Black Fire

Creation to Cataclysm
In the time before the First Black Fire War, when the divine realms still maintained their original harmony, Aejeon, High God of Fire, harbored growing ambitions that would forever alter the fabric of reality. His son Malovatar, first of the Malondrian Eeirendelios, shared and secretly nurtured these ambitions, though his own plans reached far beyond his father's understanding.
Within the Crystal Palace of Fold, which Malovatar had constructed in 4161 as the primary gateway between Malondria and Zerthia, father and son began experiments with fire's fundamental nature. They sought to create a new form of flame that would honor Te Vevutur's original act of creation. What they actually achieved would prove to be creation's antithesis.
The Black Fire emerged from their workings as something that defied the natural order - a force that acted like antimatter against the very substance of reality. Its first manifestation in 7596 caused such severe distortions in the fabric of existence that even Te Vevutur, the Creator himself, stirred in his distant contemplation of the cosmos.
Malovatar's influence over his father had been subtle but profound. Where Aejeon saw the Black Fire as a tool for reshaping creation into something more perfect, his son recognized it as a means of unraveling the established order of the divine realms. The power they had unleashed could cut through the waters of Marenwe "like antimatter versus matter," creating vast zones of death and corruption.
Their first deliberate act was the creation of the Celevesi - the Dark Elves - forged directly from the Black Fire's essence in 7598. These beings, beautiful yet terrible, possessed an inherent connection to the destructive force that had given them birth. Their very existence proved that the Black Fire could not just destroy but transform, though always toward darker purposes.
The formation of the Malo Auline - the Black Fire Generals - followed in 7600. Altabar, Aialgan, Draleba, and Lavos were chosen for their particular affinities with different aspects of the Black Fire's nature. Each general could channel and direct specific properties of this force, though none, not even Malovatar himself, could fully control it.
The Black Fire's influence began to reach beyond the divine realms, creating rifts through which entities from the Abyss could emerge. The Demon Lords, sensing opportunity in the chaos being unleashed, rose to power in 7601. Their involvement would add another layer of horror to the spreading catastrophe, as they brought their own corrupting influence to bear on an already destabilizing reality.
By 7604, the Masters of Fire Beasts - Anicul, Ranul, and Rethul - had begun creating new races to serve as soldiers in the growing conflict. The first Rabble Races, including Trolls and Goblins, emerged from their experiments. These beings were crafted specifically for war, their very nature aligned with the destructive purpose of the Black Fire.
Malovatar's true genius revealed itself in how he orchestrated events to create maximum chaos while maintaining the appearance of serving his father's vision. Each new development - the creation of dark races, the alliance with demons, the spreading corruption - seemed to follow naturally from their initial discovery, yet all served his deeper purpose of fundamentally altering the nature of existence.
The early Years of the war showed how completely the Black Fire could transform reality itself. Where it touched the oceans of Marenwe, they became pools of living poison. Where it burned across the skies of Gerlandria, the very air became thick with corrupting essence. Even the light of Thiandalune dimmed where the Black Fire's shadow fell, though that realm proved more resistant to its effects than others.
The war's escalation revealed the true horror of what Aejeon and Malovatar had unleashed. The Black Fire didn't simply destroy - it corrupted and transformed everything it touched. Divine beings caught in its flames didn't merely die; their very essence was twisted and absorbed, adding their power to the consuming darkness. The screams of dying gods echoed across multiple planes of existence, their final moments stretched into seeming eternity by the Black Fire's reality-warping properties.
Not all fire deities supported this catastrophic power. In 7610, Aergerus led the Galavesi - the White Fire Elves - in rebellion against the Black Fire forces. This schism revealed how deeply the conflict had divided even the realm of Malondria itself. Brother fought brother as the White Fire Elves tried to contain the spreading corruption, their pure flames proving a natural counterpoint to the Black Fire's consuming void.
Aejeon's growing awareness of what he had helped create drove him to flee into the remote regions of Malo in 7613. His flight was not mere cowardice - he had begun to experience visions of every death, every corruption, every horror that the Black Fire had caused. These visions drove him to the edge of madness, yet they also revealed the true nature of what his son had manipulated him into creating.
The pursuit and capture of Aejeon by Thianon's forces in 7615 led to his imprisonment in the Sun-City of Núril-Ambantil. There, he was subjected to magical torments designed to force him to reveal how to stop the Black Fire's spread. The interrogation techniques used by the light gods left permanent scars on reality itself, their desperate attempts to extract information creating zones where light and darkness became hopelessly entangled.
