The Maker and the World
The following is the record of the history of the early ages of the world as taught by the Church of Aidios, beginning with the world's creation and ending with the ascension of Aidios, which begun the current era.
I. The Origin of the Universe
Before the Maker, there was nothing. Just infinite, empty void. The Maker was the first being to exist amidst a vast nothingness - the first being with thought. Yet there was nothing to do amidst this great void, so the Maker slept. As he slept, he dreamt of a world he could walk upon to ease his boredom. He dreamt of night and darkness to brighten and dull the monotony of the void. He dreamt of oceans' rise and fall, of land and skies to hide the darkness of the void beyond. So great was the Maker's power that the void itself bent to his will and pulled back, forming the mortal plane and all the planes around it. When the Maker opened his eyes again, he gazed upon the world he dreamt of, and smiled. Yet soon he grew lonely. Though he had dreamt of lush plants and various animals roaming the world, these were not like him, and thus he was alone. The Maker sought other sentience, and from himself plucked a thought. He shaped it into form and breathed life into it - thus came the first sentient humanoid, an elf. The Maker looked upon the first of his creations and found them to be pleasant in conversation. Thus, he continued making more. Soon came humans, molded from the tree bark, dwarves, molded from the rock, and halflings, molded from the grass blades. With so many wonderful creatures about, the Maker felt pleased with his work and his world. Thus the world was made, clean and safe and beautiful. There was no sin, no catastrophic energy. There was no death and no violence, just peaceful coexistence.II. The Tower of Beginning
For many years following, the Maker walked among the people he created, acting as their leader. He built for them a wonderful civilization and they wanted for nothing. Yet such great feats of creation tired him, and so the Maker had to take leave to rest in the world beyond the mortal plane. He entrusted the world to the elves, his first creations, believed to be the closest to him as a result. Thus, he departed the mortal world for the first time. Years passed and the mortals were thriving. Yet they grew to miss their Maker. Some feared that he had forgotten them, that they had somehow slighted him and caused him to abandon them and their world. Thus, the various races all came together with a shared goal - to build a stunning structure that reached all the way to the skies, so that the Maker would see it and know that they revered him. Thus began the construction of the Tower of Beginnings. The tower stood tall and proud amidst the planes of the Maker's world. Yet as it grew taller, some elves began to wonder - do they even need the Maker? If they alone, without divine help, were capable of creating such a tower, then surely they had no need for a god that had all but left them regardless? So deep did they sink into their hubris that they had forgotten the gifts bestowed upon them by the Maker as his first creations. Instead, they began to believe that they alone were superior to all. From elf to elf, this false belief spread, and soon they began to plot to prove themselves the true rulers of the realm. One such elf, a true weaver of words with a silver tongue dipped in poison, approached some of the more feeble-minded humans. 'What use have we of gods, when we are capable of so much by ourselves? Instead of worshipping, we could claim the Maker's throne for ourselves and rule. Join us, and you shall have a place in our new world of the mighty and powerful,' the elf whispered to the humans. The weak-willed found truth in words that contained none, and were tempted to the side of destruction. Soon, many other weak-willed minds from among other races also joined this plot. So strong was their hubris that it awoke the Maker from his slumber. He gazed upon the mortal world and saw that the Tower of Beginning was nearly tall enough to reach his realm - but its brilliance had been tainted with deceit and lies from the very ones that he had entrusted to guard the world. Enraged, the Maker punished the world by tearing down the thin barrier that kept away all the terrible things. From the Feywild came destructive magical energy, washing over the world and destroying many things in the process. All beings of the mortal plane felt the great pulse that came from it and were tainted by the corruption from the other side. Few remained pure, and from henceforth all being carried with them some degree of sin - of magic. The elves, being the cause of this catastrophe, were punished tenfold - not a single one would ever be born without sin, and they would carry the curse of their connection to the Feywild to the end of days. Worse still, the mortal plane was open for other planes as well. From the Nine Hells came the demons, eager to explore this new place with so many souls to corrupt. In response, the Heavenly Order sent forth their angels. Great battles were waged between the two, as well as other