The Founding

Long ago, this world was one of a blank and hollow void. Within the vast nothingness of space and the quiet abyss of emptiness layed two brothers: Darkin and Xapham. These two gods of creation and destruction in defiant spite of their meaningless existences sought to create a work that would long outlast them, and prove that their lives meant something greater than themselves. The two gods forged and destroyed stars, suns, and comets in an attempt to create a spherical home for life other than them: Riven. In what they thought would be their final act, Darkin began to slowly dissipate the two into nothingness as Xapham forged those atoms into immortal forms, the process cut short as Darkin with love for his brother stopped the ritual and saved their lives. From their almighty forms however spawned a new pantheon of gods.
From the suns and stars many gods and families were forged by the brothers' hands such as Ashyn, Celestor, Epheal, and Olyndra. The asteroids, comets, and meteors in the void with their rough and rocky exteriors, but the ability to bear beautiful cores and crystalline fragments forged gods in their image some of which being Alune, Duradin, Gor and Drakk, Valhir, and Zehdys. The clouds and fields of nebulae formed gods of mystical and graceful forms, examples being Behemat, Iona, Tiamat, and Ultharen. Finally, two gods were formed directly from the twin gods' forms almost as if splitting them in half, the brother and sister spawned in the same image of galaxies and universes as the brothers were Dunamis and Malady.
Despite managing to create a planet for their creations to live on, they could only do so much as their powers made Riven that of tumultuous and chaotic forces, naught but unbridled fires and churning, jagged rock. Asteroids and comets crashing into stars and valleys on the planet, and from that through the ashened and starry skies of Creation Primordial, the gods forged by the brothers came from beyond the ether, new and formless. Looking on this roiling realm, they saw potential for great beauty, great strength, and the chance to learn their own place in creation. Thus, divine hands birthed the First Children, the elves, who embodied beauty and grace, to walk the verdant Green and know the music of the Blue. A second creation was wrought: the dwarves, a hearty people intent on taming the land, filled with the craft and invention of the divinity beyond the ashen void.
Other creations followed as the many races of Riven were given form from the boundless inspiration the of the protean gods. These Children of Creation walked the land and, as their knowledge grew, attempted to build on it. But the land was fierce and treacherous, and the children were dashed on the rocks and consumed by the elements. Sorrow filled the hearts of the gods as these first races struggled against a land that did not want them, and the children looked to their creators for guidance and protection. Thus, the gods gave to them gifts, lending their own power to their children to create and shape the world around them; these were the first divine magics.
With these magics, the various peoples learned to bend the angry earth to their will: to temper the flames that burst through the ground, to tame the floods that threatened their abundance, and to turn seedling into fruit and beast into meal. Language became commonplace, culture was born, and governance replaced anarchy. The protean creators, the divinity beyond the ashen skies, saw progress and saw that it was good, yet fragile and in need of guardians.
Thus were born the First Protectors: the Dragons Celestial and Metallic of Riven, who safeguarded the gentler races. The realm grew quieter, the people multiplied, and new beings were given form and life. As culture grew, and the people further understood the world around them, they also looked up to their creators and gave them worship, gave them form, gave them title and purpose.

War Against the Primordials 

But this realm did not wish to be tamed. Quaking cliffs roared in defiance. Seas swelled and swallowed. Flames erupted from the land. Beneath the elements, unknown to the Creators beyond the ashen skies, lived ancient beings who had already claimed this world as their home: the Primordials. What the brothers Xapham and Darkin thought was a flaw in their creation from their own powers were instead these ancient giants who clambered to the lone planet while the brothers were recovering from their injuries. These great elemental titans that once dwelt deep within the world now rose from their unseen domain to sunder the land once more. The gods watched as their children, their joy, were flung against the broken rocks or fed to formless terrors unleashed by the destruction.
Some gods were so full of grief and anger that they wished to leave this world behind and start anew. They tried to convince their divine kindred to join with the Primordials, allowing chaos to reclaim the realm. Other gods wished to remain and subdue the Primordials, to tame the land for the sake of their creations. Thus was created a divide among the gods. Celestial sentinels once dedicated to the protection of the mortal races now sought the chaotic freedom of the Primordials to indulge in their own wants and desires.
The Creators that remained, wishing to salvage their home, their creations, and their realized selves, were forced to take up arms and learn to protect that which they valued most. They organized their followers and taught them how to draw from the powers of creation on their own: to build, to change, and to destroy, all without the aid of divine power. Mortals learned to defend themselves through practices such as alchemy or by bending the very fabrics of existence, though on a smaller scale than that of their creators.
This gift was the knowledge of arcane magic, which the good children used to drive away their traitorous kin, banish the turned Creators to their own prison-like planes, and ultimately destroy the Primordials, scattering the chaotic elements to their own planes of existence. Many gods on both sides lay wounded, but for the first time in the Age of Myth thus far the world was at peace.
Culture developed anew, the final common race was formed in the wake of the primordial's energy being melded with the gods: the human race; The races ventured forth to discover and explore their own lands, and great music filled the air to give a name to this world once and for all: Riven.