Xore The World of Xore

In the beginning, there was nothing. In nothing, something waited, unaware of its own existence. This was Death. In Death, he was alone, and yet he was unaware of himself, and thus nothing existed.   In one miraculous act, Death witnessed the immaculate birth of Life from afar - a thing of beauty, energy, potential, matter and utter chaos; growing and branching out like a great tree. A Tree of Life.   Outward, its high branches spread, thriving and growing, twisting and branching outward endlessly. From its own immaculate jovial light, it cast a shadow over itself, over its gnarled roots - yet, Death watched as the beauty of life coiled and twisted over itself, crashing and clashing, choking and breaking, biting and bleeding and bending over itself and letting out cries of pain. So long Death had bared through his non-existence, he never realised his own loneliness, nor how enraptured he was by Life's movements. Ever curious, he sought to win Life's affections, for it to realise his own existence... and yet, wherever he sought to get close to Life, it withered and rotted away. He would not allow life to suffer continuously, and thus, he made several promises for the continuation of life - for there will always be life and death.   These promises formed the foundations for the beginning of the universe... allowing endless worlds to begin to flourish on their own. But Life is indifferent in beginning as it is in end - the worlds that began as grains of dust, would regress back to its form, only to begin the cycle again.   In the shadow of creation, the nothingness conflicted with immaculate life and the light that it cast - those, unlike Death, who had endured a sleepless and unknowing eternity now arose from the forlorn edges of existence and sought to bring it to oblivion, the 'true' state of being. Amongst these forces, came the origin of ideas - these ideas gave shape to themselves, and conflicted with one another in a war of defining the very essence of life and being. Through this mythical war, came the rise of divinity, beings with supernatural and immense power to shape and change the universe.   The war of these ideals and essences of ego brought forth good, evil and indifference - Death assured his own order of death, whilst Life ensured the boundless Chaos of Life. These primeval beings came forth, rising to sentience from the primeval matter of the cradle of creation - fighting one another in one great and divine war.   In these conflicts, the worlds encircled Creation - and were caught in this great war. Titans against gods. Many worlds were destroyed, whilst others prevailed. Only when Time gave itself its own shape and form, so that life can thrive and regress into death, and from death new life can be brought anew.   One such world that came to know the order of death and the chaos of life, was Xore. Formed from the aftermath of a war between Gods and Titans - those who succeeded divided themselves into many different groups with different ideals. Some sought to claim the world as their own, others sought to share it with their children - mortals.   The gods whose children were threatened by the nefarious and vile deities who sought only to bring pain and suffering - grew furious, and fought amongst their divine brethren, granting the gift of magic to mortals so that they may survive against the deific conflict. The deadly conflict broke apart the world, and eventually the Diabolical Ones were imprisoned outside the reality of the world... so that mortals could thrive. This led to a golden age, where through the power of magic mortals achieved incredible and miraculous feats beyond imagination... in this, mortals treaded a dangerous line. In their rise to power, wealth, influence, achieving incredible feats ... they thought themselves equals to the gods themselves. Some, thought themselves better. The usurpation of the god of death, one of Death's reapers, set a precedent that resulted in the beginning of the end of the golden age.   The endless pursuit of power by mortals, gave way to the unleashing of all of the imprisoned Prime Evils and Diabolical Ones the gods had spent the first age of the world gathering and imprisoning. One man, in his reckless pursuits, sought to claim their power for their own - and in his hubris, unleashed evil unto the world. Madness, ruin, ignorance, doubt, tyranny, murder, greed, rage, rot, cowardice, pain, jealousy, envy... true evil and chaotic powers... unleashed darkness from its prison, and so ignited their revenge on the Divines themselves. The world became ruined under the Great Calamity - the Gods, in an effort to stave off any possible future of repeating such a terrible event, sealed themselves away from the Prime Material world through a Divine Gate, and locked it away for all of perpetuity. It was there hope that mortals could once again thrive, and that the limits of the pursuits of power would prevent another Calamity from ever occurring again.   It has been centuries since the gods left the world - mortals have gathered together and made their own peace in new growing lands across many of Xore's continents. Many still feel the influence of the gods, directing the stage behind the curtain, nudging the tides of fate here and there... but never holding a great impact like they once had done before.   Xore remains divided between several continents - each continent with their own kingdoms and factions vying for their own purpose.   Who knows where the stories of mortals will continue on... or when the next great tale will begin? Perhaps you, weary traveller, may become part of it...