powerful creatures from other planes. It was in that time that races such as tieflings, aasimar, and genasi first came to be, born from the influence of other planes upon the mortal plane. The gnomes, too, were drawn from the Feywild and trapped upon the mortal plane during this time. Eventually, however, the Maker's rage calmed and he felt grief over the war-torn and damaged world he had once so loved. Thus with his mighty power, he banished the extradimensional beings back to their homes. The gates to those realms were sealed, if only temporarily. The Maker returned to walk together with his creations in hopes of rebuilding the world from its devastated state. The Tower of Beginnings was swept away in the chaos, as if it had never existed at all. Yet the damage was done. Death, famine, and plague now existed in the world, and the scars of the wars between the planes would not be long forgotten. Worse still, the mortal plane was now fully and forever connected to the other planes, leaving its denizens vulnerable. Yet still the world moved on.III. Rise and Fall of the False Dragon Gods
Time passed, and the world began to heal. Yet the Maker once more felt the need to rest and recover his strength, which was much expended banishing the foreign creatures from his world. Worried that his leave would cause another incident, however, he tapped into the magical energy that now filled the world and shaped from it dragons to guard the world he had made and keep it safe from the dangers lurking beyond the planar barriers. With this, the Maker departed to sleep once more. Peace lasted for many years. However, in time, people begun to forget the Maker and his power. The dragons grew greedy and proud, proclaiming themselves as gods to the weak-willed mortals. They created dragonborn in their image and ruled the world with tyrannical claws. It was them that brought about the end of the prosperous age and plunged the world into a dark age, now lost to history. War broke out as the false gods tried to usurp each-other in their folly. So great was the grief of the common people that it reached even the Maker in his slumber. When he awoke, he found his sentinels had broken the peace and proclaimed themselves to be the superior beings. Enraged, he gathered the power he regained and struck them drown, driving the false gods away from the mortal place and scattering their forces. Yet he looked upon the young dragonborn race, lost and confused, knowing nothing but the lies and deceit fed to them by their creators, and the Maker felt pity for the poor creatures. He spared all the dragonborn that showed potential for peace, allowing them to become one of the races of the world. Yet the battle had taken much out of him and he had to once again sleep and rest away from the mortal plane. He left behind the confused people of the world, some worshipping the Maker and others worshipping the Old Gods still. Several new faiths are believed to have emerged in this time, including the spiritualism of the goliath tribes.IV. Aidios, Bride of the Maker
Many years passed, and still the Maker slept. The mortal world evolved and changed, adapted and overcame. Yet the roots of darkness that had taken hold in the world and the forces from other planes still sought to break free and wreak havoc upon the mortals once again. Over time, this darkness festered, alleviated only slightly on occasion by the appearance of terrible monsters throughout the land. Most of it, however, accumulated deep within the earth, where the dark creatures driven away by the Maker's light dwelled. There, they grew in number and power, waiting for the day they would rise and claim the land. The Maker, sensing this impending threat, awoke again to look upon a world that had mostly forgotten him. Deep in sorrow, he all but resigned to see the world be overtaken by calamity, when he heard a beautiful voice. It was a young maiden, her soul pure as the virgin snow beneath her bare feet. She tended the first spring blooms as she sang a prayer to the Maker and her voice carried in it the kind of pure belief and dedication that only the most devout followers have. The maiden's name was Aidios and the Maker became enamored with the purity of her devotion and the beauty of her voice. Though she could not see him, she sang to him daily, and in return he made himself known. Flowers bloomed around her. Birds chirped along with her. Nature itself seemed to smile upon her very existence. Word of Aidios' blessing began to spread. She came to be known as the Maker's chosen and people came from far and wide to speak to her or even to lay their eyes upon her. Aidios began to preach to these people and anyone who would listen about the Maker, the one true deity. It was also around that time that she began to receive visions of a terrible threat. The Maker warned her that a great army of undead beings would rise up from underground in the near future, and if the armies of mortal kind were not ready, all living beings would perish under the Blight. Determined to help the world prepare, Aidios left her small hometown and set out on foot to travel the world and