Malovatar's response to his father's capture revealed the full extent of his power. Leading an army twenty-five million strong, he laid siege to the Sun-City in 7617. The Siege of the Sun, as it became known, demonstrated how the Black Fire could corrupt even the purest light. The city's golden walls turned black under his assault, its radiant defenders twisted into shadow versions of themselves.
The rescue of Aejeon proved to be another step in Malovatar's complex manipulation. His father, mentally shattered by torture and still experiencing visions of the Black Fire's victims, became even more dependent on his son's guidance. This period marked the beginning of Malovatar's transformation into something beyond what the Creator had intended for any first-pantheon god.
The war's escalation drew the attention of beings from beyond the known realms. The Demon Lord Azmodonai recognized in the Black Fire a force that could potentially rival the power of the Abyss itself. His interest would later prove crucial in the war's development, though at this stage he merely watched and waited, sensing that Malovatar's plans would create opportunities for demonic forces to gain influence in the divine realms.
By 7669, the corruption had spread so extensively that entire regions of reality began to break down. The Pact of Zandabalân between Lavos and Azmodonai marked a turning point - the formal alliance between Black Fire forces and Abyssal powers. This unholy union produced horrors that defied comprehension, as demonic essence merged with the transformative properties of the Black Fire.
The Battle of the Dry Wastes in 7681 demonstrated the full military might of this alliance. Lavos and Azmodonai's combined forces achieved a devastating victory against the Atheloi, beings of pure light who had tried to contain the spreading darkness. The battle turned an entire region of space into a void where neither light nor darkness could exist naturally, a wound in reality that would never fully heal.
This victory was followed by the eight-year Battle of Ruzanhelm, where Aranon's forces fought desperately against the combined might of Lavos and Azmodonai. The conflict transformed the battlefield into a nightmare realm where the laws of physics fluctuated wildly, and beings could exist in multiple states simultaneously. The very substance of reality began to fray under the sustained assault of chaos and corruption.
The true nature of the Black Fire began to reveal itself during these extended conflicts. Unlike normal fire that merely burned, the Black Fire exhibited consciousness - a malevolent awareness that seemed to actively seek out and corrupt the purest aspects of existence. Those exposed to it reported hearing whispers, seeing visions of impossible geometries, and experiencing a pull toward oblivion that challenged their fundamental nature.
By 7700, the Black Fire's properties had evolved beyond even Malovatar's original design. It had become a self-propagating force that could replicate through the corruption of other energies. When it encountered divine power, it wouldn't simply destroy it but would transform it into more Black Fire, growing stronger with each god it consumed. This exponential growth threatened to overwhelm reality itself.
The betrayal of Lavos by his fellow Black Fire Generals in 7730 came as the force threatened to exceed even their ability to direct it. Altabar, Aialgan, and Draleba recognized that Lavos's ambition to control the Black Fire completely would lead to the unraveling of all existence. Their combined effort to banish him to the lower planes demonstrated how the Black Fire had begun affecting even its own generals, turning them against each other.
The cosmic horror of what they had unleashed became fully apparent in the war's final Years. The Black Fire had begun creating zones where reality itself ceased to function normally - regions where time flowed backwards, where matter could exist in multiple states simultaneously, where the very concepts of existence and non-existence became blurred. These reality tears threatened to spread beyond the divine realms into mortal worlds.
Te Vevutur's intervention in 7735 revealed the true scope of the catastrophe. The Creator's effort to contain the Black Fire required such tremendous power that it fundamentally altered the nature of divine existence. Fifty-nine Eeirendel perished in this final effort, their deaths different from those who had fallen to the Black Fire - these gods sacrificed their essence willingly to help seal away the consuming darkness.
The transformation of Malovatar accelerated during this period. His exposure to and control over the Black Fire had changed him into something that defied divine classification. His physical form had become a void in reality, a walking embodiment of the anti-creation force he had helped unleash. Those who looked upon him directly risked having their minds shattered by the impossibility of his existence.
In 7780, Aejeon's final act was to relinquish his divine powers and accept exile in the Burning Wastes of Sorthad, Malondria. The once-proud fire god had been reduced to a shadow of himself, still tormented by visions of every death and corruption the Black Fire had caused. His exile marked the end of an era and the beginning of a dark age for the divine realms.
