The Godswar

Era beginning/end

Before the creation of Achnelia the concept of time breaks down and the notion of facts becomes difficult, what follows is the legendary account of the world from the discovery of the gods, the creation of the first world Orshten and its subsequent destruction in the Godswar. The story ends at the beginning of time which can be traced, the story ends with the creation of Achnelia.

Varian awoke, suddenly aware of their existence, a shard of consciousness adrift in the Cosmic Sea, they seemed alone except for clumps of unformed matter. Varian somehow knew that they were perhaps the broken remains of what came before, but what that was, they did not know. Still, Varian sensed they were not alone and set forth into the Cosmic Sea to find others, other shards of consciousness. It was not long before Varian found Metoro, who, like themself, was a formless shard of consciousness and together they began to deduce their nature. They were immortal, without form, but powerful and were each an aspect of whatever came before them, Gods are what they were. Before long, the two found others, until they numbered twenty Gods which seemed to be all there were, alone together, in the Cosmic Sea. It was sometime later, that some of the Gods began to play with the unformed matter which floated around them, it was Grum, at first who pushed it together and hardened it, calling it stone. Then Yevosera took some other matter, but made it soft and fluid, calling it water and added it to Grum’s creation. Bishoway took some more and made it immaterial but strong, calling it wind and finally Lasper made the last of the four elements to illuminate what they had made for all to see, and called it fire, these four primordial gods of creation were pleased with what they saw and called it Orshten and it comprised all the matter in the Cosmic Sea, the other Gods saw Orshten and were impressed with what they could see and soon wanted to make creations of their own. The first world was made, but it was dead and comprised only of the four elements and since the Primordial Gods had used all the matter in the Cosmic Sea, other gods had nothing to mould and so remoulded what the Creator Gods had made. Zimmer was one of the first to be inspired, he took fire and removed the heat until all was left was pure light and with this light, formed the Sun. Chafta look some stone, crushed it into the earth and from the soil birthed the first plant, the first thing which was alive. Daeven was impressed but wanted more and created life that could move, the first animal.   With so much work to do, Jolenquay suggested the Gods required servants to lighten their load and made the first Planar creatures, Devils, and constructed a home for them, the Moon. Soon there was a flurry of creation and plants and animals covered the world of Orshten, but it was Xotan Tekli who took one of the animals, elves and decided to make them somewhat godlike, giving them the seed of free will which the gods enjoyed and thus made the first people. The Primordials looked on at all this activity with ire, for Orshten, the world they had made was forever changed, a perversion of the primordial, elemental world that they had made, the kept quiet, but seethed in silence. Whilst the Gods were pleased with what they made, it was Teskell who noted, that the elves which were meant to be mirrors of the Gods grandeur, seemed spoilt, whilst they had consciousness and will, they spend their time daydreaming and seemed to have no passion. Pottre, proposed a solution, what if living things required sustenance from the plants and had a limited life, then they would aspire for more and so all life was made mortal, requiring, food and sleep but still devoid of suffering. Now charged with purpose Xotan Tekli inspired the mortal elves to come together and form tribes of people, whilst Nurn gave them industry and with it, they made the first cities and temples. Some of the Gods were less interested in the creation, Fabenta, continued to wander the Cosmic Sea, certain that there was more than what they had found. Kratatak, a simpleton among the Gods, lacked the creativity to make anything, but tried and failed to their frustration and became jealous of creation. War, Hess, Siliko and Razor, had become bored with Orshten and their creations and wanted to try something new. But it was Siliko who hatched a plan to force a change, he saw that Kratatak was jealous, and saw the ire which the Primordial Gods harboured, but not wanting to risk all themselves, told War exactly what to say. “Look at this world.” War said to Kratatak, “What marvels it possesses, what wonders it has, all the Gods glory can be seen in this work, most of all the Creator Gods, all the Gods, except you.” With that Kratatak tried to attack the Primordials and failed, as all gods are immortal and instead turned their attention to Orshten itself, to destroy what they could not create.   The Godswar is what followed, a war that waged to determine the fate of Orsten and the future of the cosmos, three factions formed and the great battle raged. The Solar Gods wished only that Orshten should be left alone and remain how it was, The Lunar Gods wished Orshten destroyed whilst the Primordial’s wanted it restored to their first creation. Many gods remained on the sides, refusing to be involved with the Godswar, these included Siliko, who instigated it but then refused to fight. Daeven and Xotan Tekli did not want to risk the life which they created, Metoro who knew that all would lead to folly and Teskell, who loved all the gods and did not wish to fight. In the opening moves, the Lunar Gods came first, Jolenquay summoned all Devils to their side, Hess created death so mortals’ lives could end before their time, War, Kratatak and Razor raged against the world. Their servants were taken, the Solar Gods made their own and created the Celestials, the Creator Gods followed suit and made Elementals. As the war raged, the four Creator Gods began to get the upper hand, and so started to turn all life back to dust, restoring the world to its basic elements. The Solar Gods who wished the world preserved grew desperate, and in this moment of desperation and fear Nurn forged Torkamorn, a great weapon to turn the tide of war, whilst a God cannot be killed or their power removed, Nurn had figured, they could be stripped of their Will. Whilst the Solar Gods rallied with their new weapon to stop the Primordials’ the Lunar Gods also made their move and with a single final wave of destruction Razor blasted what was left of Orshten, the dusty remains of life, melted into black glass. The Creator Gods in their rage turned and attacked Razor, War came to their defence, seizing Toramorn from Nurn and turned it on the Primordials. Quickly War struck each god down until all creator gods lay still and devoid of will. It was in this moment that Teskell, most beloved of the Gods tried to take a stand, but War blinded in their fury continued to swing and without realising, struck down Teskell. For a moment all was still, as each remaining god mourned Teskell in silence and stillness, but Metoro driven mad with grief took Torkamorn and broke it, its pieces sent soaring across the Cosmic Sea, over the remains of Teskell wept and declared “I will leave the Cosmos and whence I return, will have my revenge, with that, Metoro somehow tore the cosmos asunder leaving a rift as he went, none of the Gods knew where he went or how not even Varian. Through the tear seeped a strange veil which warped everything it touched and none of the Gods tried to follow. In the aftermath, the Gods all agreed to never again have a Godswar, they made a new world, Achnelia and filled it with life, and agreed to terms under which creation would be protected. But each group of gods never fully forgave the other and thereafter formed two distinct groups which rein over the Sun and the Moon. Most of the elementals who served the Primordials in the Godswar were left without masters, without purpose and in grief, most became twisted and turned into Demons. Worlds were created for each of the Gods that were lost, memorials to their wills, made in their image, and these became the Elemental Planes. Kratatak who could never create for themself, soon realised the Lost Gods could be commanded to create on their behalf, as they had all their power but none of their will, and so Kratatak moved to the Elemental Planes and became the God of Elements and Elementals. Hess who felt some guilt for their part in the destruction of Orshten returned to its ruin, and partially restored the souls of the fallen, creating the undead, Razor joined them, but to revel in the destruction he and wrought and together they rule the remains of Orshten. After the creation of Achnelia Daeven was never happy with it, considering it not wild or beautiful enough, their dreams of a new world to come were made manifest as Essantia, which would be the next world after Achnelia. The Gods all agreed that the dream of Essantia was a good one, but it should not be made as a vision of all the Gods, as this seems to lead back to conflict, a single God would get the right to make the next world, wholly of their desires, and the creator would be determined by a peaceful competition that came to be known as ‘The Great Game’, a game for mortal souls.