Icalalesine

Icalalesine is believed by its inhabitants to be a place in the fourth World of being brought about by Aeternus, in its attempts to end its tortured existence. It is also believed that Aeternus did not cause the creation of the universe directly rather it was a result of all that had happened prior. For the most part there is very little that is known or understood about Aeternus. As far as any being knows it has always existed, it has always tried to end its existence never wanting to be in the first place, and is believed to omnipresent, omniscience, and omnipotent; except regarding the means of its own end. There are only a handful of instances where Aeturnus' presence has been directly noted to have influenced the Fourth World, Icalalesine, and its peoples. The most recent influence happened 4000 years ago when the first of The Searchers, beings of celestial, primordial, and primal force arrived at what became the gates. This is the story they have passed down to us telling us that a time will come when inhabitants of the Otherworlds will arrive to do what those before could not do, find The Answer. The Searchers have remained in their towers guarding their respective gates since the towers were constructed 3000 years ago. After they shut their doors they have not spoken to us since, and the towers have shown no signs of wear.   The Searchers told us those many years ago that when Aeternus came into being it first surrounded itself with a vast unending void as its first action. It was in this vast void, Aeternus created The Beyond and from the fabric of The Beyond was spawned a great many incomprehensible creatures. They were The First Ones, and they were the first to be tasked with providing The Answer to The Question. Aeternus given its one limitation had not and has not been able to equip them with what is or was needed to perform their sole purpose for existing. This inability to give what they could not find left their what could be called minds shattered and fragmented and they descended into madness and chaos. The Beyond reflects their continued state of being and has become a personification of the insanity, despair, and anguish that Aeternus has endured as the unwanted existence continued. Aeternus seeking some company in its misery and as a punishment for the depth of failure The First Ones were, Aeternus condemned The Beyond and its inhabitants to continue to exist in suffering as it did until it could find a way to end its mad existence. Those rare individuals that have encountered The Beyond and survived to speak of it, both mortal and divine agree that it is a realm of utter horrific madness testing even the strongest of wills and beyond the understanding of the wisest and most deranged beings.   Aeternus after an unknown passing of time, as time as we know it did not yet exist, reached out and brought forth the many Elemental Planes and let spawn the inhabitants of those planes. These Elemental Planes were outside the influence of The Beyond and there was a great gulf comprised of void between them. At first, these manifestations of primordial and primal forces were diligent in seeking a solution to Aeternus command in the best way they could, given their form and function. However, as the wheels of time passed the many kinds of beings began to cease in their efforts and even the elemental rulers of Time had to admit they could not see when or if the Question would or could be answered. The greatest of the rulers of The Elemental Planes were commanded to search one more time. They tried as best they could and could find nothing new. Calling Aeternus they suggested it could be they simply were not great enough to find The Answer. Aeternus having crafted these beings better than those of The Beyond accepted the findings provided even if it was not what was wanted. These beings had tried and failed but did not succumb to madness as the First Ones had done. They will be allowed to choose their fate Aeternus pronounced to them.   Aeternus then set about creating beings that would be greater than the rulers of the Elemental Planes and more sound of mind then the tortured creatures of the Beyond. The Celestial Realms and the many Gods who dwell there we brought into being. These beings were aligned with Light and Darkness, Chaos and Order and The Celestial Realms resided in the void that had been between the Elemental Planes and The Beyond although they were not touching, they were separated by a boundary. For Aeternus' third attempt to find The Answer to The Question was to prove a failure even faster than the first two attempts. The Celestial Realms are many and varied, but they are in a sense braided together in such a way that it is nigh impossible to determine where one ends and another begins. Many of the Gods, especially those aligned with Light and Order performed their initial duty to the task with vigor for a time. Those Gods aligned with Darkness and Chaos gave of themselves for the shortest of time and then instead turned to their own vain efforts. Aeternus, in despondency and rage, destroyed many of the Gods both directly and indirectly; leaving fragmented memories of their passing strewn across the Celestial Realms. Those that were abject failures, beings who were the most self-absorbed which tried not to even approach the task were the first to be erased; even most of their memories have been wiped from Realms. Some of these faithless Gods, however, escaped the destruction, it is believed they were hidden by the oracular blindness that Aeternus suffers and so it is thought that these hidden ones yet still have a part to play in finding The Answer. It should be noted that The Gods did not yet know of the Elemental Planes and likewise the inhabitants of the Elemental Planes did not know of the Celestial Realms. Neither yet had knowledge of The Beyond.   