The consumption of Aejeon's corpse by Malovatar in 9255 marked the completion of his transformation into Te Nesavatar, the Bringer of Death. This act of divine cannibalism, performed in the heart of the Black Fire's remaining power, created something entirely new - a being that embodied both divine power and the force of uncreation. The Black Fire had found its perfect vessel.
The Age of Isolation that followed saw the surviving gods retreat from direct interaction with reality, their power diminished and their confidence shaken by what they had witnessed. The Black Fire, though contained, had left indelible marks on existence - corrupt zones where its influence still lingered, races twisted by its power, and fundamental changes to how divine energy functioned.
These changes would lay the groundwork for Zastor's later discovery of how to harness dead god essence - the residual power left behind by those consumed in the war. The Black Fire had not just killed gods; it had changed the very nature of divine power, creating possibilities that would continue to reshape reality for millennia to come.
The fundamental nature of the Black Fire defied conventional understanding of both energy and matter. Unlike normal fire that consumed through heat and oxidation, the Black Fire operated by unraveling the basic forces that held reality together. Its "flames" appeared as patches of absolute void outlined in purple-black energy, creating the visual impression of reality being torn apart at its seams.
When touching physical matter, the Black Fire didn't burn so much as uncreate, breaking down the fundamental bonds between atoms while simultaneously corrupting the underlying laws that governed their existence. This process produced no heat or light - instead, it generated anti-energy that cancelled out normal forces, creating zones of pure negation where even divine power struggled to function.
The Black Fire's interaction with divine essence proved particularly horrific. Gods caught in its flames experienced not just physical destruction but spiritual unraveling. Their divine nature was corrupted and absorbed, their consciousness stretched across multiple dimensions as they were broken down and transformed. The process was described by survivors as an eternal moment of experiencing every possible death simultaneously.
Perhaps most terrifying was the Black Fire's apparent sentience. It demonstrated decision-making abilities independent of those wielding it, often choosing targets based on their purity or connection to creation itself. This suggested that rather than being merely a weapon, the Black Fire represented some form of anti-consciousness, a malevolent awareness that existed in opposition to creation itself.
The corruption of water by the Black Fire created some of its most lasting effects. When the flames touched the oceans of Marenwe, they didn't merely evaporate them - they transformed them into liquid anti-creation, creating seas of corrupted essence that could dissolve both physical matter and spiritual energy. These toxic waters retained properties of the Black Fire itself, spreading corruption long after the flames had passed.
In the air, the Black Fire created phenomena that defied natural law. It could burn in vacuum, spread against wind currents, and create zones where breathing became impossible not through lack of air but through the corruption of the very concept of respiration. Those who survived exposure often found themselves permanently changed, their bodies adapted to process corrupted air in ways that slowly transformed them into something other than their original form.
The Black Fire's effect on time proved particularly devastating to reality's structure. It could create pockets where time moved at different rates, zones where cause and effect became reversed, and regions where multiple timelines existed simultaneously. These temporal anomalies contributed to the difficulty in fighting the Black Fire, as strategic plans became impossible when time itself couldn't be relied upon.
When the Black Fire touched the earth, it didn't just scorch the ground - it corrupted the fundamental forces that held matter together. This resulted in regions where gravity fluctuated wildly, where solid matter could spontaneously transform into energy or void, and where the very concept of physical existence became unstable. These corrupted zones served as breeding grounds for new forms of life that should not have been possible.
The psychological impact of exposure to the Black Fire left permanent marks on both divine and mortal minds. Those who survived direct contact often developed the ability to perceive reality's underlying structure, but this knowledge came at the cost of their sanity. Many reported continuing to hear the Black Fire's whispers long after exposure, suggesting it could corrupt consciousness itself.
Most disturbing was the Black Fire's ability to reproduce itself through corruption. When it consumed divine power, it didn't simply destroy it - it transformed it into more Black Fire, growing stronger with each god it devoured. This property meant that traditional methods of containment proved useless, as the force could potentially convert any energy used against it into more of itself.
The Black Fire's effects manifested differently in each divine realm, revealing how its corruption adapted to and perverted the fundamental nature of different forms of existence. In Marenwē, the water realm, its touch created phenomena that defied hydrological law - waters that flowed upward, liquids that consumed light rather than reflected it, and seas that developed malevolent consciousness.
Within Thiandalune, the realm of light, the Black Fire demonstrated its most insidious properties. Rather than simply extinguishing light, it corrupted it into anti-light, creating regions where illumination served to deepen darkness rather than dispel it. Divine beings caught in these zones found their essence inverted, their powers of light transformed into abilities that spread corruption rather than purity.
