There are many stories about The Creation, and no mortal can truly know what has occurred in the depths of prehistory. All they can do is read through the religious texts of various faiths and try to piece together an approximated truth.
This is one such possible truth.
RealmSpace formed when Ticonderoga, the Demiurge, decided to create.
At the height of creation lies a cause or a purpose whose intent remains inscrutable even to the gods. This being beyond beings, this idea and first cause, the Demiurge, is responsible for the sum of all things. This thing, idea, concept, being, escapes all description. It is also named Ticonderoga, who's portfolio is the entirety of the multiverse- the only thing it does not preside over is the Far Realm.
Out of Ticonderoga’s pure neutrality, Law and Chaos were embodied by Ao and Chaos respectively.
Out of Ticonderoga’s urge to create, Life and Death were embodied by ****** and ****** respectively.
Ao created the Astral Sea as a place to house beings similar to him.
Chaos created the Elemental Chaos as a place to create the Primordials.
Ao and Chaos then worked together to create walls that separate RealmSpace from the Far Realm, a space that existed, perhaps even before the Demiurge. Or perhaps the Far Realm is a space that houses all the elements of the Demiurge that we cannot hope to understand.
Ao and Chaos began to argue and disagree. To help them resolve their disputes, they both worked together to create Balance, embodied by Torog.
These forms, these undeniably pure forms of a portfolio, then interlocked and merged with each other to form the four secondary brethren:
These beings of unimaginable power then worked together to create a limitless RealmSpace and bind it by rules. Ao and Chaos became rivals, as Ao began to enforce more and more rules on the burgeoning RealmSpace. In response, Chaos visited the Far Realm to find enough power to construct his own space, free from Ao laws.
Chaos found a pure crystal of the Far Realm and consumed it, becoming powerful enough to create the first Primordials, who were then far stronger than the gods that the rest of the Brethren began to create.
The primordials, having essentially originated from the Far Realm, felt the urge to create and spread, as the Far Realm does. With the help of their elemental servants they created the World and a dozen of other planets out of the creationstuffs that eddied between the Elemental Chaos and the Astral Sea, by mixing and merging different elemental forces to create a glowing sphere of cooling magma, and discarding chunks of matter which were too bright or too dark.
The chunks of discarded creation-stuff hurled to the right were dark, more shadow than substance. The chunks hurled to the left were intensely bright and vivid, more real than their central counterparts. The bright pieces coalesced into the Feywild, while the dark ones into the Shadowfell. Both realms are echoes of the World. One, bright and dreamlike, filled with arcane magic; the other, dark and dead, filled with sorrow.
The gods looked down from the Astral Sea and saw what the primordials had created with interest, excitement, and even a touch of jealousy. They coveted the World, because they understood how to make it better, though each, perhaps, had a different view of what 'better' might mean. Fascinated with the new world, the gods attempted to improve on the primordial's work. The churning elements resolved into oceans and landmasses, diffuse light became a moon and stars.
Primal spirits, the living embodiments of everything from the life-force of the world to specific locations, came into being. Perhaps their existence was a natural consequence of the World's creation, or maybe the gods created them intentionally or inadvertently when they imbued the creation with permanence. Devas (aasimar) formed when some angels, out of love and desire for the World, made deals with the recently awakened primal spirits, giving up their true immortality. Caught in the endless coils of the primal spirit known as the World Serpent, the would-be devas would make the World their home forever.
When the primordials created the World and the other planets, they hung them in the void between the Astral Sea and the Elemental Chaos, and set them in motion alongside other celestial bodies that track across the heavens.
The primordial Piranoth the World Mover was the creator and master of the first titans. He made them to help explore and shape the new creation.
Desiring to create mortal vessels that would not only live in the world of elements, but would give life and soul to the elements themselves, Io crafted dragons to represent the pinnacle of mortal form. He fused astral spirits into the raw elements, creating dragons in his own shape but without a divine spark, so that dragons might frolic and exult in the new world formed by the primordials. Each time Io created new dragons he was in a different mood, determining what those dragons would eventually become. When Io was filled with compassion, he created dragons that transformed into metallics after his death. When filled with dark emotions Io spawned dragons that eventually would be warped into chromatic and catastrophic dragons. Some metallic dragons believe catasthropic and chromatic dragons are failed prototypes of the metallic race. Other legends claim that Bahamut and Tiamat were among the oldest dragons created by Io. Whatever the truth, most sages believe Io gave his creations a balance favoring elemental power (instead of astral essence) as a sign of his favor and as a symbol of his authority over the primordials. This act was integral in fomenting the hatred between the primordials and the gods.
Corellon, Erathis, Zehir, and other gods wanted to prevent internecine strife. Amoth, Moradin, Torog and Tuern created the first maruts from the stuff of the Astral Sea and the souls of unborn angels to serve as impartial arbiters of divine disputes and, eventually, enforcers of divine pacts. The gods agreed to share their power over creation, signing the 'compact of heaven' that also compelled angels to serve them.
Moradin crafted the sun in a legendary mountain at the eastern edge of the World named the Dawnforge Mountain.
Moradin wanted to craft a monument that would be visible anywhere in the world, a towering symbol of the god's power that would inspire worship and obedience and serve as a testament to his artistry. He worked the stone of the living earth into a mountain that touched the sky, even as its roots sunk far into the depths of the earth. He named the mountain Stoneroot. Like the rest of the newly birthed world, it had its own spirit. The mountain's peak was draped in a cloak of snow, rains flowed down its sides and formed mighty rivers, and hosts of lesser spirits were born in Stoneroot's mighty shadow.
