide among the gods. Celestial sentinels
once dedicated to battling the chaotic forces of the
Abyss now fell to hate and tyranny, forging new hells
under a fallen angel now claiming lordship over all the
realms of sulfur and brimstone.
The Creators that remained, wishing to salvage their
home, their creations, and their realized selves, were
forced to take up arms and learn to protect that which
they valued most. They organized their followers and
taught them how to draw from the powers of creation on
their own: to build, to change, and to destroy, all without
the aid of divine power. Mortals learned to defend themselves
through practices such as alchemy or by bending
the very fabrics of existence, though on a smaller scale
than that of their creators.
This gift was the knowledge of arcane magic, which
the good children used to drive away their traitorous
kin, banish the turned Creators to their own prison-like
planes, and ultimately destroy the Primordials, scattering
the chaotic elements to their own planes of existence.
The world was at peace for the first time since
its creation, and the first real civilization took root and
grew into a grand city called Vasselheim. The Cradle of
Creation. The Dawn City.
Culture developed anew, the races ventured forth to
discover and explore their own lands, and great music
filled the air to give a name to this world once and for
all: Exandria.
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