The First Cycle (-8000 to -7000)

Bloodshed and betrayal, ruination and the violation of Eshanic law. These are the legacies of the First Feud which devastated the world Ácolitus granted unto the Eshan. For the Ebal’eshan, the coexistence and prosperity which reigned prior to the Feud, wherein all Eshan were capable of exploring the fullness of creation, were ruined. While the Alor’eshan dominated Qadal with immunity, their younger siblings were secluded in distant Voryndal. It was a grave injustice. A mere six Eshan ruled one half of the world while more than two score competed for survival upon the other half.   After the First Feud, the Eshan returned to their homelands in victory or defeat. For the majority, the war appeared a terrible waste of life and resoureces. Qazun was dead, and his secrets regarding olûndari sentience lost with him. However, Atûn made the unexpected and bold choice to travel to Voryndal, now the collective home of all Ebal’eshan. He enlightened those deities with everything he was told by Qazun, providing them the tools to create olûndari races for themselves. Why? Atûn could have simply informed the Alor’eshan, thus protecting himself, and thereafter shunned the Ebal’eshan and monopolize on Olûllosia. At heart, the rivalry with Aebaster and the other Alor’eshan is to blame. If Olûllosia was reserved for the Alor’eshan, the window of competition between him and Aebaster would be narrow. In a sense, it would reflect the singular brutality of the combat between Viscari and Odryzid during the First Feud. Allowing Olûllosia to become a ubiquitous condition might have diluted Atûn’s advantage, but it hurt Aebaster much more, since he desired broad control over Qadal rather than Atûn’s narrow purview. It was such that the Youngest Alor’eshan traveled among the Ebal’eshan, disregarding the ban which he personally advocated between Qadal and Voryndal. When met with mistrust, he imparted his gift of knowledge to placate them. He won their support, for what it was worth, and sowed seeds of discontentment against Aebaster in the same breath. He crafted a tale wherein Aebaster desired to withhold Qazun’s knowledge to increase Alor’eshanic dominance. Atûn was here as their savior. Among the ignorant Ebal’eshan, Atûn’s lies were accepted without significant scrutiny.   It took no time for the Ebal’eshan to utilize what became known as Qazun’s gift. A frenzy of sentient creations followed, flooding Voryndal with a bizarre array of beings; winged, clawed, burrowing, aquatic, and every manner of life conceived from Qazun’s menagerie were uplifted. Chaos thrived. In this environment of blind worksmanship, no consideration was given to the nascent status quo which governed peace. Civilizations were built as choking sputters while war consumed these races. The Ebal’eshan plunged into the abyss in the wake of Olûllosia, fighting one another to protect their sacred property from utter annihilation.   The immense freedom of creation which the eager Ebal’eshan embraced initiated the defining event of the First Cycle- the Great Extinction. When this creation transitioned to ruin remains uncertain, for no conscious mind among the Eshan contrived such devastation. Yet, it began with competition. In those ancient epochs there were three manners of olûndari races brought into the world. First were the Medilti, or beings whose physical and mental composition was scientifically devised and perfected by Qazunari during the latter years of the Feuding era. These olûndi stood upon two legs, possessed two arms, thought with one head, and was otherwise crafted for self-sufficience in motion and thought. The Viscari were the first such creations. Second to them were the Asuneti, derived from the bestial creations of Qazun crafted during the Feuding era, but not for the purposes of sentient thought nor motion. Their olûndari forms were sometimes alike the Medilti, and othertimes completely new and terrifying. Last were the Nenuneti, or races crafted without the wisdom of Qazun. It was among these races that the suffering was greatest, as was the dizzying variety. Describing the appearance of any among these olûndi might frighten or disturb the casual traveler, as nothing with one was consistent with another.   As members of these three racial archetypes struggled for resources and territory, there came to be certain revelations which became plain. The Medilti, optimally constructed by Qazun, were more adaptable to terrain, diet, and hardships, wherein the undisciplined masses of hideous and unclean amateur-works were erratic in their expertise. A number of them were proficient in water or air, often without the clear intention of the creator for it. A minority of sorrowful races were proficient with nothing at all.   The centuries passed, transitioning from early First Cyrcle to late. Mounds of the dead were piled thick as the natural pressures of competition and survival exterminated the weakest links.   What remained of the Nenuneti races were scattered throughout the vastness of Voryndal, broken as civilizations and unable to compete with their Medilti rivals.   The enduring lesson for olûndi and Eshan alike was that olûndari creation, being a right resevred for all through feats of blood, was more burden than gift. It was science. Qazun spent innumerable years experimenting and theorizing, capturing the image of the Eshan and improving upon it for the betterment of lesser entities.