The air realm of Gerlandria suffered particularly severe distortions under the Black Fire's influence. The very atmosphere became a medium for spreading corruption, with wind currents carrying not just the physical touch of the flames but their consciousness-altering properties as well. Entire regions of sky transformed into vast minds hostile to natural life, actively hunting those who dared to fly through them.
In Malondria itself, the fire realm where the Black Fire originated, its effects proved strangest of all. It created zones where normal fire could not exist, replacing natural flame with its corrupt counterpart. These regions became breeding grounds for new forms of life that fed on anti-creation energy, producing beings that existed as living paradoxes.
The impact on divine flesh proved especially horrific. Gods touched by the Black Fire didn't simply die - their divine essence underwent a process of corrupt transformation. Some became living conduits for the Black Fire's power, their bodies twisted into forms that defied comprehension, their minds shattered but somehow still conscious through their eternal torment.
The transformation of divine blood into Black Fire catalyst created some of the war's most dangerous phenomena. Where the blood of gods fell, reality itself began to unravel, creating tears in existence that leaked corruption into multiple planes simultaneously. These wounds in reality would continue to spread unless contained by massive expenditure of divine power.
Perhaps most terrifying was the Black Fire's effect on divine reproduction. Gods who survived partial exposure found their ability to create new life corrupted, producing offspring that embodied aspects of both creation and uncreation. These beings often possessed powers that defied the natural order, their very existence serving as an affront to reality's proper function.
The corruption of divine architecture led to the creation of impossible structures that served as conduits for the Black Fire's spread. Temples and palaces touched by its flames became non-Euclidean nightmares, their geometry warped into forms that damaged the sanity of those who tried to comprehend them. These buildings often developed a form of malevolent consciousness, actively trying to trap visitors within their ever-shifting corridors.
In the spaces between realms, the Black Fire's corruption proved especially dangerous. It could create bridges between planes that should never have connected, allowing horrors from one realm to spill into others. These artificial connections weakened the boundaries between different forms of existence, contributing to the overall destabilization of reality's structure.
The void realm, empty space itself, underwent profound changes where the Black Fire touched it. Rather than simply burning in vacuum, it created regions of anti-void, spaces where the very concept of emptiness became corrupted. These zones served as incubators for new forms of existence that should not have been possible, producing entities that existed as living contradictions to natural law.
The Black Fire's influence on mortal realms manifested in unexpected ways across the millennia following the war. While its immediate effects were catastrophic, the weakening of divine control over creation led to spontaneous evolutionary leaps that weren't entirely malevolent. The emergence of the beast-folk races - the bear-like Northlanders of Hangard, the noble Veleosai wolf lords, the proud Taleron tiger people, and the graceful Narelian cat folk - demonstrated how life could adapt and flourish in ways the original gods never intended.
Yet these natural developments stood in stark contrast to the Black Fire's direct corruptions. Mortal beings exposed to its essence experienced transformations far more horrific than mere physical mutation. Their consciousness would fragment across multiple realities, leaving them aware of every possible version of themselves while unable to fully exist in any single one. Many of these unfortunate souls still wander the corrupted zones, their fractured minds experiencing eternal moments of transformation.
The effect on mortal bloodlines proved particularly insidious. Those who survived exposure often produced offspring marked by the Black Fire's touch, though these manifestations might not appear for several generations. When they did emerge, these hereditary corruptions could transform entire family lines into beings that straddled the boundary between natural life and Black Fire essence.
Mortal cities touched by the Black Fire developed in ways that defied normal urban evolution. Buildings would grow and shift of their own accord, streets would rearrange themselves according to some alien geometry, and the very stones would sometimes absorb their inhabitants, transforming them into living architecture that retained tortured consciousness.
The corruption of mortal magic systems created entirely new schools of power. While some of these proved catastrophically dangerous, others - like Zastor's later harnessing of dead god essence - demonstrated how even the darkest changes could yield useful results. The weakening of divine control over magical forces allowed for experimentation and innovation that would have been impossible under the old order.
The Black Fire's interaction with mortal consciousness produced some of its most profound effects. Those exposed to its influence gained the ability to perceive reality's underlying structure, though this knowledge usually came at the cost of their sanity. Some developed the ability to manipulate these fundamental forces, becoming living conduits for powers that even the gods had feared to wield.