warn all people of the upcoming disaster. Though she was faced with much opposition from those who had turned away from the Maker's light, Aidios managed to gather many loyal followers from among all of the mortal races. Those among her followers who she trusted most closely were called the Inner Circle and were made up of eight individuals of great skill and moral standing. These eight were Fala, Fel'rekt, Xanathar, Soth, Dalakhar, the twins Nat and Mirt, and Ahthor. Together with her Inner Circle, Aidios fought bravely against the undead and, despite the wealthy and powerful not believing her at first, managed to put an end to the Fell Dragon. Many were lost in the war and many more perished in the months following, as the Blight still had an effect even as it faded. Still, the battle was won, at great cost, and the Maker smiled upon his chosen Bride, who could once again sing without worry.V. The Death and Ascension of Aidios
Yet even as peace once again settled over the land, as the deceased were given proper burial, the evil within mortal hearts did not rest. With the battle won, those in power now saw the way Aidios led her followers as a threat. They feared that she would take from them the power and control that they had so coveted, believing her to be akin to them. In truth, Aidios never wished for power. Despite her new status as a Saint, she wished only to help people and to bring joy to the world and to the Maker, who she loved before all others. However, before long those who feared her were joined by those who were envious of her, those who coveted her or her gifts, and they began to collude. 'If we can only find a way to get rid of her,' they whispered. 'Then we could go back to every day life without worry.' Yet they knew that she was surrounded at all times by those who were fiercely loyal to her, all gifted by the Maker with miraculous gifts. The Inner Circle would never let any harm befall the Maker's Bride, people thought. They were wrong. It is unknown why Ahthor betrayed Aidios. Perhaps when offered land and riches, he succumbed to greed. Perhaps he fell to envy, to lust, or perhaps to pride, the frequent enemy of all mortal men. Regardless of reason, it was Ahthor, one of the Inner Circle, who was approached by the rulers of the world's nations, and it was Ahthor who led Aidios, alone, to the place where her enemies would be waiting. She was captured and trialed, sentenced to death for treason and the use of dark magics to deceive the masses. Only a year after the fated conclusion of the Battle for Lost Souls, Aidios was burned at the stake as a witch, and all members of the Inner Circle were declared enemies of the state in every nation. The Maker saw this and flew into a terrible rage. For the death of his beloved, he sent upon the world a storm so powerful that it tore the land itself, shattering the continent of Aradia into many fractured pieces. First came the flames that scorched the earth, destroying crops and killing thousands. Then, came the plagues and locusts, picking off those who had thought themselves safe in their cities of steel and stone. Finally, as the Maker's rage died and sadness set in, came the floods. The skies opened up and poured down so much water that even the vast oceans could not contain it. Cities flooded, whole settlements washed off the map by terrible tsunamis and tornadoes. This terrible event would eventually receive the name Storm of Wrath in later historical records. Then, the impossible happened. Amidst the thunder and crashing of waves as the storm ravaged the mortal plane, a song carried over the water, full of hope and prayers for a better tomorrow. The Maker paused, recognizing the voice of his beloved - for even in death, Aidios' soul was so pure that it managed to reach the god. She pleaded for forgiveness, not for herself, but for the foolish mortals of the world. Though still slighted, the Maker conceded, and used his power to raise his beloved from the dead, ascending her to sit beside him on the Celestial Throne. The light that shone from her burial sight as her soul elevated to the heavens could be seen even through the downpour. Slowly, the storm came to end as Aidios soothed the Maker's anger and sorrow. Though not ready to forgive the mortal folk, the Maker decided that he would leave them in the hands of his Bride. He would not interfere and instead would watch as she worked to return the world to the innocence and purity of the olden days, when there was neither evil nor death. For this effort, he had given her the Archangels - the very friends that fought with her and later died for her, the Inner Circle. In time, the Church of Aidios was formally established to honor Aidios' sacrifice and her cause. Word spread throughout the new continents of her story and her betrayal, and people flocked to embrace the belief in the Maker and the mortal woman that had saved them all. And so, the Church now stands, its mission to bring the word of the Maker and the song of Aidios to every mortal, so that our plane may one day return to paradise once more.
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