The Spawning Stone
Overview
While the lore surrounding The Creation of the Races is well known on Ara, there is a secret that has been kept from all but a few. During the events of the Darkest Timeline, Thanes of Order discovered this secret from two servants of the gods, and verified the information in the Book of Kek. After the death of Kek, his body was split and used to form the elemental planes. However, his mind wandered through the astral sea, and as it died it dreamed into being the plane of Limbo and the Slaad Lords before calcifying into stone. The second of the Slaad Lords, Ygorl used the stone to spawn the Slaad race. In his experimentations, Ygorl created the earliest types of fiends and fey, but abandoned them as ill-fitting for his purposes. These creatures disseminated to other realms. The creatures that would become known as fey, alighted in Silvanus' realm, the Feywild. Upon discovering their origins, Silvanus sought out the Spawning Stone that was once Kek's mind and used it to create the Eladrin and other denizens of his realm. Impressed by his creations, the other Gods soon used the stone to create the races of Ara. However, during the The War of the Energies, Belnias and Oloch used the stone greedily to swell their armies and when peace was finally declared, many of their creations, designed as they were for war, could not live in peace. These creatures fell and became Devils and Demons, continuing a shadow of War of the Energies in the form of the eternal Blood War. Humbled by the dangers of misusing the Spawning Stone, the Pantheon incorporated the Spawning Stone into the newly formed Goddess of Balance, Arawn, so that she could always balance the scales of Life & Death.Impact
The secrets of the Spawning Stone hold some important implications for Ara. Firstly, the details of the Spawning Stone better explain the creation of other realms within the cosmos, specifically that of Limbo, and imply that while the parts of Kek that created the 4 elements and 2 energies were the most important to the Balance, other parts of Kek may have been used to craft the known universe. Secondly, it raises questions of the accepted myths surrounding the creation of Ara. While this information is not widely shared, it was previously believed that the existence of Kek was the greatest secret of creation. Now it is clear than even those who thought they understood the origins of the universe may not truly see the whole picture. It would be uncomfortable news for many to discover that Slaad are the oldest of the mortal races. Finally, the existence of the Spawning Stone, and its placement within Arawn, while painting a clearer picture of her relationship to life and death, raises some serious questions. Prominently, widespread knowledge of this information would surely draw concern over whether Balance and Order can ever truly be acheived whilst the God of this domain contains a part of Kek.The Sphinxes Tale
B: Clash of light & dark,
K: Battles leave their mark,
B: Before the balance forged,
K: With mortal blood disgorged,
B: From war that wouldn’t cease,
K: Two voices sued for peace,
B: Hands but never fists,
K: Salve from nature’s gifts,
B: Speaks but never fights,
K: Life, in green and whites
Both: Whom do we serve?
- The First Riddle (answer, Lugh & Dianekt)
“We were there, at the truce, representatives of Dianekt and Lugh, founding peace and agreement between Belnias and Oloch.”
[Images of Luminia and Cherog and a baby of light and dark manifest.]
“A cycle of destruction, undone by their creations”
“A tale of creations that almost spelled destruction”
[The previous image disappears and in its place an image of the moon]
“Goddess of light, though this will burn,
your daughter now will not return,
And no matter how you may yearn,
Her pleas you must agree to spurn”
“(Oloch) You’ll keep Elreyna as requested,
Not in a cell, she’ll be respected,
And by your oath, she’ll stay protected
And in your realm, Bel’s light reflected.”
- The Sphinxes' account of the peace treaty that ended the War of Energies and the binding of Elreyna to Oloch's domain
"Sphinxes: How did the Gods create Ara?
Thanes: From the remnants of Kek
S: Do you remember what they used?
T: His breath, body, blood, heart (/warmth), hope and despair.
S: Yes, these aspects were used to create Ara and the elemental planes.
One aspect is missing, can you think, do you know what it might be?
T: His mind.
S: Other Planes exist, one you may know, where thoughts are made real, its name?Limbo
T: Limbo.
S: Limbo, a plane of mind’s creation, whose mind?
T: Kek's Mind.
S: Kek’s calcified mind was found, in Limbo by a God, who dreamed of filling their fledgling realm with creatures, a dream they turned into reality, they were the first but not the last. Who were they?
T: Silvanus.
S: Correct, and following in Silvanus’ footsteps, soon the other Gods were eager to create, and flocked to use this spawning stone. And life came forth to Ara and for a time it was good. But with war declared between light and dark how did they used Kek’s final spark?
T: To create soldiers.
S: And, from what you know, do you believe, that peacetime saw them take their leave?
T: No.
S: Holy warriors of light and darkness created only for War adrift in peace. Rebelled against the new order and fell from grace.
Hellbent, they fight on evermore, a combat known as the...?
T: Blood war.
S: Correct.
The servants of Belnias, attempted to recreate her light, but forged an infernal fire, with all of the heat but none of her warmth.
The followers of Oloch hid themselves in all the worst elements of the his darkness and in that abyss they found madness.
They fight their blood war still. Celestials once, now fiends forever, a threat to all; mortals and Gods."
- The Sphinxes reveal the origins of the Spawning Stone, Fiends and the Blood War
“A lesson learned, the stone entrusted,
Into a figure newly born,
Who sees both life and death adjusted,
To the one known as Arawn.
The spawning stone, last vestige of the dead god Kek was entrusted to a mortal.
Their godhood, blessing and a burden both maintains the balance and hide this secret of the gods."
- The Sphinxes reveal their divine secret, the Spawning Stone rests within Arawn.
The Book of Kek
“And so, the betrayers tore the body of Kek into its base essences.
This they used to form the realms of elements and energies.
And where the realms conjoined was birthed the material plane.
But in their greed, the betrayers cast aside Kek’s dying mind.
And in His dying, Kek dreamt,
A dream of all that had been stolen from him,
And from His dreams spawned Limbo, realm of the Slaad, and a home to Chaos.
And in his dreaming, Kek raged madly,
An insanity caused by the injustices against Him,
And from His insanity spawned Ssendam, first born of the Slaad and Lord of Madness.
And after His raging, Kek gained clarity,.
Clarity of purpose and of the inevitable end
And from His clarity spawned Ygorl, Lord of Entropy and inheritor of Kek’s will.
And as it drifted, Kek’s mind dreamt on,
And so spawned Chourst, The Lord of Randomness,
And Bazim-Gorag, The Firebringer,
And Urae-Naas, The Phagebreeder,
And Norsar, The Many,
Until, at last, Kek’s final spark dwindled, and His mind became as stone.
And as he looked upon Kek’s creation, Ygorl saw from these beginnings an end,
And in his wisdom took the stone of Kek’s mind and spawned from it a host of Slaad.
But the betrayers' greed for Kek’s brilliance knew no limits,
Silvanus Barksblood, Two-Headed and Two-Faced chanced upon Kek’s realm,
And stole away to his woodland domain the spawning stone of Kek,
There to make mortals and Fey - playthings to fill his forest glades and plump his ego,.
Soon the others traitors all clamoured round, congratulating him for his stolen wonder
And turned their hand to spawning further insults to Kek’s grace”
- The Book of Kek, Chapter 13
Date of First Recording
Unrecorded
Date of Setting
Creation
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