Some regions of the World were left unfinished, or else forces from beyond damaged them. In those regions, the fundamental aspects of the World are weakened, influenced, and besieged by these of other worlds.
The gods drew astral essence and mixed it with the tiniest bits of creation-stuff to create mortals to populate the World and worship them.
Corellon discovered the Feywild. The most widely accepted story claims that arose from the tears Corellon wept from sorrow, beauty, and mirth during the days before Lolth?s fall, when he lived in perfect harmony with her and her sister Sehanine. From sorrow?s tears rose the dark elves, from beauty?s the eladrin (high elves), and from mirth the wood elves. The first elves lived in perfect harmony, honouring their maker and the Seldarine (the ?fellowship of brothers and sisters of the wood?, the fey gods) as was their due.
Moradin chiseled dwarves from the bones of the earth using his Soulforge. His Firstborn had bones cut from bedrock, souls wrought from iron, and hearts carved of gleaming diamonds. The Firstborn tunneled into the sides of Stoneroot, and Moradin himself built a temple at the frozen summit where he could dwell among his followers from time to time. Shortly after creating them, legends state that Moradin created a divine beverage, not realizing 15 his creation was watching carefully, and immediately developed ale.
A now-forgotten god of peace, kingship, wisdom, and the sky, known to modern sages as ?He Who Was? or ?He Who Once Lit Our Way?, created humanity. Many stories surround the creation of humans, but the truth of it remains unknown
As humanity was created in the mortal World, pixies appeared in the Feywild as their reflections.
When the gods created the races of the world, each race heard the Supernal language in a different way, based on fundamental characteristics of their nature. From those distinct ways of hearing, the foundational languages of the world arose.
Ancient dragons mastered the power of arcane magic before other mortal races, becoming the first sorcerers. They used their arcane might to shape the world around them, dominating many regions. The dragons then taught the mightiest of mortals how to transcend their physical forms and become as mighty as a dragon.
A vast forest stretched from the Cairngorm Peaks to the region one day would emerge the Dawnforge Mountains. In this primeval era, the Winterbole and Harken forests were one, and all its inhabitants bowed before the forest?s venerable sovereigns, the treants. Nentir Forest had little to fear from dragonkind, because Malorunth the Eternal Ash, a powerful archfey, extended its protection across the entire forest.
The gods experimented in other planet created by the primordials, attempting to create a thinking, living planet. They managed to ignite a spark of life within the planet, who called itself Allabar. But the gods feared the power that their creation possessed. They threw Allabar into the Far Realm. There, Allabar was warped in body and mind.
In the Feywild, the different factions of the archfey merged their royal courts into one great congress, the Court of Stars, acknowledging the leadership of Tiandra, the Summer Queen.
A host of giants and titans marched upon Stoneroot and laid siege to the Firstborn dwarves in their great halls, as envious primordials demanded dwarves of their own. Moradin clashed against the primordial Vezzuvu at the feet of Stoneroot to defend the dwarven race, but Moradin was outmatched and fled, seeking the aid of his fellow gods. At Vezzuvu's mighty hands, the dwarves were enslaved and Stoneroot was smashed to rubble. The great primal spirit of the mountain barely survived.
The primordials gave the dwarves to the giants as slaves, which the giants used to carve an empire. In the long darkness of this ancient time, dwarves were slaves to the giants, building grand cities for them, crafting exquisite items for them, and offering them the treasures they found by breaking the bones of the world. Of course, the dwarves cried out to their creator, but Moradin could not face the wrath of so many primordials alone. Some dwarves infused with the elements, becoming forgeborn dwarves, galeb duhrs, azers, and eisk jaats.
Witchcraft is an ancient practice that came about in an age before arcane magic was studied, when monstrous titans ruled over creation and the secret of making fire was yet undiscovered. In this chaotic dark age the primitive peoples called out to the night for protection and power, and the goddess Sehanine answered. Those who accepted her arcane gifts became the first witches.
Corellon taught the secrets of arcane magic to the first elves. Some suggest he bestowed magic to mortals as a means of empowering them to beautify the world, to transform it from its ugly, ill-formed state into a paradise, while others believe Corellon pitied mortals and gave them the means to defend themselves against the primordials who sought their destruction. The first magical academy was the White Spires of Callanar, construted by eight wizards on the same spot where Corellon had bestowed magic on his people. The oldest eladrin records explain they were the first to master arcane energy and that they were the ones to codify the formulas wizards and others now memorize to cast their spells.
Nerull?a clever and ruthless human?became one of the first nonelves to learn arcane magic from Corellon.
Dwarves were the first artificers, combining their race?s crafting skills with magic.
The elven people founded their first empire in the Feywild, Cendriane, before mankind emerged from caves.
People of all races roamed the wilds and lived hand-to-mouth. Life was a constant struggle. Erathis pitied these barbaric people, and descended from the Astral Sea to lift them out of the mire of ignorance and hardship. She gathered the greatest tribes of all the races to the plains, where she inscribed in stone the first laws, using a stylus made from one of her own ribs.
As of now, we know the following with regards to the Ancient Brethren:
NOTE:
You will note that morality doesn’t exist in the Brethren. This is fundamental, as objective morality does not exist within RealmSpace. The closest thing to evil with the Brethren is the Far Realm, as its mere existence destroys, corrupts, abuses and absolutely annihilates anything it touches, which is in pure rivalry and is mutually exclusive from RealmSpace itself.