After the purge of The Gods by Aeternus' hand, the boundary between The Celestial Realms and The Beyond cracked, it is not known who cracked the fabric between them. A short time later the fabric between the Celestial Realms and the Elemental Planes also cracked. For the first-time passage amongst the first three worlds was possible and the soon the inhabitants of each discovered each other. It was then that The Threads first appeared and The Tapestry began to form with The Weaving joining the different realms together with the strange threads allowing easier movement between some Planes and Realms, and restricting access to others. At first the beings of The Worlds threated by the change that had come about and the strangeness of it all waged war on each other laying waste to each other’s worlds, although one could not see a difference this war had on The Beyond.   The War between The Worlds on stopped when all of creation was pressed for The Answer by Aeternus, the many high ones, rulers of the Elemental Planes and Gods, put aside their differences and held a great council. Even an attempt was made to try to include denizens of The Beyond, but that was quickly abandoned as none could understand them, even the Gods of Insanity and Language. The Council sought to try to find a way to give Aeternus a new path, a way to seek The Answer. However, unlike Aeternus, the many of The Elemental Planes and the inhabitants of The Celestial Realms had come to appreciate and even like their existences, sadly as for those of The Beyond who knows what they thought or felt so strange are they that even now none have a glimmer of hope to even begin to glimpse an understanding of what they want or feel. After many turnings of the wheels of time had passed The Council learned the order of creation, shared what each had learned in their search for The Answer and reached a conclusion. Neither they nor the entities of The Beyond had any hope of providing The Answer to The Question. The Council realized that it would be much lesser beings that would be needed to find The Answer, beings that were as far removed from them as Aeternus was removed from them. The Council called to Aeternus and told it of their understanding. Aeternus said I leave you to the task of making these lesser beings as if it is as you say I should have as little to do with it as possible.   A strange sound as if some great strings had been struck to sound a chord rang through all The Worlds and The Tapestry's threads grew stronger and began to bind the Realms together even tighter. The Council growing concerned at this change to the reality they had known petitioned Aeternus directly as to the cause. Responding to The Council’s plea Aeternus stated, "I cannot see The Tapestry of which you speak of. It is pleasing to know that there is something that is unknown to me, there is hope that this may be part of my undoing. As to whether it may cause harm to you in truth I do not care, I simply wish to cease." Dismayed at the uncaring apathy of Aeternus, The Council sought to understand the threads and see where they lead and if perhaps the threads will help with the new task put before them of creating the lesser beings. Some tried to cut the threads but found as each was severed the rest became more resilient. The Weave of The Tapestry also changed when a rare thread was cut and the patterns revealed became more beautiful and prevented itself from unraveling. As scouts from The Council made up of contingents from of each of the Realms and Planes followed the threads of The Tapestry they would occasionally come across entities from The Beyond "chewing" on The Tapestry leaving strange colorations and warping The Weave. They found that all the threads came from within The Beyond reaching elsewhere. All were at a loss as to what it could mean. Eventually reaching the outermost edges of the Elemental Planes beyond which there prior had been the void they could see The Weave of The Tapestry reaching further into some yet unknown place. This new place was like the void but there was substance to it. It was a vexing place that was many things all at once Light, Dark, Grey, and Mysterious. In pockets there were things being Created and Destroyed, it possessed a feeling of Expansion and Timelessness, locations of great Warmth and suffocating Moisture, and movement like Breath yet filled with vistas that seemed to be Unchanging. The scouts reported all this back to The Council. Determined to discover more, a Ruler from each of The Elemental Planes and The Celestial Realms touched The Weave at the boundaries of where it flowed from their place into the other place and vanished from the sight of their kin. A wave of knowing passed among the beings of the Worlds   When the searchers had done this thing it is said that the first light of day ignited in the darkest night and our Universe was born. The many stars brought about in this creation are worlds uncounted. We know that the first of The Otherworlders come beyond our universe and it is the new Otherworlders that come from them, but we know not which. How they get here is not fully understood but they arrive at one of the 12 Gates when the Suns align and are greeted by one of the 12 Guardians. The Guardians have abilities like Gods or High Ones but are not. They are immune from a lasting death for as long as Aeternus' hand is upon them. It is to Aeternus' pleasure that they exist. The Reason the Otherworlders are here is clear they must find The Answer to The Question......   How do you kill that which cannot die and has always been?