An Outline of History

Creation

Arun

The world has always existed. After each age, the world returns to the void to begin anew.

Metiel, poisoned by the world and gods he has consumed, lies rotting in the void. The vines and sinews of the world's thread curled and withered, tangling themselves into an endless knot.

Atima, arriving, sees the knot of Metiel and gently tends to it, healing and unwinding. Yet as Metiel regains his strength, his death and life grow too, forming new vines to build the world and killing them to wind ever greater the knot.

Atima weaves and smooths the world as quickly as she can, but Metiel is too powerful, and soon the vines swallow her whole.

As the vines crush and bury her, she finds the corpse of Nethra. Acting quickly, she wakes Nethra, and as his ten thousand eyes open he sees in the shape of the weaving vines the shape of things to come. He sees, too, a fuel source and ignites the vines.

The flames grow so quickly that Atima fears the world will be destroyed again. Nethra, Lord of Secrets, knows that Liral can stop his flames and where her corpse lies among the vines. Atima begs him to tell her, but he refuses, reveling in his secret knowledge.

Atima, wishing to bargain, ponders until she creates the Unbreakable Bind. But Nethra refuses this gift. Atima, wishing to bargain, ponders until she creates the Unspeakable Word. But again, Nethra refuses this gift. Atima, wishing to bargain, ponders until she creates the Irreversible Sword. Nethra, at last, is greatly tempted by this gift, and he accepts.

Atima finds and revives Liral, who in turn freezes Metiel and Nethra's combat. The heat of Nethra's flames melts much of the ice, forming the oceans; Metiel's vines churn and surge upwards, forming the land. Liral is relegated to freezing at the edges, keeping Metiel's growth from moving too far. As Liral works, sparks from Nethra's flames attack and assail her; annoyed, she captures them and places them in the sky, forming the stars.

Metiel, finding the world growing too cold and still, reaches deep into himself within the earth and finds the shattered remnants of Vihano. He restores Vihano to life, and their multitudinous forms reach up into the sky. As they slice upwards through the earth, Metiel's blood becomes the animals and peoples of the world. Vihano becomes the Sun, and Atima, pursued by Nethra and Metiel for preventing their duel's completion, flees to the safety of the stars and becomes the Moon.

The First Age

In the beginning, giants ruled the earth. They did great and terrible things, and raised up many awesome works. In time, they wanted to do more and to rule the skies as well as the earth, and so they forged the dragon-stones and used them to create the dragons. The dragons, resenting their servitude, eventually rebelled against the giants and crushed their empire. But the giants had hidden the dragon-stones, and the dragons could not create more of themselves without them; their successor empire gradually fell into ruin.

The Second Age

The timid-folk grew more powerful and eventually built the Second Empire, with the Tuldra, the Omnipresent City, as their capital.