The creation of new religions and belief systems followed in the Black Fire's wake, as mortals struggled to comprehend and contextualize what had happened to their world. While many of these faiths proved dark and destructive, others developed sophisticated philosophies about the nature of existence and humanity's place within it. The Age of Isolation forced mortals to seek their own answers rather than relying on divine guidance.
Agricultural regions touched by the Black Fire's corruption produced crops that defied natural law. While many of these mutations proved deadly, some created entirely new food sources that could flourish in environments the original gods had never intended to support life. These adaptations allowed mortal civilizations to expand into regions that had previously been uninhabitable.
The emergence of new artistic forms reflected the profound changes in mortal perception. Composers created music that could alter reality itself, painters developed techniques that could capture multiple dimensions on flat surfaces, and sculptors crafted works that seemed to exist in several places simultaneously. These new art forms helped mortals process and express their experiences of a fundamentally altered world.
The psychological impact on mortal societies led to the development of entirely new social structures and power systems. While the immediate aftermath brought chaos and destruction, the long-term effects included the emergence of more sophisticated and independent forms of civilization than had been possible under direct divine control. The very trauma of surviving the Black Fire's influence forced mortal beings to evolve in ways neither the gods nor the Black Fire itself had anticipated.
The lasting effects of the Black Fire on reality's fundamental structure proved both profound and irreversible. Zones of corrupted space-time continued to spread slowly outward from sites of major battles, creating regions where multiple versions of history existed simultaneously. These temporal anomalies allowed beings to sometimes catch glimpses of alternate timelines, including disturbing visions of realities where the Black Fire had achieved total victory.
The transformation of Te Nesavatar, from Malovatar's consumption of his father's corpse to his emergence as the embodiment of anti-creation, represented the Black Fire's ultimate achievement - the corruption of divine essence into something that existed specifically to unmake reality. His continued existence, even after imprisonment, served as a constant threat that the Black Fire's influence could never be truly contained.
The weakening of divine control had another unexpected effect - it allowed reality to begin healing itself in ways the gods had never imagined possible. New forms of natural law emerged to fill the voids left by corrupted divine power, creating systems that were more resilient to corruption precisely because they had evolved in response to it. The universe, it seemed, had developed antibodies to the Black Fire's influence.
These natural adaptations didn't prevent Te Nesavatar from launching the Second Black Fire War in 14051, but they did change how reality responded to the renewed assault. The corrupting flames found themselves opposed not just by divine power but by the very fabric of existence itself, which had learned to recognize and resist their influence. This resistance manifested in ways that suggested reality had developed a form of immune system.
Yet the price of this resistance was high. The Second Black Fire War saw the death of multiple major deities including Ardenas and Thaedor, their divine essence transformed by contact with a more sophisticated form of the Black Fire. Te Nesavatar had learned to corrupt divine power more efficiently, creating chains of transformation that could spread through multiple gods connected by divine bloodline or alliance.
The final battles of the Second Black Fire War demonstrated how thoroughly both sides had evolved. Te Nesavatar's forces wielded corruption with surgical precision, while the defending gods had developed new forms of power that could exist in harmony with reality's adapted systems. The conflict became as much about competing philosophies of existence as about raw power.
Aranon's self-sacrifice to imprison Te Nesavatar in the Crystal Palace of Fold marked not just the end of the Second Black Fire War but symbolized how thoroughly the nature of divine power had changed. The sacrifice demonstrated that gods could now choose to transform their essence in ways that opposed the Black Fire's corruption, using voluntary transformation as a weapon against forced corruption.
The aftermath left reality permanently altered but not necessarily weakened. The emergence of new races, new forms of magic, and new natural laws suggested that existence itself had learned to fill the voids left by corrupted divine power. The universe had been forced to evolve, becoming more complex and resilient precisely because it had survived attempts to unmake it.
Even now, the Black Fire's influence continues to shape the development of both divine and mortal realms. Its legacy can be seen in the emergence of new forms of power, in the evolution of species that should not naturally exist, and in the very structure of reality itself. The corruption it introduced serves as both wound and catalyst, driving the universe to adapt in ways that even Te Vevutur had not foreseen.
The final truth of the Black Fire may be that it failed precisely because it succeeded too well - in corrupting creation, it forced existence to become stronger than its original design had allowed for. Its ultimate legacy is not the destruction it caused but the evolution it unwittingly prompted - a universe more resilient, more diverse, and more independent than the gods had ever intended it to be.